• itch.io Recommends: Nostalgic games for the week of 6/1
  June 01, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#digest, #emily is away too, #arc symphony, #yurei station

  Alright gang, let’s get introspective here for a minute: getting older sucks. And it doesn’t suck a little, it sucks a lot. But that’s ok, right? We all get old together and get to come to grips with what that means as a group. Part of that is looking back at a time when you were younger/cooler/had better hair. Let’s look at some games that help you look back.    Emily is Away To... Continue reading

  
• What every developer can learn from short games
  May 30, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#editorial, #nicky case, #parabole of the polygons, #coming out simulator, #we become what we behold

  Games are getting longer. Look at any AAA RPG and you’ll see the industry’s race for 100 hour playtimes. But what about games that go in the opposite direction? What about microgame-- games that take less than 30 minutes to complete? I maintain that there are a variety of lessons developers can learn from these smaller projects regardless of their own projects’ length. We have a ton of great... Continue reading

  
• itch.io Recommends: Cerebral games for the week of 5/25
  May 25, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#digest, #everything, #antihero, #old man's journey

  Hey everyone, it’s been a while since we talked about awesome games for you to play over the weekend. Last week the itch.io office was besieged by a large squid and we weren’t able to save our recommendations as they were pulled into the sea by 8 strong arms. Ok, that was a lie. Here are some games to play over the weekend. Everything : Games don’t have a great track record of adapting other... Continue reading

  
• World of Horror is Poland's bloody tribute to Junji Ito and HP Lovecraft
  May 23, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#interview, #world of horror, #horror

  You're walking downtown unnerved for some unknown reason. You feel hundreds of eyes on the back of your neck but there is no one else on the street. As you turn the corner you see your neighbors' bodies strung up in webs. It's too late, they're already victims of Atlach-Nacha -- The spider god. What I've just described represents roughly 30 seconds of playing Kyofu No Sekai -- World of Horror . Ta... Continue reading

  
• Updates to devlogs
  May 22, 2017 by leafo#features, #devlogs

  A few weeks ago we released devlogs in order to give you an easy way to post updates about your projects . Over 1,000 posts have been written since then! We've made a handful of minor changes to make them even better. Check them out: Posts viewed in your feed now include attachments If you're browsing devlogs from your feed , you can now see any attached videos or images along with any attached fi... Continue reading

  
• Get started livestreaming your development with these quick tips!
  May 16, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#guides, #streaming, #nuclear throne, #vlambeer, #tooth and tail, #timespinner

  Everybody is on Twitch these days. From players to developers and talk shows to tabletop it seems like everyone has a seat at the big purple table. But what does it take to really show the project you're developing? I've got some experience running one of the largest Twitch channels ever and I've invited a panel of expert developers to weigh in. 1: Consistency is Key JW Nijman of Vlambeer is no st... Continue reading

  
• A new itch.io blog
  May 15, 2017 by leafo

  For the past 4 years, we've been using the itch.io blog to announce all the cool things we're working on, and sometimes sharing cool things other people are working on. (Blast from the past, here's the first post if you're curious ) We've decided that now's a good time to integrate the blog directly into itch.io. Using the same tech for our recently announced devlogs feature , we've built a new bl... Continue reading

  
• itch.io Recommends: Fresh Games for the week of 5/11
  May 11, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#digest, #early access, #kickstarter, #local multiplayer, #Showdown, #eagle island, #shoot shoot mega pack

  There's nothing better than being the friend with good taste. That person who everyone goes to looking for recommendations on shows, restaurants, and movies. We here at itch.io can't make you cool, but we can certainly try. Check out this week's crop of fresh games and impress your friends. Showdown Demo First up we have a game that's not even done yet. That's right our first game is more proof-of... Continue reading

  
• Single file mode for butler
  May 09, 2017 by leafo#butler, #features

  For most developers using butler we recommend avoiding packaging your game into a single file before uploading it. This is because butler needs to access all your game's files in order to generate patches correctly . Sometimes, though, your entire project actually is a single file, and it doesn't make sense for butler to wrap it in an archive. With the recently added single file support, if you up... Continue reading
• Tumbleseed is the next great Roguelike-like
  May 09, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#Tumbleseed, #roguelikes, #digest

  When I was younger I was diagnosed with a fairly rare heart condition. It didn't affect me much on the whole but there were stretches where I'd be trapped in bed for days at a time. This is where my love for roguelikes first bloomed. From Nethack to Spelunky I devoured these complicated sets of systems, hunting for secrets and exploring what felt like endless worlds. Tumbleseed makes me feel this ... Continue reading

  
• Introducing devlogs
  May 08, 2017 by leafo#features

  For many developers, projects on itch.io are living pages with frequent updates, new images, and gameplay videos. We think it's important for creators to start building and talking with their audience early and a development log is a great way to do that! When we launched refinery we made it really easy for creators to distribute new builds quickly, but it wasn't obvious how to to announce the cha... Continue reading

  
• itch.io Recommends Beautiful Games for the week of 5/4
  May 04, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#Digest, #kimmy, #oquonie, #dominique pamplemousse, #path of the rabbit, #ludum dare 38

  It's Thursday and you know what that means! Taco Tues- a fresh crop of games for you to play! That's right, your good friends at itch.io are here to fill up your weekend with great new games. Strap in, because this is going to be a beautiful journey. Oquonie You'd be forgiven for not immediately understanding what you're looking at when you see Oquonie. Hell, even the developer lists a quote that ... Continue reading

  
• Politics and Game Jams: A Roundtable with the Organizers of #ResistJam
  May 02, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#Resistjam, #developer-interview, #game-jam

  Art and activism have a beautiful history together. From avant garde artists to the punk bands of the past 40 years outsider art has proven to be a safe haven for the marginalized and a base for activism. Finally, games are coming into their own as a part of the resistance. I caught up with Maize, Damon, Tyler, Anna, and Craig: the artists-and-creatives turned organizers of #ResistJam , the recent... Continue reading

  
• The Raft Developers Open up About Successes and School
  April 27, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#Raft, #developer-interview

  How do you make a game about rafting if you don't like rafting? How do you make one of the best selling survival games about rafting if you don't like rafting? Apparently all it takes is a team of dedicated Swedish students. Raft has been available for a little under 4 months and it's already turned the genre on its head --in a world of infinite expanses, raft dares to show restraint. Unlike tradi... Continue reading

  
• Intimidated by Ludum Dare 38? Let itch.io give you a place to start
  April 25, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#ludum-dare, #digest, #game-jam

  Ludum Dare 38 , one of the most influential game jams, concluded its 15th year anniversary this past Monday. 2,936 games were completed over 48 or 72 hours, with about 1,100 uploaded to itch.io as of today. After 38 competitions and thousands of games we finally have a new crop of experimental gems to enjoy. Fortunately for you, we've sifted through many of the submissions to highlight a few entri... Continue reading

  
• Get Ready For Ludum Dare
  April 21, 2017 by leafo#ludum-dare

  Ludum Dare is a 48 hour and 72 hour game jam. The jam takes place this weekend (April 21st to 24th). The “compo” portion takes 48 hours and is for solo participants. The “jam” portion starts at the same time, extends for 72 hours, and people work in teams. At the time of this post it’s Ludum Dare’s 15th anniversary, and they're using entirely new software to host the event. I've previo... Continue reading
• itch.io Recommends: What to play on the week of 4/20
  April 20, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#digest

  Hey itchy people! Let's get real for a second: part of why we love itch.io is the huge breadth of content you can find on the site. Want an opera about dogs? We've got that. Looking for game assets to create your next hit? We've got that. Do you need an erotic fan game of last year's best anime? Don't tell my mom but we've got that too. We know this can get a little intimidating so each week we'll... Continue reading

  
• In Our Darkest Hour, Cuteness is Here to Save Us
  April 18, 2017 by Spencer Hayes#cute, #digest, #Cosmic Express, #Beglitched, #Night in the Woods

  There's an unblinking face on each of the trees. When I look up, there's a face on the clouds and sun. Inside the house, there are faces on breakfast, the furniture, and the plates -- it's cute as all hell. Happy Snake Games released Morning Post earlier this year and it's already a darling of the cute aesthetic, a style that has only grown in popularity as the real world has gotten darker. HEY NO... Continue reading
• Import Indiegogo backers and more
  March 24, 2017 by leafo#features

  Since introducing the  Kickstarter backer import tool  last year, projects have delivered digital rewards to over ten thousand backers. This includes a claimable download on itch.io, handing out Steam keys, and sending a notification email when files are available. Because of the success of this tool we’re making it open to new types of file imports so you can easily import a list owners into ... Continue reading
• Rewards enhanced & claimable sales
  January 23, 2017 by leafo#features, #itchio

  As part of itch.io refinery , we released an “ Exclusive content ” system allowing you to create limited quantity rewards for buyers. Today we’ve launched some new functionality to the system to make it even more useful: Providing “early-bird” discounts In the past, any reward you created needed to be at or above the minimum price of the project. Starting now you can set any price for t... Continue reading
• A quick overview of how awesome our app has become
  January 21, 2017 by leafo#itchio, #features, #itch

  First off, our apologies for not updating this blog recently. We've been quite busy, and we'll be posting regular updates showcasing what's new again. We have a twitter bot that highlights some of the changes we've been making . Except a re-cap post for website updates that haven't made it to the blog yet in the near future. For now, lets take a look at the itch.io desktop app: itch . You can down... Continue reading

  
• itch.io digest January 2017
  January 02, 2017 by itch.io#digest

  Hey everyone! Welcome to another edition of itch Digest! As always, we've got news to share, and awesome games to show off. The holiday season has swept right by, and we welcome 2017! This week we're showing off just a few of the many titles that have caught our eye recently here at itch.io. Don't know what to check out first? Let the randomizer offer some suggestions! First Staff Picks of 2017 He... Continue reading

  

2016

• itch.io digest December 2016
  December 17, 2016 by itch.io#digest

  Hey everyone! The digest returns this week with news and updates, as well as some awesome indie games to check out. The hamster wheels are greased, and team itch is busier than ever, working on the app, continued improvements to the site, and plenty of goings on with our amazing content creators. Staff Picks - LD37 Edition! Over 900 games were added to itch.io over the weekend during Ludum Dare 37... Continue reading
• A Good Bundle — updated and extended
  November 28, 2016 by leafo

  6 days ago, 115 creators donated 151 games and other works to A Good Bundle , a bundle to combat some of the ugliness that feels increasingly comfortable rearing it’s head in our world.  With 100% of proceeds being split between the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, this bundle will give these organizations support when they will need it most.  Today, we have 3 major announcements to make: 1. To da... Continue reading
• Find something new for Halloween with the randomizer
  October 28, 2016 by leafo#features

  We’ve made a minor update to the itch.io game randomizer that lets you find something new via tags. Discover something new for Halloween 🎃 Spooky games randomizer Enjoy Continue reading
• Coupon codes for sales & bundles
  October 24, 2016 by leafo#features

  Earlier this year, as part of itch.io week, we let you make it so sales could be made available to those who own something else you’ve released . We’re adding a new type of limited access sale: coupon codes. On the sale edit page you’ll find a new area for specifying an optional coupon code. The coupon code creates a new URL on your account that someone will need to visit to redeem access to... Continue reading
• More tools & visual refresh for communities
  October 03, 2016 by leafo#features

  On itch.io you can create your own message board for games and game jams . Our message boards come packed with a lot of features for keeping discussion going and moderating your community. Today we’re launching a handful of features to help with organization: Community subcategories If you’ve ever seen itch.io’s own community , you may have noticed the hierarchy of message boards where peopl... Continue reading
• Join GBJAM 5 on itch.io
  September 30, 2016 by leafo#game-jam

  We’re proud to be helping host GBJAM 5. A 10 day game jam where you create a GameBoy themed game. This means a resolution of 160px x 144px and only 4 colors. The restricted rules are a great way to keep scope manageable while still having opportunity for a lot of creativity. GBJAM 5 is hosted by  @retrostark . Join the jam on the itch.io jam page You can join any time up until the submission d... Continue reading
• itch.io digest September 2016
  September 26, 2016 by itch.io#digest

  Hey again! Thanks for checking out the digest. As always, If you have any questions or comments about the email visit our thread in the community . Staff Picks Vamp 'em ups, surviving pups, DIY Power Rangers & insecure AI friends Slayer Shock by Minor Key Games [$19.99, Buy Now For Beta Access- Full Release 9/29, Windows, Mac, Linux] "From David Pittman (Eldritch, NEON STRUCT) and Minor Key Games ... Continue reading
• itch.io at XOXO
  September 09, 2016 by leafo#xoxo

  This weekend, itch.io is headed to beautiful Portland. We’re honored to have been invited to the XOXO Festival . We have a slot at the arcade , and Leaf will be giving a talk about itch.io in the conference. Here are the games we’ll be showing at the event tonight (from the itch app  no less!) from 7PM to 1AM: Grampy Katz in The Big Date by Meowza Games  https://meowzagames.itch.io/grampy-ka... Continue reading
• Change your username & URL
  September 07, 2016 by leafo#features

  This is the most common support email we get, so I think it's worth mentioning on the blog. If you need to change your username & URL then you can now do so directly on the account settings page: We'll automatically set up a redirect for you, any old links you have floating around will still work. This works for purchases and download keys you've distributed as well. In order to keep changing user... Continue reading
• Jam hosts can now email participants
  August 24, 2016 by leafo#features

  We recently enhanced itch.io’s emailing feature to give you finer control over who you contact when sending an email about your game. Game jams now have similar functionality! Jams are events, so it’s important that you stay in touch with the people participating. We’ve previously addressed by adding the ability to attach a message board to jam . Now the hosts of jams can reach out to their ... Continue reading
• Improved buyer emailing & Kickstarter integration
  August 18, 2016 by leafo#features

  Hey all, it's been a while since we announced any updates but we've still been hard at work. Today we're launching two new features: Kickstarter integration If you've run a Kickstarter campaign and are looking for a way to distribute your digital rewards then you're in luck! We're introducing a really simple way to import all of your backers, assign them access through download URLS, and contact t... Continue reading
• itch.io digest August 2016
  August 10, 2016 by itch.io#digest

  Hey again! Thanks for checking out our 2nd digest. As always, If you have any questions or comments about the email visit our thread in the community . New releases Boiling Bolt by Plug In Digital & Persistant Studios [$6.99 Limited Closed Beta, Windows] Boiling Bolt is a twin-stick shooter where you dodge and shoot on a 2D plane with beautiful 3D graphics while piloting a ship that contains the m... Continue reading
• itch.io digest July 2016
  July 19, 2016 by itch.io#digest

  Welcome to the first itch.io digest. If you have any questions or comments about the email visit our thread in the community . Recent releases Kentucky Route Zero by cardboardcomputer [$12.50, 50% off for the next week, Windows Mac, Linux] Kentucky Route Zero is a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky. It is being released in 5 acts. Act 4 has just bee... Continue reading
• Saved Credit Cards
  July 05, 2016 by leafo#features

  If you use a credit card to buy games on itch.io you may have noticed that you need to type it in each time you want to purchase or donate. This is no longer the case! If you have an account then you can now save your credit card during checkout so you can re-use it on subsequent purchases. If you’ve saved a credit card then all you need to do is pick it, and enter your password to complete a fu... Continue reading
• The itch.io app, itch, v18 release
  July 02, 2016 by leafo#itch, #app

  We’re proud to release the next big version of the itch.io app, itch . This is a major release, with over 600 commits since v17.6.6. You can view the entire changelog on GitHub .   If you already have downloaded the app you can start it up and it will automatically update. If you don’t have it yet, you can download it here .  Here are some of the highlights: Refreshed user interface In the ... Continue reading
• itch.io @ E3
  June 09, 2016 by leafo

  UPDATE (6/13) - We’ve added another awesome developer to the roster- Ethan Redd ( kiddraddical.itch.io ) We’ll be streaming some games of his on Thursday at 2:30 PST! —– itch.io is going to be at E3 2016 to show of some rad itch.io games! The MIX The Media Indie Exchange provides a good chance to get some games in front of the press. itch.io will be at their E3 night on 6/15 presen... Continue reading
• Graphs upgraded with more details
  May 22, 2016 by leafo#features

  Graphs upgraded even more! You can hover over splits to highlight just that game Clicking on a chunk will take you to to that game’s analytics There’s a dot on top for showing the total for that day Continue reading
• itch.io week day 5 part 2: interviews with Adam Saltsman & Joni Kittaka
  May 13, 2016 by leafo

  Developer interviews Joni Kittaka is a game maker and artist whose work includes Secrets Agent, minkomora, how do you Do It, Anodyne and the upcoming @eventheocean Adam Saltsman is founder and director at Austin-based (for now!) developer and publisher Finji. Continue reading
• itch.io week day 5 part 1: itch.io refinery
  May 13, 2016 by leafo

  Early access has a problem.  Yes, the original idea of releasing in-development games to the public in order to gain meaningful feedback and build a community was sound, however, we’ve seen and heard from many developers that early access no longer provides that. Overly competitive environments, sometimes misunderstanding communities and non-existent sales model flexibility has moved the focus ... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Joni Kittaka
  May 13, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day five of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Joni Kittaka Joni Kittaka is a game maker and artist whose work includes Secrets Agent, minkomora, how do you Do It, Anodyne and the upcoming @EventheOcean View on itch.io: https://kittakaj.itch.io/ Follow on Twitter: @jonikitsu When did you first start making games? What... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Adam Saltsman
  May 13, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day five of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Adam Saltsman Adam Saltsman is founder and director at Austin-based (for now!) developer and publisher Finji. Current projects by Finji include in-house project Overland , and publishing Night In The Woods. View on itch.io: http://finji.itch.io Follow on Twitter: @ADAMATO... Continue reading
• itch.io week day 4: Dashboard, Communities, Arielle Grimes and Mushbuh
  May 12, 2016 by leafo#itchioweek

  itch.io has always been about building the best tools for the creators that upload their work. itch.io implemented pay-what-you-want pricing from day one to let game creators make more through the generosity of their fans. We pioneered open revenue sharing , a system where sellers can choose their cut to the marketplace — something completely unheard of. We’re constantly looking for ways to se... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Arielle Grimes
  May 12, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day four of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Arielle Grimes Arielle Grimes is a game developer who creates interactive experiences focusing on mental health and queer experience. View on itch.io: http://ariellegrimes.itch.io Follow on Twitter: @slimekat When did you first start making games? What's the first game yo... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Mushbuh
  May 12, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day four of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Mushbuh Mushbuh is making something cool called Burrito Galaxy 65 . Check it out! View on itch.io: whybotherplayinggameswhenyouwilljustdieandforgetthem.itch.io Follow on Twitter: @mushbuh When did you first start making games? What's the first game you can remember making... Continue reading
• itch.io week day 3 BONUS: Co-op bundles
  May 11, 2016 by leafo#itchioweek

  This is a bonus post for day 3. In the previous post we talked about our bundling system for solo developers . In this post we re-visit our other kind of bundle: the co-op bundle. Bundles are a pretty hot topic for indie developers. On one hand they’re a good way to get a sales boost long after launch, on the other hand…well you’ve probably heard the horror stories about opportunistic c... Continue reading
• itch.io week day 3: Sales, bundles, Kenney Vleugels and Daniel Linssen
  May 11, 2016 by leafo#itchioweek

  Hosting a promotion is powerful tool when you’re trying to sell a game. It’s a good way to get people talking about your project, and encourage anyone who may have held off buying to make their purchase. itch.io has two kinds promotions: Sales and bundles   Sales & Bundles itch.io added the ability for any creator to host a sale in 2013. Today we’ve got a few updates: All sales with multipl... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Daniel Linssen
  May 11, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day three of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Daniel Linssen View on itch.io: https://managore.itch.io Follow on Twitter: @managore Daniel Linssen, also known as Managore, is a prolific game developer producing games of great design primarily during game jams. He recently won Ludum Dare 35. When did you first start ... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Kenney Vleugels
  May 11, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day three of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Kenney Vleugels View on itch.io: https://kenney.itch.io Follow on Twitter: @KenneyNL Kenney is a developer primarily known for his wonderful asset packs and tools that have enabled accessible game development for many When did you first start making asset packs? What's t... Continue reading
• itch.io week day 2: The widget, Robert Yang & Kyle Seeley
  May 10, 2016 by leafo#itchioweek

  Ready for day 2 of itch.io week ? In case you missed, yesterday was about the  about the new app . The widget https://itch.io/widget Many game developers tend come with their own pages for their games. They’ve put together a beautiful a landing page with the prefect images, gifs, and description. Sure the itch.io project pages can do a lot, but nothing’s better than a page made just the way y... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Kyle Seeley
  May 10, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day two of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Kyle Seeley View on itch.io: https://kyleseeley23.itch.io/ Follow on Twitter: @KyleSeeley23 Kyle is a junior designer at Boston-based developer, Zapdot. He released his first independent game, Emily is Away , last year. When did you first start making games? What's the fir... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Robert Yang
  May 10, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview

  This post is part of day two of itch.io week. We'll be interviewing developers all week. Learn more here: https://itch.io/week Robert Yang View on itch.io: https://radiatoryang.itch.io Follow on Twitter: @radiatoryang Robert Yang is an indie game developer, academic, and writer, based in New York City. He frequently teaches game developer and design at the NYU Game Center and MFADT at Parsons the ... Continue reading
• itch.io week day 1: itch app & Ditto
  May 09, 2016 by leafo#features, #itchioweek

  Thanks for following along with itch.io week . As a reminder, each day this week we’ll be revisiting some part of itch.io with upgrades and releasing developer interviews with members of the itch.io community. itch - The itch.io app Check out the new app page We released the itch.io app December of last year to make it easy to install and run games from your account without having to futz around... Continue reading
• Developer interview with Ditto
  May 09, 2016 by junklatch#itchio-week, #developer-interview
• Get ready for itch.io week
  May 06, 2016 by leafo#features, #event

  Are you ready for 5 days of creators, functionality & more… and our next big release at the end? I hope so because starting May 9th (next Monday) we’re hosting our first itch.io week ! View the itch.io week page on itch.io itch.io week is an idea we’ve been cooking up for a while: we’ve got all these awesome creators and great tools… but  it’s way too easy to miss them if yo... Continue reading
• Introducing Game Embeds
  April 17, 2016 by leafo#features

  You’ve just finished your  Ludum Dare 35  game, and you’re looking to take advantage of embedding your game directly into your Ludum Dare submission page… or…  you have your own page where you’d like to host your game, but you still want to still use itch.io to upload and update your game. itch.io has you covered, introducing game embeds ! Any HTML or Flash project can now b... Continue reading
• Come say hello at PAX East
  April 07, 2016 by leafo

  Are you going to be at PAX East? Come find Leaf and Chris to talk itch.io. We won’t have a booth but we’ll be walking the floor looking for creators, gamers, and anyone else who’s interested. If you’re looking to learn more about itch.io, give some suggestions, show us what you’re making, or just want to say hi - let us know! Send us a tweet during the event or, if you’d like to sc... Continue reading
• Vote for itch.io’s app on Steam Greenlight
  April 02, 2016 by leafo#april1st, #steam, #greenlight

  Thanks for the support over the past 3 years, you can now vote for us on Steam Greenlight! Support itch.io by voting YES on our Greenlight page: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=657330970 Look forward to highlights such as Achievements for arranging your content and downloading as many games as you can  Integration with matchmaking to find the libraries of other gamers that s... Continue reading
• Introducing Reverse Sales
  April 01, 2016 by leafo#features

  You may have heard murmurings of the indiepocalypse, how the price of your average indie game is quickly approaching zero as desperate developers race to run bargain bin sales or join pay what you want bundles that net 2 cents per sale. Are creators proud to list their game at 75% off after months/years/decades of development? In some cases, just weeks after a launch. Maybe when sales were novel... Continue reading
• Better participant tools for game jam hosts
  March 31, 2016 by leafo

  Jam hosts have a brand new interface for keeping track of participants. You can find it on the participants tab on any jam’s edit page. If you weren’t aware, itch.io lets you host a game jam with a few clicks . Enjoy Continue reading
• New purchases dashboard
  March 10, 2016 by leafo#features

  We’ve released an updated purchases dashboard with a couple more features that should make it easier to browse and find any purchases on your account.  You can find it on the Purchases tab of your dashboard.  Here are the highlights: More detail is shown on the purchase list by default. For example you can now see at a glance whether someone has downloaded yet, or grabbed their download key. E... Continue reading
• External links, support email + more
  February 24, 2016 by leafo

  We’ve got a couple new features that you might find useful. The focus this time has been on improving communication with buyers and sellers. External links If you have any related URLs for your projects, like support pages, homepages, or external communities, you can now add these from the External links section of the distribute tab. These links will automatically appear on the top of every gam... Continue reading
• HTTPS now forced everywhere
  February 11, 2016 by leafo

  We mentioned at the end of last that year we’d be transitioning to forced HTTPS for anyone that loads itch.io through a browser or the API. Although HTTPS has been optional since then, today we’ve finally switched over to 100%. In order to make sure that all pages on itch.io work with as few warnings as possible, and no blocked content, we ran a script over every project page to upgrade any if... Continue reading
• itch.io Year in Review 2015
  January 08, 2016 by leafo#itchio

  Just like last year , we’d like to take a moment to look back on everything itch.io has been up to for the past year. (Sorry we’re a little late!) We’re really proud of what has been accomplished and the support we’ve received from the community. Here are some of the highlights. Features of 2015: January A new payout system and an update to handling VAT New aggregated seller analytics page... Continue reading
• Communities enhanced
  January 03, 2016 by leafo#features, #community

  Since launching communities for jams & games , along with the new global itch.io community , we’ve gotten a lot of feedback. We’ve added and fixed many things, here are some of the highlights: New community profiles that let you see all the posts made by someone. Check out Amos’s profile for an example You can now subscribe and bookmark topics, you can find links to do so on the topic’s he... Continue reading

2015

• Game communities now available
  December 17, 2015 by leafo#features

  The same great community tools that power the new itch.io global community and jam communities are now available for all of your game and other project pages. When creating a community for your projects you now have two options: Comments Discussion board You’ll find the two options on the bottom of your project’s edit page. Game communities come with all the same moderation tools as any commun... Continue reading
• Say hello to the itch.io app: itch
  December 14, 2015 by leafo#features, #app

  Although the itch.io website is great for finding games , supporting creators , participating in communities , creating game jams , and following developers , there are a few things that just don’t work that well from your browser. We started building the itch.io app many months ago to address the common request of managing your itch.io library, installing, and running games right from your desk... Continue reading
• Switching to HTTPS everywhere
  December 01, 2015 by leafo

  itch.io will be switching to forced HTTPS everywhere Monday, December 7th [1]. HTTPS is a standard protocol that adds encryption on top of your regular browser requests to ensure that your private information stays private. We’ve allowed for HTTPS on all pages for some time now, but it has not been mandatory. Because of this change some developers’ game pages might be affected. HTTPS pages wil... Continue reading
• Introducing the itch.io community
  November 30, 2015 by leafo#features

  Today we’re launching the itch.io global community! A community has always been a big part of growing itch.io. Over the past few months we’ve added features like  comments on project page , and  message boards on game jams . The global community is a public community for all of itch.io. A place where people of similar interests can talk about game development and other creative projects. The... Continue reading
• Enhanced browsing
  October 31, 2015 by leafo#features

  Happy Halloween! Hope you don’t mind an itch.io update in your treat bag. Today we’re launching brand new browse pages. Since we’ve got over over 20,000 games  now, making it’s easy to browse through them is one of our top priorities.  Now you can effortlessly find  Oculus Rift games with a demo , top-selling local-multiplayer games for Linux , or fresh Mac games for $5 or less . Some ... Continue reading
• Introducing the “interact” tab
  September 27, 2015 by leafo#features

  All project pages now have a new “ Interact ” tab from their edit page. The interact tab is where you’ll find any tools itch.io provides to help you keep in touch with those interacting with your game or project. You’ll find the following tools: Send email to buyers View ratings and reviews View press links Ratings and reviews For quite some time itch.io has provided a system for people l... Continue reading
• New itch.io guide pages
  September 26, 2015 by leafo#features

  The itch.io guide pages have been updated with a new layout, better organization, and plenty of new guides. Each time we launch a core feature we try to have an alongside guide post detailing how the feature works in the form of a quick tutorial. Here are some highlights from the new and updated guides: Creator’s FAQ Creator’s getting started guide Designing your page Interacting with your fan... Continue reading
• Comments for your project pages
  September 13, 2015 by leafo#features

  itch.io is great for hosting games of all sizes . Whether you’re releasing your next ambitious project or a small prototype assembled in a weekend, itch.io has the tools to make sure you can effortlessly get your game out there. An often requested feature is better support for handling communication between creators and players. Starting today we’re releasing the first part of this: you can no... Continue reading
• Introducing jam communities
  September 08, 2015 by leafo#features

  Creating a game jam on itch.io is a simple, ad-hoc way to get together a bunch of people to create games with a similar cause. If you’ve ever wanted to organize discussion or a community around your jam you would have had to find another site to do it. Starting today anyone creating a jam can now instantly attach a community to their jam. This community functionality is the first of many communi... Continue reading
• The itch.io randomizer
  July 17, 2015 by leafo#features

  I feel like I’ve been starting every update lately with “there are a lot of games on itch.io.” Well, it’s true, there are a lot, and helping people discover games is a top priority. There are a handful of ways already:  game recommendations ,  browse pages , other people’s profiles and collections , and the featured games on the homepage . Starting today we have a new way to find game... Continue reading
• Better game classification
  July 11, 2015 by leafo#features

  itch.io has almost 16,000 games as of today. That’s a lot! When itch.io’s game browsing interface was first launched there were only a few hundred games. These days it’s quite cumbersome to sift through all the games with the limited filter options available. In order to prepare for an improved interface for searching and browsing we’re launching a new metadata  area for all project pages... Continue reading
• A new notifications system
  June 29, 2015 by leafo#features

  Starting today itch.io now has a brand new notification system to keep you updated on things like your sales, comments, and new followers. Any unread notifications will be signaled to you with a white dot in the header: Clicking that will take you to the new notifications page: a summary of the events that have happened recently. All notifications that go unread will automatically be sent to you a... Continue reading
• Running an Indie Game Store 2015
  June 20, 2015 by leafo
• Two factor authentication now available
  May 31, 2015 by leafo#features

  Starting today you can now add two factor authentication to your itch.io account. Two factor authentication gives your account an additional layer of security on top of your password by asking you to provide a code available from your phone to log in. We’ve decided to implement the Time-based One-Time Password algorithm, a standard algorithm used by authenticator apps like Google Authenticat... Continue reading
• Introducing Bitcoin support
  May 30, 2015 by leafo#features

  One of the most common requests we get is adding more methods to pay when buying games. Starting today you can now pay with Bitcoin to any seller that is using itch.io’s payout system . You don’t need to change anything about your account for it to work, and you’ll still receieve payouts in USD! Bitcoin payments are implemented through Stripe’s Bitcoin support . To buy somethin... Continue reading
• New sale pages
  May 15, 2015 by leafo#features

  In case you missed it, itch.io just launched a revamped bundle system just a few weeks ago, check it out: Introducing Co-op Bundles . A few other changes also snuck out, but now we’re officially announcing them. All sale pages on itch.io now have a new design! The new page puts the games in the sale closer to the top with a two column layout. There’s a new countdown widget to help any viewer k... Continue reading
• Introducing co-op bundles
  April 30, 2015 by leafo#features

  In the past itch.io made it possible to sell bundles of your own games at once by letting you set a buy all  price on any sale you host. This was a great feature, but a big downside was that there was no way for multiple developers to get together and host a bundle. Starting today it’s now possible for many developers to get together and organize their own bundles! We’re calling them co-op bu... Continue reading
• Awesome new updates
  April 11, 2015 by leafo#features

  Whoa, it’s almost been a month since we last posted updates. We haven’t been doing nothing! Here’s some some stuff you might like: Credit cards now supported for “collect and pay later” itch.io has two payout modes: Direct to you, and collect and pay later . In the past, collect and pay later only supported PayPal. Starting now, credit card purchasing is automatically available to all s... Continue reading
• Games pages (& more) now available for mobile browsers
  March 13, 2015 by leafo

  Effective immediately all game pages on itch.io are now a lot easier to use on mobile browsers! This change also comes with a handful of other features making it easier to use the site when on a phone or small screen device. The game pages are now responsive , meaning they’ll render correctly on devices of any size. As a game page creator, you don’t need to do anything! All of your content wil... Continue reading
• Introducing open revenue sharing
  March 04, 2015 by leafo#features

  AKA: You can soon help itch.io pay its bills Since October 2013, itch.io has let developers sell their content without taking any of the money. It was originally disabled for the Ludum Dare October Challenge , which challenges people to build a game, take it to market, and sell it. At the time I decided to keep itch.io’s fee off indefinitely since the cost of hosting the site was manageable,... Continue reading
• Jam hosting open for everyone
  March 02, 2015 by leafo#features

  Since itch.io launched a host your own game jam service last year over 3000 games have been uploaded for game jams. Previously, in order to host a jam, you had to send a message to itch.io admins to get your jam approved. Starting now anyone can create a jam an publish it as soon as they’re ready . Here are some jam features you may have missed: If you’re jam is competitive you can set... Continue reading
• New sale/bundle and jam pages for developers
  March 01, 2015 by leafo#features

  You’ll now find two new tabs from your My games  page to help you manage game jams you’ve interacted with or and sales/bundles you’ve created. Both of these things were previous hidden away on the left column on the my games page, but now have their own dedicated pages with much more information. Game jams The new game jams tab  helps you organize any games you’ve submitt... Continue reading
• Miscellaneous things to make your day better
  February 28, 2015 by leafo#features

  Hidden uploads If you’ve ever wanted to upload a file when you’re not quite ready to release it, or maybe hide an old file when you’re not quite ready to delete it, you now can with the new “Hide this file” option. All uploads can be optionally hidden. New aggregate earnings by month graph There’s a new graph on the recently released aggregated earnings page  t... Continue reading
• Bulk key generation for sellers
  February 14, 2015 by leafo#features

  itch.io has a great system for giving free copies of your game called download keys . There are a couple shortcomings with it though: the system only lets you create 1 key at a time, doesn’t give you control over what specific files are available, and whether external marketplace keys are available. Often when running a promotion by handing out keys you’ll need hundreds or maybe thousa... Continue reading
• Introducing collection contributors and a new way to write about games
  February 09, 2015 by leafo#features

  If you weren’t already aware, itch.io has a great system for managing collections of games . You can make public or private collections of the games you like (or dislike). Public collections can be embedded on your profile or just shared by passing around the link. Since collections have been available as a feature on itch.io, over 22,000 games have been added to collections. 75% of all col... Continue reading
• New aggregated purchases page for sellers
  February 01, 2015 by leafo#features

  If you’re a seller on itch.io with multiple games (or  sales/bundles ) you now have a new page that lets you see and export the aggregated purchases across all of your projects. You’ll find a new purchases tab below the header of the My games page. It includes a table of all the purchases in addition to a graph of purchases by day. From this page you can also generate a CSV export of ... Continue reading
• A new payout system and an update to handling VAT
  January 19, 2015 by leafo#itchio, #features

  When 2015 rolled around, new VAT tax laws set in place by the EU affected all sellers with buyers in the EU. itch.io  responded by giving sellers all the necessary information to comply with the new regulations , but the burden of registering as a VAT MOSS seller and filing taxes was left up to the seller. This wasn’t that great. Starting today a new payout model is available to itch.io. A ... Continue reading
• itch.io Year in Review 2014 - The Features
  January 08, 2015 by leafo#itchio

  Although we’re almost 10 days into 2015 but I’d like to take a moment to reflect back on 2014 for itch.io. A lot of great stuff came out, many games were downloaded, played, and bought, and tons of new features came out on itch.io. Here’s the list for 2014: December Updates for VAT Sale goals and sale analytics Updated classification options for game pages itch.io desktop app development pic... Continue reading

2014

• Getting ready for VAT in 2015
  December 31, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  What’s changing Some significant changes are coming to how VAT is handled for sellers and buyers in the EU starting January 1st, 2015. You can read more about this change from the official documents , but they be pretty difficult to understand. A handful of others have written very good guides which you can read here: http://rachelandrew.co.uk/archives/2014/11/25/how-small-companies-and-freelanc... Continue reading
• Introducing sale goals and sale analytics
  December 25, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  A handful of new features for sales have come out today! If you didn’t already know, any developer can host a sale on itch.io ! The name sale is a bit of a misnomer because recently sales got the ability to also function as bundles of games . Here’s what’s new: Sale Goals You may have seen that the Devs With Ferguson Bundle , which raised over $11,000 for the Ferguson Public Libr... Continue reading
• Updates for sitelocked games
  December 20, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Some changes are coming to itch.io’s infrastructure regarding the domain where web games are served from. This might affect you if you’ve placed a sitelock within your code . A sitelock is s omething that checks the originating domain or URL of the game’s file before letting the user play. This is to prevent other sites from taking your game and hosting it on their own platform. ... Continue reading
• Updates to the game edit page
  December 16, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  A couple of important changes have been rolled out to the game edit page to get ready for new browsing updates coming to itch.io! Here’s a quick overview. The new things: There’s now a Release status field, you can choose what stage of  development your game is in: There are now fields for setting mobile app store links. If you’ve got a game on Google Play or the Apple App store... Continue reading
• New features for game jams
  November 18, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  With a handful of some pretty cool jams going on, 7DFPS ,   Procedural Generation Jam 2014 , and Leap Motion 3D Jam , I decided it was a good time to add some new features to help making discovering games in jams a bit easier. All game jams now have their own activity feed. ( Very similar to the personalizaed feeds that were launched a few weeks ago ) Any games submitted to the jam will have e... Continue reading
• Updates to your purchases
  November 03, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  A couple changes regarding how purchases are linked to accounts have been deployed over the past few days. In the past a purchase was only associated with an account if it shared the same (verified) email address. Now purchases can be directly attached to an itch.io account. If you purchase a game while logged in it will be attached to that account regardless of the email address used in the purch... Continue reading
• Introducing the games feed!
  October 27, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  Wow, itch.io sure has changed a lot since it first came out! Starting today everyone now has access to a brand new games feed. If you’re logged in, you can find your personal feed here: http://itch.io/my-feed If you don’t have an account yet you can check out the featured feed here:  http://itch.io/featured-games-feed Read on for the highlights: Now’s a better time than ever to ... Continue reading
• Follow itch.io members & privacy settings
  October 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  itch.io will be releasing some new features that make things a bit more social. You may have noticed a “Follow” button started appearing on some pages of the site. You’ll find it on user profile pages and game pages on the top right. If you’ve been using collections you might also see it after you add a game to a collection. Try following some of your favorite developers an... Continue reading
• Running an indie game store
  September 19, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Link: Running an indie game store Continue reading
• Enhanced itch.io tagging system
  September 17, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  A good game discovery system gives someone looking for games a wide range of methods to slice up games to find something interesting. In the past itch.io only let you browse games by platform, genre and price. itch.io always let developers assign tags but never gave the game players an easy way to find them. You can now browse tags from the new  Top tags  page , ~170 selected tags: http://itch.i... Continue reading
• Running an indie game store
  September 16, 2014 by leafo
• Try out some recommended games
  September 03, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Over the past month I’ve been experimenting with building a game recommendation system for itch.io. It’s really awesome how there’s so much interesting and diverse content on itch.io. A disadvantage is that there are probably plenty of games you’d love to play that you don’t even know exist! A good recommendation system is only as good as the data fed into it. Leverag... Continue reading
• Games that hurt people aren't cool - updates to the itch.io acceptable use policy
  August 27, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Hello, My name is Leaf. I’ve created itch.io over the past year and a half. itch.io is the culmination of well over a thousand hours of work: tens of thousands of lines of code, hundreds of support tickets + emails, and plenty of opensource projects . You could say that I’ve put my very existence into creating itch.io. I’ve received a tremendous amount of support with the thousan... Continue reading
• New page for viewing your purchased games
  August 04, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  For those of you that have bought a handful of games and linked them to your account , using the purchases list on the My collections page to view your games isn’t ideal as it’s pretty cramped. You’re in luck because there’s now a new purchases page that lets you scroll through all of your purchases utilizing in full screen: Additionally, if you have any gifts that you have... Continue reading
• View where purchases come from
  July 31, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #features

  The game analytics pages have been updated to give you better insight about where purchases are coming from. If you’re familiar with itch.io then you might know there are a few different ways to buy a game, the embeddable widget , the pay popup API , and the game pages. In the past, if you were using more than one of these, you had no idea where someone was making a purchase. There’s n... Continue reading
• Game bundles on itch.io
  July 30, 2014 by leafo#itch.io, #features

  All developers on itch.io now have the ability to host their own game bundles on itch.io! Bundles are a great way to encourage people to buy multiple of your games at once by giving them a discounted price. On itch.io a bundle is a special kind of game sale where you set a “buy all” price to obtain every item in the sale at once.  Check out some bundles that have already been created:... Continue reading
• Updates to the press system, new application form
  July 12, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  itch.io launched its press system about 3 months ago . The press system is a method for letting content creators with a focus on indie games get access to paid games that opt in for free. There has been an overwhelming response so far. If you’re a game developer looking to be part of the press system then you can head to the user settings page to opt-in  right now! If you create content abo... Continue reading
• You can now offer downloads with web games
  July 02, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  itch.io is pretty cool because it lets you either host downloadable games (optionally with a price) or embed a web game directly in the page. In the past if you wanted to combine the two into a single page it wasn’t trivial. Starting today you can now have downloadable files alongside your embedded game! All the same great features for downloadable game files are now available for web games.... Continue reading
• Game jams - itch.io
  June 11, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #gamedev

  itch.io now has a new page for browsing game jams! Link: Game jams - itch.io Continue reading
• Upload game files with Dropbox
  June 10, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  For those that have a Dropbox account, you can now upload your game’s files directly from your Drobox account. You can find the new “Choose with Dropbox” button next to the original file upload button: One other enhancement to uploading has been made as well. If you upload a file with the same name as an existing file it will now override the existing one, but keep all existing s... Continue reading
• Enhancing jams: late submissions and entry editor
  May 27, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Jam admins now have a few more tools to make hosting jams easier than ever (and it’s already pretty easy to begin with, check out jam hosting on itch.io ). Starting today all jams now have a submissions tab on the jam’s edit page. This submissions tab contains a handful of tools for managing entries. As of now there are two tools: Late submission URLs Late submissions happen, for whate... Continue reading
• Enhancing jams: new jam admins feature
  May 27, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Did you know that anyone can host a game jam on itch.io ? Well now you do, great! A lot of game jams are collaborative events, hosted by more than just one person. For this reason, starting today, you can add Jam admins to you game jams. You can now let other users on itch.io have edit access to a jam you’ve created. You can find the new Admins page on the game jam edit page in the new tab ... Continue reading
• Buying a game on itch.io
  May 21, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  A handful of sellers have asked about what it’s like for a buyer to purchase a game on itch.io. I’ve written a guide that hopefully gives you a detailed view of the entire purchase process. Enjoy Link: Buying a game on itch.io Continue reading
• Easily view all your rated games
  May 20, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  For those of you that have been utilizing itch.io’s game rating feature , you can now view all the games you’ve rated on a full screen page. Just click  " Game’s you’ve rated" title of the list on the My collections page, or you can go here: http://itch.io/my-collections/rated . Enjoy Continue reading
• Public domain field for jams on itch.io
  May 17, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  In the spirit of The Public Domain Jam , itch.io’s game jam creation feature now lets any jam creator provide a CC0 public domain field to the entries of the game jam. You can find the public domain field on the Edit jam page in the field types drop down. It looks like this when used:  Enjoy! Continue reading
• Public Domain jam on itch.io
  May 17, 2014 by leafo#game-jam, #itchio

  itch.io is proud to be helping host The Public Domain Jam  in collaboration with Gritfish ! 1) Find a PUBLIC DOMAIN story or character 2) Make a game between May 17 and May 24 3) Submit it to the jam page GAMES WILL BE RATED ON: Graphics / Sound / Fun / Polish Staying true to the source material Most innovative use of the source material Official rules:  http://gritfish.net/public-domain-jam-rul... Continue reading
• Host a game jam on itch.io
  May 15, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #game-jam

  Check out itch.io’s game jam feature, now open to the public. Link: Host a game jam on itch.io Continue reading
• Try out the itch.io Android app
  May 12, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #android

  Introducing the  Itch.io Developer Dashboard . In collaboration with  @gotosleep , itch.io now has an Android app for game developers. You can get a quick overview of your game’s stats along with a feed of the official itch.io blog! Download below: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.itch The app is completely opensource and you can find it on GitHub:  https://github.com/got... Continue reading
• TOJam 9 on itch.io
  April 28, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #tojam

  itch.io is proud to be helping host TOJam 9 ! Check out some of the awesome games submitted already on http://itch.io/jam/tojam9 More information about TOJam 9 on the official website . Link: TOJam 9 on itch.io Continue reading
• Browse Ludum Dare 29 games!
  April 28, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #ld48, #ludum-dare

  Looking for an easy way to check out some of the games submitted for Ludum Dare 29? Have a look at the Ludum Dare Game Browser , hosted by itch.io. http://ludumdare.itch.io The browser lets you quickly scroll through all the games. You can even sort the games by ratings and filter by platform. Hover over each game to access the game’s downloads and see the number of ratings (the star) and th... Continue reading
• Welcome the first round of press users
  April 21, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  About 1 week ago itch.io launched its new press system , a way for indie game developers to opt their paid games in to be downloaded by special users with press access. Here are the press users that have been added to date: Chris Priestman  — Kill Screen, Pocket Gamer, Warp Door Andrew Larder  — Digital Gaudium Zolani Stewart  — The Arcade Review Lewie Procter  — SavyGamer.co.uk Sir Ta... Continue reading
• You can now rate games
  April 16, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  itch.io has a lot of games! It can be overwhelming trying to search through them looking for something to play. Starting today (actually as of a day or so ago) you can now rate games. The rating data is currently only visible to yourself, but as more games are rated this data will be factored into building a system for helping uncover some of the standout games. You can find the rate game button i... Continue reading
• Collections, now enhanced!
  April 16, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  A few months ago itch.io got the ability to create collections of games and share them on your profile. Today collections are getting a slight upgrade. All collections now have a dedicated browsing page, so you can easily share a link to just the collection, and browse all the games in full screen: Here’s a collection I’ve put together:  http://itch.io/c/11/games-to-check-out Just cli... Continue reading
• Contribute to itch.io through the public issues tracker
  April 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  In an effort to organize all the excellent feature requests and bug reports I’ve been getting I’ve created an a public GitHub repository with an issues tracker. You can view current issues or open a new one . Posting issues and features here is not a requirement, but it is helpful for keeping ideas organized and also encourages collaboration as all posts can be publicly discussed. As a... Continue reading
• Games can now be reported
  April 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  One of the disadvantages of running an open content submission platform is sometimes you get content that doesn’t belong. In order to help keep itch.io’s content well organized and free of spam you can now report games. You can find a Report game  link at the bottom of game’s page on itch.io. Clicking it will load a dialog that lets you describe the nature of the report. The fol... Continue reading
• Classify your content
  April 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Although itch.io is primary a place for hosting video games, there’s a lot of other interesting content that has been uploaded. While it’s nice to see different kinds of content it can be confusing to those browsing when not properly organized.  Starting today you can classify what you’ve created from the edit page. By default everything is just “Game”, but if you&rs... Continue reading
• Download keys can now be claimed
  April 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Download keys  is a cool feature of itch.io that lets you generate a unique URL for someone to download your game without having to buy it. One of the biggest enhancement requests I’ve gotten about them is the ability for a user to claim a key for themselves. Typically the URL is secret but still accessible by anyone and unlinked to any account, making it easy to lose or abuse. Starting tod... Continue reading
• Opt your games into the itch.io press system
  April 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  One of the biggest struggles with launching an indie game is figuring out how to market it. itch.io hopes to provide you with a rich set of features for not only distributing your game’s files but also raising awareness about your game. itch.io’s press system is the first step in that direction. If you have any paid games then indie game reviews and writers are significantly less likel... Continue reading
• You can now configure your notification settings
  April 14, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Currently itch.io only emails those of you with accounts when you’ve made a sale or you’re verifying an email address. Because sometimes the sales emails can be a little overwhelming you can now turn them off. There’s a new notifications area in the User settings page: As itch.io rolls out more features and needs to do email messaging you’ll find any of those options here. ... Continue reading
• Cyberpunk Jam results are now live
  March 24, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Thanks to everyone who participated in the Cyberpunk Jam on itch.io. 269 games were submitted between 03/01/2014 and 03/12/2014. 2726 ratings were cast by those who entered to 265 of the entries (98.5%) between 03/12/2014 and 03/24/2014. The average number of ratings per game was 10.1 and the median was 8. http://itch.io/jam/cyberpunk-jam/results Link: Cyberpunk Jam results are now live Continue reading
• You can now purchase games as gifts on itch.io
  March 17, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Starting today you can now purchase a game for someone else on itch.io . Just click click the Give this game as a gift checkbox on the purchase popup: After paying for the game you’ll be put on the gifting page where you can enter your recipient’s email and optionally include your name and a message. Enjoy! Continue reading
• Introducing the itch.io JSON API
  March 11, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Starting today, in addition to the  embeddable widget  and the  JavaScript button API , itch.io now has a server side JSON over HTTP API for querying data about your games. You can read the documentation on the new API reference page:  http://itch.io/api/reference In order to use the API you just need an  itch.io account . Afterwards you can generate an API key  to get started. The API cur... Continue reading
• Browse the Flappy Jam results
  March 10, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Now that the Flappy Jam is over don’t forget to browse the top games voted by those who entered. http://itch.io/jam/flappyjam/results 798 games  were submitted between  02/10/2014  and  02/24/2014 .  3015 ratings  were cast by those who entered to  762  of the entries (95.5%) between  02/24/2014  and  03/02/2014 . The average number of ratings per game was 3.8 and the median was 3... Continue reading
• You can now display your user profile in a grid
  March 10, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  If you have a lot of games on itch.io but not much to say on your user profile then the default column layout isn’t ideal. Starting today you can now change the layout of your profile page to put games in a grid: Just open up the appearance editor when logged in, and check the Display games in a grid checkbox. Enjoy! Continue reading
• Participate in the Cyberpunk Game Jam on itch.io!
  February 28, 2014 by leafo#itchio, #game-jam

  itch.io is proud to be helping host the Cyberpunk Game Jam  organized by @deviever . Build a Cyberpunk  game based on the theme image from March 1st to March 10th and submit it on itch.io to participate.  http://itch.io/jam/cyberpunk-jam Continue reading
• Rating now open for the Flappy Jam!
  February 25, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  The  Flappy Jam game submission period is officially over. 798  games were submitted! That’s itch.io’s biggest game jam yet. If you’ve submitted a game to the jam then you’re eligible to rate games. Games in the Flappy Jam are rated on two criteria: COOLNESS and HARDNESS . You can rate a game on the game’s jam entry page . This is a separate page than the game&rsquo... Continue reading
• Offer a demo alongside your purchasable games
  February 25, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  If you’ve ever wanted to provide a demo to go alongside your paid game you may of had to employ some workaround such as creating a separate page or just making a link in your description to a download URL. Starting today itch.io has the ability to host your demos. From the file uploader on the edit game page you can now mark a file as a demo. Files that are demos are listed below the buy but... Continue reading
• Share your game before it's published with a private share URL
  February 18, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Because it’s nice to get feedback on your game’s page before making it public you now have access to a secret share URL for unpublished games that lets anyone view the page. You can find the URL on the top right of the game page when it isn’t published. Just right click, copy the link, and send it to those you want to show your game’s page to. Note: This only lets you see t... Continue reading
• Let collaborators edit your game pages with the new game admins feature
  February 18, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  I handful of people have asked me if it was possible to have multiple accounts edit the same game page. It’s now possible with the new g ame admins feature! A game admin is someone who has access to a game in your account as if they had created it. They can edit the basic data, edit the appearance, they can view the game when it’s not published yet, and they can see all of the game&rsq... Continue reading
• Give Desura or other download keys with a purchase
  February 12, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  A few weeks ago  itch.io got the ability to provide a Steam key with a purchase on itch.io. Now you can also provide a Desura key or even an unbranded key for each purchase on itch.io. An unbranded key is one that can be used for your own download software, and is referred to as a “download key” without any reference to a particular store. You can find the External download keys page ... Continue reading
• Participate in the Flappy Jam on itch.io!
  February 11, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  itch.io is proud to be helping host the Flappy Jam : Make a hard, almost unplayable game. Use assets inspired (not ripped) from classics. FLAPPY word or gameplay not mandatory. Have fun, be supportive. Hate must not win. Why are we flap… I mean, jamming? Indie gamedevs are friendly and supportive, envy and teasing should not belong to our community, nor be a cause of suffering. Flappy Jam i... Continue reading
• Set suggested purchase price for downloadable games
  February 09, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  If you’ve ever uploaded a web game to itch.io before you may have noticed that you can supply a Suggested price as the default price when someone is donating to your game. For downloadable games it would default to the minimum price or 1 dollar if there is no minimum price. Starting now you can set it to any amount you want above or at the minimum price: Continue reading
• You can now email your buyers from itch.io
  January 29, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  If you’re selling a game then it’s now incredibly easy to contact those who have purchased your game.  itch.io now has it’s own interface for composing and sending an email, perfect for telling people about updates to your game or maybe even a new game you’ve just released. In addition to your message you can include the recipient’s unique game download link. A nice ... Continue reading
• Give Steam keys with your purchases
  January 26, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  If your game is also for sale on Steam (Congratulations Paper Sorcerer ) you can now offer Steam key redemption from your game’s purchase and download page. You can find the External keys  page on the new Download keys page from the game tool tabs when editing your game. You can supply keys in bulk and then buyers can request a key on their download page if one is available. If your game ha... Continue reading
• Old game URLs will redirect to most recent if changed
  January 13, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  Starting today if you change the URL of your game from the edit game page you don’t have to worry about breaking any links you may have already shared. Old URLs will stay active and redirect to the most recent URL for the game. Enjoy! Continue reading
• Enhancements to the file uploader
  January 13, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  File uploads on itch.io have received a few enhancements today: You can now tag your uploads with the platform they are for. The platform will show up when someone is downloading the game to help them decide which file to get. You can now rename the files to better describe the contents without having to re-upload. You can also re-order the files so you can put your most important file first even ... Continue reading
• You can now use Google Analytics with itch.io
  January 08, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  If you’ve ever wanted more detailed analytics for your game pages on itch.io you can now insert your own Google Analytics tracking ID in order to get pageview data about your game pages and profile page. You can find the Google Analytics setting page within User Settings > Analytics : Note: You must select ‘Classic Tracking’ when creating your GA tracking ID in order to be compat... Continue reading
• RSS feeds for browsing games
  January 07, 2014 by leafo#itchio

  You can now subscribe to itch.io RSS feeds to get up to date lists of games right in your feed reader. For any browse page URL, such as  http://itch.io/browse/price-free  you can append .xml to the end of the URL to get access to an RSS feed containing those games, eg.:  http://itch.io/browse/price-free.xml Additionally the following feeds are also available: The new games feed will give you th... Continue reading

2013

• Game collections and updated profile pages
  December 28, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  In addition to being able to view your purchases on the new My Collections page you can also make collections of any games you want. Creating and adding a game to a collection is done through the Add to collection button found on the top right of the game page. Clicking it brings up the following screen: You can add the game to an existing collection or create a new one. You can even write a littl... Continue reading
• Alternate download mode and improved download text
  December 28, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  There are a few updates to the download page today. I’ve recently learned that itch.io’s storage provider, Google Cloud Storage, is blocked in some regions. This was preventing people from downloading games. Starting today there is now an Alternate download mode  that you can enable on the download page. You can find it by clicking the Downloads not starting?  link on the bottom righ... Continue reading
• You can now access purchased games from your account
  December 28, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  In the past if you bought a game from itch.io you would be redirected to and emailed a private link containing all the files you have access too. Starting today you can now link your a purchase with your itch.io account and access all of your games just by logging in. Because purchases are associated with an email address you’ll have to verify ownership of your email address before you can a... Continue reading
• Search for purchases and donations by date
  December 24, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  You can now search through your purchases and donations by date on itch.io : You can find the date range search page through the Export Purchases link on the game analytics page. Enjoy Continue reading
• Add download and install instructions to your game
  December 19, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Sometimes when someone gets to the download page of a game they’re not sure which file they should download, or how they they should open or run what they’ve downloaded.  I’ve added a new text field to the edit game page that lets you write download and install instructions: This text will only show up after the user has entered the download page. If your game is purchase only t... Continue reading
• CSV export for purchases
  December 13, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  You can now generate a CSV export of your purchase data in monthly batches. You can find the export link under the purchases list on the Game Summary & Analytics page. Enjoy! Continue reading
• itch.io now supports HTML5 games!
  December 02, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  HTML5 joins the club of web based game types that is supported on itch.io! You can find the HTML Game type on the new/edit game page. In order to add your game you’ll need to upload a ZIP file containing a file called index.html and all of the game’s resources. itch.io will handle extracting and hosting it for you. Your game will be embedded in an iframe on itch.io’s game page. L... Continue reading
• Slight change to game analytics
  November 20, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Starting today if you view a game you have created and you are logged in the view will not count towards the game’s analytics. In the past any view from a browser would trigger a view increment. I know a lot of people end up refreshing the game page and looking at it multiple times when designing it. Because these kinds of views can interfere with understanding how a game is being viewed by ... Continue reading
• You can now apply a label to download keys
  November 20, 2013 by leafo#itch.io

  Download keys now support labels to help you organize them: Some other small enhancements have been applied as well, the list will update automatically as you make changes so you can keep track of the keys easier. If you weren’t aware of download keys you can find them on the bottom of the “Game Analytics” page. From there you can create special download URLs to give someone acce... Continue reading
• Android is now an available platform
  November 20, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  There are a few Android games floating around on itch.io but it’s quite hard to locate them. I’ve added Android as a platform option on the game edit page. You can also now filter by Android from the browse page. If you’ve got an apk file uploaded make sure head over to the game edit page and tick the “Android” checkbox. Enjoy! Continue reading
• Say hello to the new browse & search pages!
  November 14, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  When itch.io started there were just a handful of games, you could easily see all the games in a single page. This is no longer the case, itch.io now has over 250 published games! The old browse page let you scroll through the entire library, which was nice to see the vastness but not so nice for those looking for something specific. The new browse page  lets you filter content by a set of differ... Continue reading
• Accept credit card payments with Stripe
  November 11, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  You can find an example of the new checkout flow on the X-Moon game page , click Download Now, then Credit Card. Today itch.io is releasing its third payment provider:  Stripe . Stripe lets a buyer pay with credit card directly from itch.io without the need for any additional accounts (opposed to PayPal or Amazon Payments). Stripe’s transaction fee is  $0.30 + 2.9%, the same as PayPal and... Continue reading
• Introducing the itch.io widget!
  November 06, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  The itch.io widget is an embeddable piece of HTML that you can put on other sites that enables visitors to download or buy your game! The entire download and purchasing flow is available through the widget. You can name your own price, download free games and see files that have individual prices. If you’ve already got a website for your game then the itch.io widget is the perfect way to tak... Continue reading
• You can now request your download URLs to be resent to your email address
  October 07, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  If you’ve purchased any games on itch.io and are potentially worried about losing your download access then you don’t have to worry any more. You can now request all your download URLs to be sent to your email address from the support page:  http://itch.io/about/support When you buy a game on itch.io the purchase is associated with the email address you bought it with. As long as you ... Continue reading
• itch.io takes no cut for the rest of October!
  October 05, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  In celebration of the Ludum Dare October Challenge , which challenges you finish a game and make at least $1 selling it, itch.io will take no cut of transactions for the rest of October! This means you get to keep all of your profit after the payment provider, Amazon or PayPal, takes their cut. Go forth and sell some games! Continue reading
• Buy popup interface updated with file list
  October 02, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  If you’re using the itch.io buy button API  then you’ll be excited to know that the purchase popup will now show all of a game’s files, including unlockable files with minimum prices. Additionally, if your game is part of a sale then it will be listed on the top. The popup will automatically grow in size to fit all the new information displayed. Enjoy! Continue reading
• Host your own indie game sale - itch.io
  October 02, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Sweet new feature! Link: Host your own indie game sale - itch.io Continue reading
• Updates to donation dialog
  September 04, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I’ve updated the buy/download lightbox slightly for free games. The old layout was a little aggressive about encouraging people to pay, with the messaging not clear that the game was free and the link to access the downloads at the bottom. The feedback I received is that the dialog might be unfairly tricking people into thinking you have to pay for the game. I made the text on top very expli... Continue reading
• Disable payments for a specific game
  August 31, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  You can now disable payments for a specific game from the edit game page. This way your game is completely free and no one is ever given the opportunity to pay for the game. The downloads are also available directly on the game page, eliminating any extra clicks or dialogs. Continue reading
• Follow itch.io on social networks
  August 16, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  You can follow itch.io on Twitter at @itchio and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/itchiogames Continue reading
• Updated way to browse games
  August 16, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  New itch.io browse page! Takes advantage of wide screens and shows a lot more relevant data about each game. Enjoy! Continue reading
• Sell files at different price points
  August 08, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Starting today itch.io now lets you apply a minimum price to individual files. For example you could offer your game at 5 dollars, and then if someone pays over 7 dollars they also get the game soundtrack! Another possibility is having your game be free, but any extra downloads have a minimum price. You can set file prices in the game edit page next to each file you have uploaded: When someone goe... Continue reading
• A new itch.io logo
  August 08, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  itch.io now has a logo! I’m still rolling it out to the different pages, but you can find it on the homepage right now: http://itch.io/home Continue reading
• Referrers and share buttons
  July 25, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  itch.io gets new features today: On the game analytics pages you can now see where your visitors are coming from: After downloading a game you can now share the game on various social networks: Continue reading
• Support for Java applets added
  July 22, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  You can now host your Java games on itch.io . From the New Game/Edit Game page choose “Java Game”. You’ll have to upload a jar file, provide the dimensions of the applet and the class name of the entry point. Your game will be embedded directly in the page. Like other embedded games, you can take donations for your game if you have a payment account set up. Here’s what it l... Continue reading
• Change what itch.io calls your project
  July 22, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I’ve been asked a handful of times if it’s okay to upload things that aren’t games to itch.io . (I’ve been asked about things like ebooks, tools, and visualizations). I’ve said yes, but one of the problems is that itch.io calls what you upload a “game”. Starting today you can customize what itch.io calls what you are sharing/selling. You can find the &ldqu... Continue reading
• itch.io Might Just Be The Most Flexible And Friendly Indie Game Marketplace There Is - Indie Statik
  July 16, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Selling indie games is a tough thing to crack, and there are lot of options out there claiming to make it easier for developers to make some money off their Link: itch.io Might Just Be The Most Flexible And Friendly Indie Game Marketplace There Is - Indie Statik Continue reading
• New itch.io homepage!
  June 20, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I’ve just released a brand new homepage for itch.io. It should give visitors a better idea of what the site is capable of (along with looking a lot cooler). Enjoy! Link: New itch.io homepage! Continue reading
• More analytics and updated designs
  June 06, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I added some more detailed analytics and updated the designs of a couple pages last night. Check out the new logged in homepage page: The game list looks a lot nicer, and has links to the relevant edit and game pages. I’ve also included some statistics for total revenue, purchases, views, and downloads. I’ve also updated the “manage downloads” game page to now be the game a... Continue reading
• Browse Games
  June 06, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I slipped this feature out last week, but you can now browse games on itch.io. There aren’t many yet but it should give you an idea of what other people are doing and help for discovering new games. I’ve also added a featured games section on the homepage. I picked a few games that looked nice and featured them. I’ve you’ve got a game that you want featured you should tell me! Featured: Br... Continue reading
• Flash games now supported
  May 28, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Time for another update, you can now host flash games on itch.io! Because it doesn’t make sense to sell them like like a normal downloadable game, the SWF will be playable inside of your game page and players will be given the option to support the game by donating.  Here’s an example game page:  http://arkeus.itch.io/antichromatic Uploading a flash game is easy! Just create an new g... Continue reading
• itch.io API
  May 28, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I’ve got some updates for itch.io today, the first is the itch.io API. It lets you embed a buy/download button into an existing webpage. itch.io will handle the transactions (with either PayPal or Amazon Payments) and the hosting of your games files. You just need to provide the website to install the button into! Read more on the documentation: http://itch.io/api And here’s what it lo... Continue reading
• Sell your game in more currencies!
  April 15, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Starting now you can sell your game in a handful of different currencies when using PayPal. All you need to do is head over to the user settings page and choose a currency. The checkout flow will then use the currency you chose: It’s recommended to set the currency on itch.io to match your PayPal account so you can receive money without having to open up a separate balance. PayPal will autom... Continue reading
• Amazon Payments
  April 12, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I’ve added a new payment provider for itch.io today! You can now receive money through Amazon Payments . Head over to the account settings page and click the “Link Amazon Payments” button. Follow directions on the following page to link your account. Now when someone goes to buy they will be presented with all of the payment options you support: Amazon Payments is only available ... Continue reading
• Brand new buy dialog
  March 28, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  Say hello to the new buy lightbox. Just deployed, enjoy. Also unrelated, but I’ve set up a CDN, or content delivery network, for game images. This means that game images should load significantly faster! I’ve been getting a lot of great feedback and I’ve got a lot more features planned. Thanks everyone for all the support! - Leaf Continue reading
• itch.io FAQ
  March 20, 2013 by leafo#itchio

  I wrote an FAQ with some of the questions people have been asking, along with some questions that I think people will want to know the answers to. Feel free to ask any question and I’ll add them to the FAQ if they are relevant. - Leaf Link: itch.io FAQ Continue reading
• Updates to game analytics
  March 17, 2013 by leafo#itchio, #updates

  Great news I’ve got another update. I added some analytics to game pages and downloads along with charts to your logged in homepage. Now you can see your game’s activity over time. It’s a little basic at the moment but now that I’m collecting the data I can add more sophisticated graphs in the future. Also because I’ve just started collecting this information, the cha... Continue reading
• First Updates!
  March 13, 2013 by leafo#itchio, #updates

  Okay, along with this blog I also deployed some updates today: I replaced the game text editor with a rich text editor. (Previously was Markdown). You can also write pure HTML if you want by clicking the button. All user accounts now get subdomains! No more ugly URLS for your games. For example, my game, X-Moon is now located at http://leafo.itch.io/x-moon In addition to the subdomains, it&rsq... Continue reading
• Welcome
  March 13, 2013 by leafo

  Welcome to the itch.io blog! itch.io lets you create a custom page where you can distribute your indie games. It lets you upload your game files and screenshots, customize the layout, and set a minimum purchase price. You can either give your games our for free to start selling them right away. I plan to use this blog to post updates to the site as I add new features and enhancements. You can fin... Continue reading