Post by Wolfe 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

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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redonihunter245 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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Wolfe245 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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