Part of the issue with web versions boils down to itch’s limitations, especially for RPG Maker titles. The version of Fatch Quest I uploaded for the jam wasn’t under 500MB unzipped (though a proper web export probably would’ve been), nor was it less than 1000 total files, making it ineligible for a web release - not that I had the spare time to figure out how to set one up anyways. The patched versions have trimmed out unused default RPG Maker resources enough to put them within the limit, but now that the jam’s entered its judging phase I can’t upload to the game page for another 12 days.

For most small or medium-sized RPG Maker games, checking the ‘Exclude unused files’ box is enough to get you within the limits (especially if you trim all the unused enemies, actors, tilesets, etc. out of your database), but there are other concerns you have to worry about. Particularly, the way the exclusion function works is that the editor just scans your maps and database for references to file names for images, tilesets, music, SE, etc. If you’re using a plugin involving any sort of image handling or custom audio - even stuff like custom interface buttons or GUI enhancements - the exclusion search will probably miss them, leading the exported game to have missing images or audio if you don’t manually copy them to the export folder before uploading. The workaround is to create an event somewhere (even if it’s never used) that references each object - a Show Picture command for each image, etc. For Fatch Quest, there’s less than 20 images I needed to do this for, and so it only took a minute or two to set up. For Magical Viking Erika, that’d require references to nearly 300 images across three dozen subfolders, with the next update increasing that total substantially - I’ve had to write a custom build script to handle what gets included and what gets excluded.

I’m older than the internet. I get it. In fact, I’ll admit I still harbor some resentment over the switch from Flash to HTML5 games.

It’s certainly not vital if someone is making a standalone game or already has a reputation or fanbase. If I know I want to play a game because I saw someone online doing a Let’s Play, that could drive me to push through an installer and some light troubleshooting and and and…

If, however, a person’s game is one of hundreds, then they need to outcompete for people’s limited attention. Each pain point is a spot where you can lose people that will play and might enjoy your game. In another jam I did, people with web builds received an average of 5 ratings and many more plays. People without received an average of 1.

I wouldn’t want to play a triple-A game in the browser. I don’t even like playing most games in the browser. But for a jam where I don’t know anything about the games and need to get through 25 of them, I like to be able to preview them like I would an asset pack before I download them.