itch.io

For short web games, which is what I mostly play on Itch.io, stories aren't really necessary.

For longer games, they're often story driven and the story is an integral part of the game.

I agree with hechelion. Give players the option to skip the story.  Those that enjoy stories can read it, those that don't enjoy stories can skip it.

Thing I find annoying - which are personal preferences:

•  Spoken narrative that I can't mute - I will mute the game in those cases.  Because it interferes with my background music. (I turn off game music 100% of the time and listen to my own music.)
• Typewriter text - one letter or word at a time. It's NEVER at the right speed for everyone and more often than not too slow. Let me read at my own speed.

In theory, it sounds like it could be a fun challenge, but logistically, how would the game characters interact with each other? 

For example, let's say, I'm the mayor and raise taxes. Now the baker, fisher, and lumberjack must increase their prices, or reduce their production costs, but they don't have autonomy. I must now go and be each character and adjust all the prices. This now affects what the teacher can afford. That means I have to increase the teacher's salary, but then I might have to raise taxes again to do so...  In the meantime, are people going to leave before I've had a chance to "play them" or are you going to pause all interactions to give the player a chance to make the rounds? And what else must the player do to keep the city going? 

Yes, your icon does look like people.  

My suggestion: Chat to people in a dev log not on your game page.

Use your game page to explain the game and what the player must do - is it first person, do they just randomly click things? Do characters talk to them. What can a player look forward to?

Make a video of the actual game play.  Thirty seconds of a 2-hour game is not going to give anything away.   

Feedback on your game video:

You make the mistake on your video of showing the intro, and game name first. People don't care about that - they want to see the game being played - and that only starts 11 seconds in. My impression was that the game looked like fun, but the game elements were too big and too bright for me (which is a personal preference). 

If you read reviews on young people's games - they like bright lights, flashy things and screen movements. If you read reviews on casual games sites - those players (who are often retired) hate bright lights, fast movement and flashy displays and don't ever shake the screen! I also avoid games with those features because they hurt my eyes and give me vertigo.

I'd suggest you:  

• Upload a browser version (even a demo) so people can try it without having to download it.
• Port the game to mobile and publish it on a major app store. It appears to be the type of game people would play on their mobile devices rather than PC. 
• If you port the game to mobile, you can also submit it to Unity to help with marketing and advice.  

Now that you've explained it, I can see the pattern. I enjoy falling block games, and the three blocks adds a level of challenge.  I only lasted to about a score of 220 which took a few minutes. 

There haven't been any bundles by itch.io that were advertised in the forums for a while (as far as I know). I think they do sometimes collate bundles using Discord. 

When itch.io starts a bundle, an admin or moderator starts a thread, and people can submit their games in the thread.

Itch.io chooses the games from those submitted. The last time they included criteria of what they were looking for - such as games with the most or highest ratings and reviews. 

It seemed somewhat erratic - sometimes it would clear the entire colour-matched block, other times it would ignore the same colours on the side and only clear the 3 blocks in the middle.  

I prefer to use the arrow keys, not A and D (so I can play with my right hand).

It gave the impression that there was a large playing field, but the game play only happened in a small section of the screen which was initially confusing to me.  

Fantastic update - especially the slight speed up. The animated smileys offer a new level of fun and challenge! 

You don't need an app. You simply download the game's .apk file onto your android tablet. Double-click it, and if your tablet can support the game, it will install it.

There are two settings you need that can be found in Settings > Security and privacy (the exact name depends on your phone): 

1. Advanced: Install unknown apps. This setting lets you select the sources from which you can install apps. If you download the app to My Files (or similar) you can give your phone permission to install apps from there. Most phones, the first time you try to install it, will alert you that the source doesn't have permission and open the page from where you can set permission or ask you if you want to set the permission.
2. Google Play and Protect (optional). If the app is not registered with Google Play Store, this feature might flag it as harmful. 

It's better now. It is a fun challenge. I haven't gotten past 30 yet - but will keep trying :-).

It's a fun concept, but it's too fast. For example, the first time I timed out before I could even finish reading the instruction that was on screen. When you start shuffling the colours, it times out before I can even find the colour.

Fun logic game. Well done.

Lacks some instructions - but looks like a fun game.

Cute game!

I have a bunch of them on my page: https://evolutionarygames.itch.io/.  Most of them were designed for mobile devices (more fun playing touchscreen).

But I also have a collection that doesn't include my own games here: https://itch.io/c/1429021/fun-browser-games.   

Thanks. I didn't notice that - worked great when I followed the rules :-)

Also, with the bombs - I expected they would clear part of the board, not they would end the game. Perhaps show a cross over them or some indication that one must avoid them.

Seems cute. At level 3 it stopped recognising matches.

I struggled to figure out how to play because the instructions are lacking. But it's fun once you get the hang of it.

Here are the rest of the instructions:

1. After the vowels are displayed - click the keyboard to fill in the missing words in the order they must appear.

2. When you've filled up the row, click Enter to submit the word and open a new row.

3. If you get an error or make a mistake clear the places words using Back on the keyboard.

It's a very different market. Daz - and I assume you mean Daz Studio or Daz 3D is mostly used to create 2D representations of 3D assets either professionally or as a hobby.

Assets here are meant to be used in games and many of them are low resolution (would look rubbish in a high-quality 2D render) but work fine when your character is running past them in a game.

To import the assets into Daz would be a mission. You'd have to import them multiple times trying different sizes until you got the scale right. Then you'd have to re-apply all the textures manually, and setup the Iray settings (e.g. if you wanted something metallic). The assets would also not be rigged in Daz - i.e. there would be no animation of movement of limbs. You would basically have a static prop - that's all.

Pricing: Daz does not operate a free-market system. They strictly control the prices to cover their overheads, marketing, price of testing and packaging the product, and paying their published artists. They do not accept products unless they feel they will recover all their costs from the products. 

In contrast, Itch.io accepts everyone and everything (subject to certain payment and legal restrictions). They have no physical quality control (in terms of checking the actual product) and allows users to charge what they want. Most users have to do their own marketing - there isn't a ready audience because of over-supply.

Since you mentioned dogs, I had a look at 3d dogs here and noticed a pack that has a reverse sale (more expensive than usual). Comparing those dogs to ones you'd buy at Daz:

1. The ears, mouths, and eyes can't move.
2. The bodies are a single colour and some look like plastic. You might not be able to easily retexture it to look furry because it will depend on how the dog is UV mapped.
3. Their feet are not defined - no toes or nails.
4. You would have to rig them yourself to get any animation or expression outside of blender.
5. But if you need a dog for a 3D game - they're awesome. 

In contrast at Daz:

1. The eyes can move.
2. The textures look soft and furry.
3. The dogs are animated - mouths can open, eyes and ears can move, they can have expressions.
4.  Their feet are defined with toes and toenails.
5. They will work out the box in Daz - or you get your money back.
6. They probably won't work well in 3D games - too high resolution. But would make stunning 2D renders that can be used in games.

Also be aware that some assets are packaged for specific game development packages. For example, an asset pack packaged for Unity could probably be imported into Daz but you would need to first import them into Unity to "unpack" the assets, and then find them on your hard drive, and reimport them into Daz.

I had no idea someone would still have a working Commodore 64 - I used one last when they came out!

No. 

(If you're the only one asking - it's probably something you're doing, and not something itch.io is doing.) 

Probably best to ask in the comments of the visual novel. 

For example, the save might have been designed with Windows features, which might not work on Apple or Android devices. You one device might have certain settings that block the visual novel from writing to the device. 

I had a pdf book on here for a while - years ago. If I remember correctly, it probably had less than 10 views and definitely zero downloads. 

Unless it's adult content and illustrated you're unlikely to find an audience for it here (i.e. it must be a visual novel which is classified as a game - even when most of them have no interaction whatsoever). 

And although visual novels were among the top downloads in the early days of itch.io, I think that was more by accident than by design: It's on the popular list so you download it - see it's rubbish - delete it after a minute or two - but you had downloaded it - so that download makes it even more popular...

Try sites like Smashwords and draft2digital (the latter merged with the former).

Great game! I always kick myself for using a calculator to do maths I can actually do in my head. This game is good practise.

At the end of each level it shows Crear.  Did you perhaps mean Clear? 

I tried the update. I'm getting stuck on Level 11. But the buttons are missing. I must now play the game full screen - and when I press Escape to go to a smaller screen it just restarts the level, and I can only see half the screen.  (Level 11 I run out of time - so I don't know if it's passable or not).

Something to check: 

Sometimes when you watch videos from certain sites they require "codex" to be installed supposedly to decode the video. That so-called codex is actually just a script that will show you ads everywhere you go on the internet - no matter the site - you would need to find the installed codex and delete it (which will unfortunately, also disable the video.)  The same might apply to any software you recently installed - the software might have installed adware.

In these cases, the sites (like itch.io) earn no revenue and have no control over the ads - the scammers who got you to install the codex are the ones making money. 

I got to a score of 2629 then encountered a level I couldn't pass. The Surrender button just showed me the same layout as the original with different cars. Can't tell you which level that was because they're not numbered. But up to that point, I was having fun playing your game. Thanks. 

Really fun! I couldn't stop playing because I was so curious to see what the next large, merged image would be.

I would like it if it was sped up a little.

Try the Godot forums - most likely others have encountered the same issue and can tell you how to fix it.  Here, it's random whether a Godot expert will see your post or not.  But it might help attract the right person if you include in your title that the weird bug is to do with a Godot .exe.

Just jumping in and learning as you get stuck (asking in the forums) is a good way to go about it.

If I remember correctly, physics and momentum are features that are built into Godot. Where you will struggle is with the transitions, and you might just need to make animated graphics for that - i.e. the player is standing and next thing the player is a ball - and then stops being a ball again.

https://buddhathegreat.itch.io/mushroom-tender

I've been playing this game on and off since its release. It's a really fun way to spend some time - there's a lot to do, but the game is up to you - what you're going to do - or not do. (A lot of that is cut off by the screenshot). In a nutshell, you plant and sell mushrooms, you convert them into other products including wine, you sent and adventurer to get more special mushrooms. Sometimes you must not harvest a mushroom...

It's the perfect game to de-stress and just have a little fun.

There's a lot of work - and interesting props that you could use to create a tavern scene. (All the mugs are empty, and there's no food - but that can always be an add-on). It looks coherent - there's a definite style to all the props.

When looking at your promo images your scale is off.  You need to place a character into the scene and adjust the scale to fit the character.

For example, the stools are almost the same height as the barrels - they should be shorter - so someone can sit next to the barrel and use it as a table. (I saw you said they come in different heights - but I look at an image long before I read the accompanying text.)

 In contrast, the chairs are too low for the tables. Anyone sitting there will look like small children sitting at a big table. (If the chairs and stools are loose props they can be resized - but it makes the promotional image look odd.)

There might be a problem with the stairs and railing too - or maybe I'm just seeing them from the wrong angles. In the one scene they appear too big for the scene. Looking at just the props, the railings appear too close to the stairs. 

Be careful with too small floors - when placed next to each other the "pattern" becomes obvious and it no longer looks like a large floor, but small blocks placed next to each other. The floorboards are too large for the table and chairs - but the advantage with 3D is everything can probably be resized without too much effort.

 The broken floor is a little too broken - if there are gaps in the 3D, the user must place a plane below the floor so something can be seen through the gaps - else there's a chance images will bleed through from the previous scene, because spots are not rendered over or the background (camera colour) will show through. It would be helpful to put something below the gaps - like a plane with sand or concrete. Alternatively, make the gaps larger so someone can look down between the gaps say into a dungeon, or another room.

Price wise - there are 2 asset packs that are very similar to yours in the Unity Asset Store. The one is free, the other $5.

I actually prefer the first one - it's more interactive, choosing the hair, then choosing the colours. 

Both games work well.

Perhaps you used an internal link instead of linking to the published video or published profile.

To display your profile:

• On YouTube, click your icon and select View channel on YouTube.
• Use the URL that appears on the top of the page to link to your entire channel. 

Perhaps make the arms a different colour or outline them so they can be seen as arms when held next to the body.

Perhaps look at software, rather than coding yourself. You have software like Unity that have extensive tutorials and learning resources and a huge community you can ask for help (for free). 

There's other software like Clickteam Fusion that doesn't require coding knowledge - they provide an interface much like a spreadsheet. They have a few beginners' tutorials. 

Using software gives you access to forums where people can ask "How do I do this" questions, and get answers - and mostly, the answers are already written because someone else asked first. It's much better than asking for help at Itch.io - because here there are 100s of software packages being used here, so it's difficult to find specific knowledge. If you do want help here, you'd have to be very specific about the help you need (e.g. I need an HTML coder, or mentor).

Also try Stack Overflow - there's a lot of guides / questions and answers on coding in all sorts of programming languages.

I saw your other post, and it was unclear whether you were looking for a graphic artist or coder. This post does not tell anyone what you are looking for either. Perhaps head the post: I want to hire a graphic artist. Or I want to hire an html programmer.

I can't find the game so don't know how large the download is. If it is larger than 352mb - then it's probably a space issue like Taleman said.

If the game is about that size, then your phone or anti-virus on your phone is trying to verify that the package is safe and failing at that point. In which case, think twice about installing it.

Royalty Free: Royalty-free images are digital assets that can be used multiple times without paying additional fees for each use. This licensing model offers flexibility and cost-effectiveness for content creators and businesses seeking high-quality visuals. (oliverpiro.com).

Copyright: the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material (Bing)

Assets is the correct tag.  I think there isa tag for free. You don't want to give away the copyright on your assets, because then anyone can take them and resell them as their own creations. Instead, you should make them royalty free so developers can freely use them in their games. 

Thanks for the tips, I could at least get past the first pool after a couple of tries :-)

Awesome game though - really creative and challenging. 

 There's also a F key I found out that helps a bit :-).