itch.io

Yes. Each Place can be connected side-to-side. So they would have four "entrances". This wasn't communicated to keep the instructions short. So I'm writing a clearer Mapping section next.

Hi! Thank you for the questions.

1) You start by fighting THEM immediately. The intention was for players to start playing the moment they read the game.

2) You fire 3 Shots in a burst each time with your Pistol and the Three Kings. The only exception is when you have less than 3 Shots loaded. So you will fire the remaining Shots instead (1 or 2). This can happen if your total ammo for a gun is at an odd number.

3) WHAT REMAINS can only be found and picked after making THEM fall. Under PLACES, each new place you enter will have its own list of items or effects. Some of these items are the same ones you see in WHAT REMAINS. If you mean entering a Room under the list of Places given, you can choose to add either 1 Shot or 1 Skin into your Inventory.

4) You reload all your Shots at once. The game won't stop you from reloading less. But it would not be wise.

5) I split my answer for this in two parts for backtracking and revisiting Places:

• Backtracking is useful when you want to keep track of important Places. Especially Lodges to keep yourself topped up, Locked Doors to work towards Masks and Boxes you plan to open later with Shanks to avoid THEM.
• You roll to face THEM when you revisit a Place the same way you would when you enter a new one. This also applies when a Place becomes Empty. If an Empty room feels too risky, charting a new route around it might be better. But this can also have its own costs. If you're uninjured and need to restock at a Lodge with an Empty Place in the way for example, taking the shortest route could be safer than taking a detour with more Places in the way.

6) This is definitely a common problem I'm seeing from first reviews! There is a short preamble on the last page of the game right now. But it does not explain much. I plan to add a better introduction to help players get into play better in the next big update.

7) That's a good suggestion. I'll try to add labeled cutouts for accessibility.

And this was not in the questions but I notice dying quickly happens frequently for players. So I'm considering more options for players to adjust the difficulty for themselves without taking away the challenge facing THEM. Such as a better starting inventory and more risk-vs-reward effects.

Thanks for the compliments too. I hope you enjoy your next play!

That's great to hear!! :)

A few months ago, I downloaded a copy of this for the 2023 Manifesto Jam. This week I found it again when I was cleaning out old files. As a new designer, a lot of it resonates with how I feel and connect with art. It teaches and encourages you to make games which are "impossible" in a world that too often teaches us to judge things based on value and capital. It was really nice to read a reminder of that buried in my downloads. Just make things and enjoy the process. Thanks for writing this.

Thanks for the feedback! I made some changes to address your questions so the new version (1.3.2) should be helpful.

1) If you missed a hit and immediately have to reload, you will be attacked twice. Once for missing and not immediately taking Them down. And again for reloading and giving Them the chance. If you're having trouble with this, getting a P. Mag might help a lot.

2) You only roll to check if you will face Them when you move into a new Place. The new version has changed the rule to make it more clear.

3) The penalties only happen to your Hit rolls.

4) If you mean "SELL for COIN" under FLESH, this was the old name for currency in a previous version. You collect and use EYES to buy things instead. You can find a small box to keep track of it under the INVENTORY heading.

5) Yes, you can only start tracking and returning to old Places once you get the compass. They will disappear otherwise. The cutouts can be physically printed and cut to keep track of inventory and your map. 

For inventory, the items can be placed on your inventory slots. You have a starting limit of 4x4 slots (-1 from your Pistol which cannot be removed) to work with. Note: The Triple King takes up 4 slots!

For mapping, the places can be arranged on a surface or paper to keep track of how things are laid out or connected around you. I realize mapping can be a little obscure. So I will try to make something for that in the next update.

I hope you have a good time playing!

I'm glad to hear that! And hey, I wish you the best and a good week. If you have someone you can reach out to or give a call, I think that would be a great idea and hope you can do that.

Hi!

• There isn't a real limit to the game. But I would recommend a maximum of 5 based on the relationship prompts. If you run out of prompts, you can technically still reuse any of them. The game is GM-less. Everyone reads the rules, plays and facilitates the game together.
• This is a great question! I put half an hour when I first made this. Because I tested playing it solo first. But more games with groups have taught me this can actually last quite a while when everyone gets really immersed. The longest session I had with WNL was 2 and a half hours and the shortest lasted only 20 minutes (But we did cut this off halfway).
• There isn't a dedicated solo mode. But it is possible and I encourage it.

Thank you for these questions. They really gave me some things to think about. And I'll update the game's description to fit. Might also add a page about solo mode if I have the time.

I also added 10 more Community Copies + 8 from recent purchases. You can grab a copy if that helps!

good game

Very well done. I really like this feeling there's an interesting blend of styles between tarot cards, comic and modern layout.

Very cool.

Thank you!

Thank you! I hope you like them.

Short, sweet and exciting. I really like how well the inspiration fits with the adventure.

Thank you! :)

Nice games.

A deep and tragic game about ambition and isolation. Magus tempts you twice fold with impossible odds. First, embark on the path of power without ever losing control. Second, to be strong without ever being vulnerable.

My first session felt like a marathon of blood. From the beginning, Magus plays the clever trick of presenting you an out: "Perhaps the best course of action you could take is to never play". The text clearly shows how dangerous your journey of power can be. The world could be pummeled to dust if you made one simple mistake. But your path as a Magus almost feels too simple to fail. Make a compromise here, stay the path once in a while there and grab power when it's safest. What could ever go wrong with you at the helm?

Then you do make a mistake. And sacrifices must be made. But it's okay. You have power. And there are plenty of people to take the blow for you. You took on a debt for them. Now would be their turn. When the dominoes finally start falling in front of you, you will have already convinced yourself you still hold all the cards.

I really recommend taking a weekend to play this. If not give it a read.

Weird, sinister and bombastic. Has one of the coolest character sheets I ever seen. Burnout Reaper is pure dark and wicked cyberpunk set in a world where the player must take the lives of others to continue theirs - however little there is left of it. My advice is to play this when the mood is right and heed the author's warnings.

The Ferryman is a one-way ride down the river Acheron. You are dead and there's no going back. All you have are your senses, fading memories and the company of Charon. The text reflects this well. Rather than instructing you, Charon speaks directly to you and guides the way. Charon is patient, caring and curious. He answers all your questions and asks just as many about the life you led.

You spend time thinking about what comes next, what once was and what is around. You toss your obol (the coin) for fleeting imagery and vague feelings. When I played, it felt like I was grasping at the wind for a storm that already passed me.

GSXX could be described as slick and charming. It's a fast and easy game about sailing through the stars and solving problems on your half-magical half-scientific wonder generation ship. You could be trying to investigate a missing magician now and then fighting a spirit-possessed mech next. For what is basically just three pages, you get lots of tables filled with unique settings, quests, talents and magic working smoothly under the 24XX ruleset. Really looking forward to trying it out!

I had an idea for a mecha game where instead of spending time before the game perfecting your build, you could spend 'hardpoints' during scenes to boost your actions. The way EX talks about tags feels really similar to what I had in mind. Trying to see where I can go with it!

An interesting evolution to the original Caltrop Core system. EX gives tools and insights gained by the designer's own work with the original system. This makes it more honed. It fleshes out the d4 system by making every result meaningful without sidelining the highest result in your pool.

I'm looking forward to creating with this. And looking forward to what people will make with it too.

It's the macross missile massacre of SRDs.

I just submitted mine into the jam! It's a short narrative dice TTRPG based on Titanfall. You play a Mech and a Pilot working through multiple missions, overcoming obstacles and growing their relationship together. It has themes of sacrifice, dependence and teamwork. I was also inspired by the latest Gundam anime to look at more mech-based stuff. It brought back the memories I had from playing Titanfall 2.

It's a pretty short game running at 4 pages. All you need to play is some dice, paper, pencils and storytelling. I plan to add community copies soon!

The jam has been pretty fun! I usually focus a lot on the layout and art of the game before I write. And I had trouble finishing games from that. So this was really refreshing.

https://cabbageheadgames.itch.io/protocol-3

Thank you for the compliment!! This was a kind of spontaneous experiment so it was really nice to see you enjoy it that way. :)

Thanks! :)

I found this on Twitter. Really appreciate the time you put into making this!

That's valid! (and ouch)

You can make a game about anything that is dead or has died on the Internet (e.g., Internet Explorer).
This isn't a strict jam or competition. So you can play around with how you interpret the theme if you like.

There's a list of ideas on the main page too:

‣ Dead or defunct software, degradation, lost memories, ambient archiving, webcore or vaporwave art and digital history.

‣ The march of time and how it changes familiar things.

‣ Internet memes, conspiracies, cursed chain letters and early forum communities from the 90s until early 2000s.

‣ Nostalgic technology and gadgets (Dial up modems, HTML code easter egg hunts, demo discs, CRT monitors, Torrents).

‣ The birth of the Internet (January 21, 1983) or your first encounter with it.

‣ Experiments and art from your online childhood (MsPaint, netzines, WordArt, blogs, disorganized fonts on an animated space background).

‣ Friends or things you made online but forgot about.

‣ If you never saw the early Internet, what do you think it was like?

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for joining the jam. When I started this, I did not expect it to get so many participants over time. Since we were 8 days away from final submissions and there were still new participants, I extended our deadline by a couple more weeks for us. I have also updated the game jam resource list with new sections for this jam specifically and digital games.

Once again, thank you for joining and getting this jam to 100+ participants!

https://itch.io/jam/death-and-the-internet-jam

What is this?

Death and the Internet Game Jam is for creating physical games or video games featuring, about or based around dead things on the Internet. This jam came about as an idea to commemorate the end of Internet Explorer which was officially retired on June 15, 2022. As the Internet progresses, the memories we keep on it can disappear at any moment unless we make an effort to preserve them.

When is it?

The jam has already started. It will run from 6/27/2022 until 9/1/2022 11:59PM.

Who can join?

This jam is open for physical games and video games. Anyone can join.

Your game can be any genre, if you want to make a webcore platformer, text-based forum simulator or anime fansite role-playing game go ahead. No genre is off limits as long as it involves the themes of the jam in some way. Get experimental!

Are you confused about the jam's themes? Don't worry. There are many examples and resources for creators old and new in the jam.

https://itch.io/jam/death-and-the-internet-jam

Thank you for the help! I should be able to update the list in a few hours.

Okay. Thanks for the reply!

Okay. Thanks!

Hi, I saw the jam and I'm interested in joining. But I didn't see any rules about physical games. Are they allowed? Thank you!

I'm interested in the jam but I didn't see any rules clearly stating if physical games are allowed. Thank you!

Here is a list of resources for the participants. If you're new to creating games, there are software, assets and tutorials to help you get started. I split these into three sections for the jam, tabletop games and video games. But some of the resources can actually be used for either. So please read through them all for more options. Thanks for the contributions everyone!

FOR DEATH AND THE INTERNET JAM

If you're looking for inspiration or old-school internet aesthetics, here are a few sites:

• The Oldschool PC Font Resource has a huge font pack for oldschool PC fonts.
• Digital Space, The Old Net, One Terabyte of Kilobyte Age and GifCities are large historical archives for the Old Web. These websites let you look through old geocities pages and Y2K aestehtics.
• Make WordArt and COOLTEXT are the world's best free tools for creating wordart and font art for your submissions.

FOR TABLETOP GAMES

Layout

• Canva is the go-to layout tool for indie tabletop designers. It's free, easy to use and has its own library of stock images and icons. You can also upload your own assets into it with no limitations.
• Visme is a good alternative to Canva. The UI can be less intuitive but it has more advanced options for layout.
• GIMP is a free graphics editor tool. But it can also be used for layout. If you have the time to learn, it can be very useful.
• For paid layout software, I have heard good things about Affinity Publisher from other designers.

Writing and Editing

• Google Docs, Notepad and whatever writing software you have will do the job just fine.
• For editing, Grammarly and Writer can detect mistakes and suggest grammar solutions. As an ESL creator, I prefer using Writer.

Assets, Photos and Art

• Pixabay, Pexels and Unsplash have large libraries of stock photos to put into your game. Pexel and Unsplash are more curated with photo-like images and textures. Pixabay is less curated and includes transparent icons and illustrations.
• Open Access sections in museums and galleries offer lots of copyright-free art like the Met, National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian. The MoMa and Public Domain Review curate their own lists for dozens of open access galleries online.
• The Heritage Library has high-resolution vintage illustration packs. If you're looking for old painted or drawn illustrations of animals and plants for your game, this is a good place to start.
• Flaticon and Noun Project host millions of transparent icons. These usually come with an attribution requirement so make sure to give credit where it's due.
• DaFont and Google Fonts have free fonts. If you are using DaFont, make sure the font you download allows free commercial use.
• Itchio hosts its own tabletop game assets section. But not all of them are labelled that way by the creator so try looking outside of the tag. For example, here are some great hexkits for hexcrawl games.

Templates, Toolkits and Tutorials

• The TTRPG Resource Jam has 55 entries including templates, guides and toolkits. It's a great place to start learning about tabletop games.
• Itch Game Page Image Guide and Templates gives all the dimensions for each asset on your itch page and teaches you how to make it look good. TTRPG Social Media Templates does the same with a wider net including templates for Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other websites.
• RPG Design Zine is a good primer for making your first tabletop RPG.

Safety

• The TTRPG Safety Toolkit is a large collection of safety tools to insert into your game. If your game touches on sensitive, harmful or emotional topics, these can be very helpful.
• TheGiftofGabes has also curated a list of safety tools with links.

Ideas and Moodboards

• Pinterest, Pixiv, Behance, Tumblr, DeviantArt, Artstation and Dribbble are a few of the go-to sites to collect inspiration. Behance, ArtStation and Dribbble have more 'professional' collections.

More Reading

• Marcia B. runs a TRPG blog called Traverse Fantasy. It has popular posts explaining lyric games, OSR and other RPG topics.
• The Manifesto Jams from 2018 and 2022 have 150+ written manifestos about making games. These manifestos are great sources of inspiration and lessons.

SRDs (System Reference Documents)

SRDs are like open-sourced rulesets for you to hack or modify to create your own games. Itchio hosts 60+ tagged SRDs at this moment. Here are a few suggestions:

• LUMEN lets you build games about fast action-packed power fantasies.
• 24XX lets you make games where character details and fiction matter most.
• Wretched & Alone lets you make solo journaling games about struggling against the impossible to survive or achieve something important.
• Caltrop Core lets you make games with only four-sided dice (D4s). It's an absurdly simple system with a great step-by-step creation guide.
• Breathless lets you make games about characters whose skills degrade the more they use them. It's great for writing games where you need to push your characters to succeed against the odds, take breathers and scavenge to survive.
• If you're trying to experiment and these rulesets don't fit what you're trying to achieve, I recommend reading lyric games and solo games.

Copyright

Most tabletop games on Itchio use Creative Commons licenses. Especially CC BY or CC BY-SA. Please read through these licenses before you apply them. Creative Commons licenses cannot be revoked once they are re-attributed by another creator.

The Anti-Capitalist Attribution Cooperative License is another copyright license which allows you to exclude capitalist interests from future attributions of your game.

FOR VIDEO GAMES

Sound and Music

• Freesound.org offers a massive collection of sound effects and music. Licensing applies but most effects fall under creative commons or public domain.
• Nosoapradio_us has a collection of 500+ royalty-free soundtracks by the artist Deceased Superior Technician. The link leads to a Facebook page so you'll need to scroll a little to get what you want.
• DOVA-SYNDROME has 8400+ BGMs and 1000+ sound effects which can be downloaded and used for free as background music. Their license for use page includes commercials and paid or free products or works.

Assets and Textures

• Sketchfab, Free3D, Unity Asset Store, ArtStation and OpenGameArt.Org have large libraries and marketplaces of 2D/3D assets to put into your game. Not all of them are free to use so be sure to check out the terms before you use them.
• Itchio has its own library of 18,000+ free assets you can filter out with specific tags.

Tools, Engines and Tutorials

This section works a little differently. There are dozens of game engines out there and I can't list them all. I also don't have the experience to fully explain them. Instead, here are some of the most popular examples with links to good tutorials for them. I recommend reading up more on each engine before you use them.

• Twine and Ren'Py are two good platforms to start making novel-based games. They require less coding knowledge and rely more on text-based storytelling. For Twine, I recommend reading the reference document which explains its features simply and quickly. For Ren'Py, Zeli Learnings has a great 8-minute tutorial to get you started.
• Unity is a well-known platform for 3D (and 2D) game development. Brackeys is the most popular resource for Unity beginners with years of tutorials, live game development videos and game jams.
• Godot is also a great engine for 3D and 2D games. It's free, open-source and much easier to use (in my opinion). GDQuest does a good job with explaining the engine's features and has some good tutorials to start out.
• Pico-8 lets you make low-resolution 2D games.  If you've been on Itchio long enough, you should be familiar with what these games look like and might even own a copy of the engine from the many bundles offered here. I recommend watching Miziziziz's video about learning Pico-8 the first time and work through other recommended tutorials he used from there.

Because I have only made tabletop games, the video game section might be a little lacking.
If you have any suggestions for either sections, please share them here and I'll add it to the list.
If you have questions about the game jam, please post them in your own topic. I'll answer them best as I can.

Thank you!

Thank you for the feedback! I completely missed the 1s in those tables.