I started doing it cause my game had 5+- ratings after two days while others I seen had 50+-, It is just a promotion tactic an tbh I will keep doing it because I never had this number of plays/rating on my games.
The system is broken, we just adapted to it.
*Edit> If itch.io would force search filter for "least rated" only, and after 20+- rated games it unlocked everything for you, it would be better.
*Edit> If it was call "PLAY FOR PLAY" would you see THAT as a problem?