itch.io

A pleasant bit of whimsy. :-)

Nicely done with excellent sound and timing. Doesn't overstay its welcome.

I confirm, it works perfectly on Linux Mint Cinnamon. :-)

I will, I hope! All my PCs have Linux on and RS1 works perfectly in Mint, so fingers crossed for RS2. :-)

Just bought, looking forward to it! As you know, I've been playing the first game since 2015 ... :-)

A fun experience, thanks!

Yep, it was the first door! Your approach sounds interesting, but maybe some hint to the player that they will die if they respond? Even after dying I had no idea that was the cause! Is there some in-game reason that could be worked out, as to why answering a radio immediately kills you? You could then give a hint at that after death. Just thinking of how you can make sure players don't give up at that point. :-) It's a really ominous-seeming scenario, so it would be good to make sure they experience the full thing. Good luck!

A fun story if you like Pandorum and Event Horizon. Doesn't take too long to play. The walking (and running) speed can be quite slow if you have to backtrack, or when running from something. The game is very dark, even with boosted brightness, but that adds to the atmosphere I guess. It reminded me of the atmosphere I created in my Lost Solace books: dark, empty, ominous spaceships, and strange threats. So a thumbs up there!

A good idea and great atmosphere, but I didn't get far because of the deaths without any warning at the start. I'd be reading a message and it would suddenly say MIA and I'd have to start again. That's really frustrating! Either give a warning, or a chance to survive, or at least a clue what to do after the first death. Still, there is a lot of potential here. :-)

(This one didn't work in Linux, just as a point for Linux users.)

A fun experience that doesn't overstay its welcome. Works perfectly in Linux.

I enjoyed the game, but would have preferred a more straightforward presentation: because it was often confusing, the end result for me was being pulled out of immersion, not feeling I was the game character, just someone playing a game. Still, great atmosphere in many sections. Also: works perfectly in Linux. :-)

Short and sweet, doesn't overstay its welcome. Works perfectly on Linux. Thanks!

Never mind - the door I went to wasn't meant to open (though the character would have known that!) PS Runs perfectly in Linux.

For some reason E (interact) does nothing for me, so I can't pick up the keys or open the door. Not sure if anyone else has had this problem?

Well it's a lot of fun, and I'm impressed with what you created! :-)

Very nicely done. I was a big fan of Exolon on the Spectrum, and Raffaele Cecco's games. The remixed title screen music was so good I listened to it twice.

This is a great homage. There are some changes from the original game, none of which are negative but it is worth being aware of them.

- Unlimited lives (meaning I could complete the game in one sitting - great!)

- Destroying radar towers doesn't stop the missiles (but missiles can now be shot).

- A more generous zone for stopping the wave of aliens.

- Unlimited bullets, and bullets can be used instead of missiles to destroy things.

Really enjoyable blast from the past. Thank you!

(I played it on Linux Mint, it worked perfectly via wine.)

Really nicely done and nostalgic (I mainly know Ghosts & Goblins from the C64 version). It's difficult, though. I played for an hour and still didn't get off the first level. It makes me wish there was an easy option for people with limited time! Exolon Redux on Itch gave us unlimited lives so I could play through the whole game and see everything - an easy option for G&G would be great. Still, I recommend this for a bit of fun. (I played it on Linux Mint, worked perfectly via wine.)

Support never replied to my emails about this, so there's probably nothing you can do. I mean, you could contact support but my experience would suggest it is a waste of time. :-(

And neither of those show up as the Ukraine bundle (which I also own) for me, they only indicate the World Land Trust Bundle. Whereas other games do include the Ukraine one. And some include all bundles. The bundle-checking-and-displaying subsystem seems to have errors in it, leading to omissions that don't follow a pattern I can identify.

"What I published isn't mine anymore, so I won't destroy it, but I can certainly stop selling it."

Yep, that's how I expect things to be! As an author I can cease selling my books, but anyone who has already bought a copy can keep it forever (print or ebook).

Maybe it wasn't working when I tried it? I can't retest now, since once I did the workaround to download, things show up fine for me. Did you ever download it?
Try the URL in a private browser session - that should lead to a 404, suggesting it only works for us because we already downloaded it.

I've almost finished now. I'd say about half of those in my list are irretrievable - not showing up at all, or leading to 404 pages. But the other half worked via this method. Thanks!

Ah, I spoke too soon!

I just tried the first one on my list, and it appears in one bundle page (but with no download button, and only a link to a 404 page), but it doesn't appear in the other page for the same bundle when I search for it.

So I guess that creator found a way to properly delete the items.

It will be interesting to see what proportion of missing items can be downloaded using the method below. :-)

Hi Quinn K,

Thanks for that - it worked! What's interesting is that I hadn't seen the download button because every bundle has two pages on Itch, but only one of them lets you sort the games A-Z, so that is the one I always used (partly because I wanted to add all the games to a collection "Not Yet Played", and because there is no automated way to do it, I had to do each one manually - requiring multiple days, and therefore noting what letter of the alphabet I was up to). So it turns out you only see a download option if you use the other bundle page, that doesn't have sorting options. Here's a screenshot of each:

A good example of how the Itch interface is often very confusing! Having two different pages for each bundle instead of one, for example.

I did ask Itch Support about this twice. Presumably they could have given the same answer as you, but they never replied to those emails (or any others I sent in the last few years) which is a shame, as I feel more of an affiliation to Itch than to GOG or Steam.

Thanks for taking the time to explain this, I'll have a look at your pdf and the other things I couldn't access in bundles. :-) Hopefully this post will be useful to anyone else with this issue.

Best wishes, Karl

Thanks for replying - I hope I didn't seem too negative! I'd just like more people to be able to play it. :-) I recorded the sessions since I'm an author, and a few of the things we made up may well find their way as altered scenes in future short stories. :-)

Ah, I rememebr Garuda, very colourful. :-) Nobara is new to me, I'll have a look, thanks.

Thanks - I definitely don't want a refund (I wanted to support these amazing bundles, and 99% of them are fine). :-) It's just something Itch and maybe the people who set up the bundles should be aware of, that some creators add items but then delete them afterwards, leaving broken links.

Which distro do you use? I tried a few in a VM and settled on Mint, but had used Zorin for a while. I love the choice. Elementary OS tempted me as well. :-)

Who am I? I ask myself that a lot. A cat-owned reclusive author probably sums me up. Oh, and a game player. I started with an Atari 2600, then Atari 600XL, C64, Amiga 500, Amiga 1200, then a 486. Various PCs with Windows, now moved on to Linux (Mint Cinnamon) for my new PC. Though I still play C64, Amiga and Spectrum games. :-) I recently redid my website to focus just on my books: https://karldrinkwater.uk/

I'm best known for space opera - my Lost Solace books (long-awaited book three out this month!). Oh, and all my books are reduced to 0.99 this week only as my summer sale. https://books2read.com/ap/xr55B8/Karl-Drinkwater

One day I'd like to investigate game jams or ways to licence people to create stuff based on my Lost Solace books.

You don't have to be gay to play and enjoy games with gay characters, protagonists or plotlines. I'm not a psychic space marine but I enjoy System Shock 2. I am not a blob of mucus but I had fun in World of Goo.  I play games for fun, stories, new experiences. If I had to play myself all the time (like in real life) I'd soon get bored. My stats are rubbish, and I'd be playing a game where I spend most of my time staring at a screen. :-)

There isn't normally a contact email for people who set up bundles, so no easy way to flag up issues. Is there any mechanism for getting things restored?

As examples, I went through some of my bundles and noticed a number of items gave a 404 error. It's as if the creator added them to the bundle, but then deleted everything. However, the items still show up in the bundle. It's strange that something can be added to a customer account, and then removed afterwards! Some of the things were games I wanted to play. Here are some that I spotted. First, the bundle; then the missing item(s).

Queer Games Bundle 2022 (Pay What You Can Edition) https://itch.io/b/1405/queer-games-bundle-2022-pay-what-you-can-edition

https://volk-of-filth.itch.io/kbnr

Indie Bundle for Abortion Funds https://itch.io/b/1472/indie-bundle-for-abortion-funds

https://thesmashers.itch.io/flying-frags-world-tour

Bundle for Ukraine https://itch.io/b/1316/bundle-for-ukraine

https://lampysprites.itch.io/egg

https://angeldustjdr.itch.io/heros-dargile

Indie bundle for Palestinian Aid https://itch.io/b/902/indie-bundle-for-palestinian-aid

https://mishapanarin.itch.io/dream-abloom

https://ceschiii.itch.io/fm-radio

https://ratwavegamehouse.itch.io/how-to-embrace-a-swamp-creature

https://metkis.itch.io/indigo-child

https://1thunder.itch.io/light-of-darkness

https://washyourhands.itch.io/lineage

https://purpleaether.itch.io/next-horizon

https://deengames.itch.io/oneons

https://metkis.itch.io/reverie

https://horsed.itch.io/shnip

https://world-of-wyldrvir.itch.io/wyldrvir-core-book

Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality https://itch.io/b/520/bundle-for-racial-justice-and-equality

https://liamtwose.itch.io/ers-alpha

https://quinnk.itch.io/quarantzine

https://liamtwose.itch.io/adlengine

https://allicorn.itch.io/asteroid-farmer

https://pixelbark.itch.io/down

https://nonema.itch.io/eris-and-umbra

https://goldengeargames.itch.io/fate-tectonics

https://glitchgames.itch.io/forever-lost-episode-1

https://glitchgames.itch.io/forever-lost-episode-2

https://glitchgames.itch.io/forever-lost-episode-3

https://somestrangecircus.itch.io/fractured-starlight

https://swords-and-flowers.itch.io/freelancers

https://kindeyegames.itch.io/funkyquadz-for-construct

https://jumpbuttoncb.itch.io/god-i-hate-wasps

https://quinnk.itch.io/griphotikon

https://swords-and-flowers.itch.io/heart-and-lightning

https://iakanatt.itch.io/hiddenstories

https://purpleaether.itch.io/journey-away

https://sandwich-generation.itch.io/lazergrrl

https://speakthesky.itch.io/like-skyscrapers-v1

https://spannerworx.itch.io/manual-intervention

[This one is a different issue - the link works but I can't see files without password, and it isn't given in bundle: https://jayskibean.itch.io/microhorrorarcade-trilogy-i ]

https://bleeding-tapes.itch.io/neon-blight-final-demo

https://superrobotbear.itch.io/one-last-fight

https://r-rook.itch.io/roseville-beach-players-guide

https://cleancutgames.itch.io/pixelart-fantasy-characters

https://splitpainter.itch.io/ps1-blender-dachshund

https://naive-star.itch.io/setealem-the-seventh-beyond

https://horsed.itch.io/shnip

https://gilarpgs.itch.io/slayers-old

https://swords-and-flowers.itch.io/spring-on-me

https://okamizt-studio.itch.io/the-old-man

https://swords-and-flowers.itch.io/they-wont-go-when-i-go

https://afrozenpeach.itch.io/walking-doggos

Normally when I go to a game page it lists all the bundles I own it in, such as this:

Very useful!

But I noticed some don't do this. For example, I have the Bundle for Ukraine which includes these:

But when I go to the game page from there, it doesn't mention Bundle for Ukraine at all:

So there may be issues with how some bundles are set up, or items within it? A bug somewhere?

Here are some of those I spotted:

Items from the Bundle for Ukraine that don't show up as being in that bundle on the game's page:

https://draknek.itch.io/sokobond

https://noio.itch.io/cloud-gardens

https://brokenrules.itch.io/and-yet-it-moves

Items from the Indie bundle for Palestinian Aid that don't show up as being in that bundle on the game's page:

https://fellowtraveller.itch.io/hacknet

https://axoninteractive.itch.io/quench

https://jannikboysen.itch.io/shutterstroll

https://puppetcombo.itch.io/babysitter-bloodbath

https://moshelinke.itch.io/fugue-in-void

https://adriaan.itch.io/hidden-folks

https://cheeseness.itch.io/hive-time

https://vltmn.itch.io/lieve-oma

https://owenthebell.itch.io/mendel

https://brokenrules.itch.io/old-mans-journey

https://overfull.itch.io/plantdaddy

https://linker.itch.io/polymute

https://axoninteractive.itch.io/quench

https://distantlantern.itch.io/quietasastone

https://beyondthosehills.itch.io/reky

https://brokenrules.itch.io/secrets-of-raetikon

https://tinyredcamel.itch.io/shrug-island-the-meeting

https://jannikboysen.itch.io/shutterstroll

https://echodog-games.itch.io/signs-of-the-sojourner

https://sparsegamedev.itch.io/spring-falls

https://ycjy.itch.io/aquaticadventure

https://danielmullinsgames.itch.io/the-hex

https://fellowtraveller.itch.io/the-stillness-of-the-wind

https://pintroverts.itch.io/thing-in-itself

https://docgeraud.itch.io/un-pas-fragile

https://turnfollow.itch.io/wide-ocean-big-jacket

Even if it can't be fixed, it is worth being aware of if you own bundles, as it could lead you to double-buying something you already own in a bundle.

I played this with my partner for a little bit each evening over a week and completed it today.

It's a nice theme and a gentle cooperative game, which made a refreshing change for us.

On the downside, it took me a long time to prepare for play, because I found understanding the moment to moment play from the rules to be overly difficult. To get a grasp of it I also had to download other rules from elsewhere, and some didn't apply to this game, some did. Ideally this would include all the rules you need to play.

The rule book added to confusion with small omissions or errors e.g. it said "In each story, the player in focus will interpret the Yin elements and with that the negative aspects and obstacles of their story; their partner will interpret the Yin elements and with that the positive aspects." The second Yin should be a Yang.

My biggest confusion was just the basics. The rules don't tell you how many dice to use; whether both players have their own pool or if the dice are shared; whether any get returned as they complete elements or if the hand gets smaller. Do you save one of 8 elements you need each time, or only if you roll it, or only if you roll it AND have success according to the other rules linked to? I was forced to guess, and if a player makes the wrong setup choice it might be unplayable. I'm happy with flexibility, but the basics should be clear so you have a basis to alter from. In the end I played with 8 dice, 4 yin and 4 yang per player, with elements recorded on paper rather than setting dice aside.

Maybe if the rulebook also had a few pages of example rounds that would have made the world of difference to playability and helping new players. It could include an example of storytelling, when the dice were rolled, how they were resolved and interpreted, then pay passing to the other player, and so on for a few rounds. That would clarify any ambiguity. Ideally the rulebook would also have a repeat of any important tables at the end so you could just print those out (which elements beat which; who tells which parts of the story; what the goal is etc).

I raise these issues because they might put off a casual player who isn't as persistent as me, and that would be a shame when there is an interesting core to the game that a lot of people would enjoy. Maybe a revamped rulebook is all that would be required to make this really shine. Good luck with the future!

I love the music, colours and animation. The game does get hard (I'm kind of stuck on level 10) and you have to replay a whole stage every time you die, which can get frustrating. But overall this is a fun little package.

There is a Linux version except I can't find any kind of file to run to start it. I couldn't get the Linux version to even launch, as a result; though the Windows version runs fine (so far) in Linux Mint Cinnamon.  The only issue is that the screen blanks every ten mins or so - pause, wiggle mouse, unpause and it is fine.

There is one now, except I can't find any kind of file to run to start it. I couldn't get the Linux version to even launch, as a result; though the Windows version runs fine (so far) in Linux Mint Cinnamon.

There is one now, except I can't find any kind of file to run to start it. I couldn't get the Linux version to even launch, as a result; though the Windows version runs fine (so far) in Linux Mint Cinnamon.

Sadly, it doesn't seem to do anything except alternate between images. I left it for ages. Eventually it stopped zooming but I couldn't do anything except move the mouse a bit. Tried keys, but one of them quit out of it. I didn't fancy starting all over again.

Oh well, I did it the long way, and manually added 4,500 items to my "Not Played" collection. :-(

(The other advantage of having all the games in a single folder/collection: it will make it so much easier when I see an offer on a game elsewhere! "Do I own Pikuniku/Nuclear Throne/Celeste already?" I can check a few games quickly in one place, rather than browsing bundles or the Itch store.)