itch.io

Yeah, this is honestly really frustrating. If you paid for a game, you should still be able to download it, even if it gets delisted later. Sadly, when devs remove files or accounts get taken down, buyers can lose access too. It’s a good reminder to download and back up your games as soon as you buy them. Hopefully itch.io support can help in your case, but it definitely feels unfair to paying customers.

This is a genuinely interesting project. One of the biggest challenges for indie creators is visibility, not just having a place to post links, but actually connecting with players and other devs who will engage with the content. A site like this could be helpful if it earns regular community use, rather than becoming another place that sits empty or only holds links. 
A related community conversation that might offer useful perspective is here: https://itch.io/t/5510275/my-stance-on-guaranteed rent-promoting-games-and-platforms-for-that/, it gets pretty honest about what doesn’t work in promotion and why simply having another site isn’t always enough without thoughtful distribution and real audience reach. Realistically, promotion is one of the hardest parts of indie dev, lots of projects struggle to get noticed even on itch itself. That’s why many creators also take part in things like community bundles, newsletters, game jams, or collaborative promotion efforts to build momentum and cross‑community awareness.

I think the most practical way to support indie creators is just by actually using and sharing their work. Buying their games, leaving reviews, or even just recommending them to friends makes a big difference. Financial support helps, of course, but engagement and visibility are just as important. In this economy, small, consistent actions from the community are what keep creators going.

This is an intriguing discussion! The idea of using USDC as an alternative to traditional payment processors like Visa/Mastercard is gaining traction, especially among indie developers facing payment restrictions. While the infrastructure exists, challenges such as KYC regulations and public perception of cryptocurrency remain significant hurdles. As one community member aptly noted, "It's on paper a decent way to take back control of a platform," but the implementation complexities are non-trivial.

For those interested in exploring this further, the General Discussion forum on https://itch.io/t/4991247/alternative-payment-source-options-for-indie-games hosts ongoing conversations about integrating cryptocurrency into indie game sales.

I’ve been using Godot 4 lately — it’s lightweight, easy to learn, and I really like how clean the workflow feels. For bigger or more visual projects, I sometimes switch to Unreal Engine because of its strong visual scripting and rendering tools.

By the way, there’s a similar thread you might find interesting: https://itch.io/t/1890638/what-tools-do-you-use-for-game-development