Post by redonihunter in There must be something that can be done about horror games

Viewing post in There must be something that can be done about horror games

I believe the root of the problem is how you browse for games on each platform. Steam does more promotion of games. Or do people really go to Search games and leave all the parameters empty? Because that is "popular" section on Steam and there you can see the current most popular titles of their ~ 160k games. I did not even know that section existed for years! Let alone that there is a not very visible button to minus tags, instead of checking them to filter with.

The browse section on itch is much more volatile and fickle. Smallest trends among youtubers will be visible there. And there is a certain promotion of new games in the ranking. Both those factors increase the visibilty of "horror" titles.

Whereas on Steam you have a huge landing page and see promotion and tailored selections to your previous tastes. There is a recommended section on itch and in theory the landing page. But after making an account I basically never visited the landing page on itch. Like, never.

Regarding horror specifically, Steam implemented 3 or 4 matury settings and those settings are curated. You should be able to block them based on maturity. If you did not do so and still do not see horror on Steam, that is because it is not promoted to you.

In other words, are you flooded by ugly horror titles in your recommended section on Itch?

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Wolfe226 days ago (11 edits)

In other words, are you flooded by ugly horror titles in your recommended section on Itch?

...what even is that? I'm looking at the whole itch.io/games page and I see nothing that says "recommendations". *

I don't even have much of a download history on Itch.io per se, because it's so hard to find anything of interest; and I'm not young anymore, so I don't need to browse for free games amidst such an overwhelming pile of horror. I end up looking for games on Steam, although I have no particular affinity for Valve or the platform. (I like Itch better, except for the platter of games served.)

Except it would be nice to be able to find more nice free games that aren't just YouTuber bait.

* - I don't want a hyper-aggressive algorithm trying to feed me anyway. I want open-ended exploration, without just one thing filling every page. Algorithms are way too target-fixated.

There are only so many times I can scroll past that damned ultra-wide-eyed baby or some pale-faced grimace before deciding it's not worth the repeated mild aggravations to browse anymore. I am neurodivergent, so I know it's a drag for some other users out there.

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redonihunter226 days ago(+2)

what even is that?

Thank you. That is the best evidence that the recommendation section is well hidden and people do not even know it.

Click your user name. Between My Library and Game Jams.

Or click your Library. Below My Purchases and above Things on sale.

Also the itch.io landing page is forgotton after creating an account. Happened to me. Go to itch.io directly. Not to the browse section. If you go to the browse section you already are in the part of itch that is not customized to you. On itch.io if logged in, if you scroll down a bit, there is a tiny recommended section.

I want open-ended exploration

You can't use standard browse section for that. The landing and most other sections on that are ranked by popularity. And the recent is dangerous (malware) and lots of half developed games.

A few suggestions.

Go to global feed. https://itch.io/feed

Scroll the itch.io landing all the way down. There is the https://itch.io/randomizer

And of course the landing itself, there are featured games - not tailored to you by an algorithm. Those are hand picked.

Use the browse section with tags to your liking. After you selected a few non-horror tags, it should thin out. You can select any tag you like by writing it in the little tag box. The search box only searches titles, not tags (and it only suggests tags that are in the suggested tag list). If you can think of it as a tag, chances are, someone has tagged it.

There is also the devlogs https://itch.io/devlogs

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Wolfe226 days ago

Thank you. That is the best evidence that the recommendation section is well hidden and people do not even know it.

You're welcome that I figured as much. 😁

If itch.io/games is no better than a blank logged-out homepage for YouTube.com 🤮, I will certainly take your suggestions to heart. Thank you

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Wolfe226 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

...Suffice to say, one way or another, Itch.io has serious service problems for its non-horror-game-fan users, and it's an open secret.

I pray it hasn't tainted Itch's image forever, because I really like the platform and wish it gave Steam more of a run for its money.

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redonihunter226 days ago

After thinking about the topic again, I believe a major issue is, how hidden and unpromoted the itch.io landing page is. The naked itch.io.

It is the itch icon in the top row. It is always there and does not even look like a link, as it is an image and all the other things are text.

Or is this just me? I just never needed to visit that page and as I said, it is hidden in plain sight. My bookmark points to my library.

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Wolfe226 days ago (3 edits) (+1)

I'm trying to make games, so my bookmark ended up being my own page. From there, I can click on "Dashboard" (so long as my login is valid), and from there, "Browse" appears. Which takes me to the /games URL.

I tried to avoid what was most-promoted by avoiding what would be "featured" on the naked page. Not to sound like a hipster. Algorithms tend to feed me the opposite of what I want, because reasons.

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