itch.io
An online game marketplace and community. Also an app which manages downloading and updating of games acquired through the website.
What is itch.io?
itch.io gives you the ability to design a page where people can download games you have uploaded. You can optionally put a minimum price on your game (which can be 0), giving people the opportunity to pay you what they think you deserve. All files and images are hosted on itch.io so you don’t need to worry about building a website or storing your game anywhere.
Usage information is collected and displayed to you, such as how many times your games are being viewed, downloaded, and purchased.
itch.io handles all the technicalities behind hosting and selling your game.
itch.io Screenshots
itch.io Features
itch.io information
- Developed byLeaf Corcoran
- LicensingOpen Source (MIT) and Free product.
- Written in
- RatingAverage rating of 3.9
- Alternatives41 alternatives listed
Supported Languages
- English
GitHub repository
- 2,012 Stars
- 190 Forks
- 540 Open Issues
- Updated
Comments and Reviews
Tags
- Game Store
- Game
- digital-distribution
- desktop-client
- game-bundle
itch.io is a fantastic store if you're looking for indie games to play or a home for your next project. Profiles are easy to create, games are intuitive to discover and developers have the option to price their games with a "pay what you want" option, which allows for greater flexibility on both ends.
Through what itch call "open revenue sharing," developers can decided what % of their sales goes towards supporting the store. It's also DRM-free, like GOG.
All-in-all, I highly recommend itch.io to both creators and gamers alike!
Easy to self-publish for indie game developers. Takes care of a lot of the complicated parts, like selling a product internationally, and makes it easier to be a successful indie.
Updated: I'm going to lower my review by another star because after years of using Itch.io I have a massive library, and on both the website and the client library management is a disgraceful mess.
Old: I like it, but horrible ToS warranty polices.
Be very aware that it is nearly impossible to get a refund for anything you buy here. I strongly recommend buying anything that cost more then $1 or 2 from a different store with better polices.
I'm sorry for the lenght of this review, but there's so much to talk about that I don't even know where to start.
I really wanted to like itch.io. Really, really wanted. But I can't. itch.io is huge, shocking mess. There's no way around it.
The site is very confusing. The store doesn't seem to give refunds, the games are not guaranteed to work, even if paid. They give your e-mail to the game's creator if you buy/add the game from a bundle to your library, a big no-no if you value your privacy. I couldn't find a way to disable that.
They also have a client. I actually prefer clients over downloading over a store's page,much more convenient. In their page, itch.io say that the best way to actually play their games.
This is actually not true at all, though.You can't easily find your games, and some won't properly launch at all if not opened in a browser.
Examples: If launched from the client, Jumpman Forever will ALWAYS try to install itself before letting me play. With a good ol' installer, no less, asking for administrative privileges. Pizza Boy (The FPS, not the platformer, nor the adventure) simply doesn't work. Both of these games were bought individually, and not as part as one of their bundles.
Speaking of bundles; Oh boy the bundles. There's a huge chance that, if you know itch.io, it's for their bundles. There are excellent games in them, stuff like Celeste is worth the price alone, and they are all for good causes. But wow, what happened here? The first bundle included free games in a paid bundle, you can't add all your games at once without a external script, your e-mail is still sent for all these authors, not all of those are games (there are assets, for example).
Why would add thousands of games to your library? Besides the fact that you bought them? Well, until the third bundle (I believe), if you lost the URL of your purchase, you'd need to call support to have access to all your games.
I do not recommend itch.io for anything other than a host for your fangame or hobby project. I specially do not recommend spending money on itch.io. There's a chance the game won't even work, and the site won't help you with that.
Itch.io has games that aren't the typical fare of software developers making anything they think will turn the biggest profit with all kinds of add-on content and shiny graphic effects. It's self-evident that a large number of the projects there are born from someone's passion for self-expression, or the execution of some vision they've always had for something to create. I'd rather play those any day, it forces you to think about something other than your own narcissistic pursuit of distraction and connects you to real people. It's possible to meet amazing new people there just in the comments section of games you enjoy, and every developer I've interacted with there has been genuine and candid about their motivations and direction for their games. Truly excellent community and resource for hidden gems in the gaming world.
Great platform for creators and developers alike. The client is robust, but its highlight is the community.
It's really easy to use and has a large variety of games