itch.io

Thanks! I'm focusing on Brite first because I want to get his kit and the basic flow right before adding more cats. Positioning is something I want to matter, especially against bosses.

Each cat is meant to have its own elemental abilities and build options. I haven't settled exactly which general upgrades they'll share yet, but I want each character to feel different to play.

I also just released Alpha 0.4.48! You now buy weapons and defenses from merchants during the run, and level-ups improve your character and the abilities you already have. Acci has new charging rat formations too, and there's original music by Bluefoxx.

Here's the updated alpha if you'd like to try it.

How are you handling upgrades in your zombie game?

Hi everyone! I'm developing FELISOMNIA: Behind a Cat's Eyes, a pixel-art bullet heaven / bullet hell hybrid about cats, elemental powers and unfinished bonds. I'll use this thread to share development progress and hear how the game feels to play.

The current alpha stars Brite, a fire cat who builds up his arsenal while surviving enemy hordes. Here's a moment from his encounter with Acci, the Rat King.

Development gameplay from Alpha 0.4.48, shown at its original speed.

First update: Alpha 0.4.48 — building firepower, finding gaps

This update puts more emphasis on movement during the boss fight. Acci now sends single-file lines of rats charging across the battlefield from different directions. There are gaps to escape through, but his enraged phase brings more lines and faster charges.

The challenge is making those attacks readable while the horde and Brite's firepower fill the screen. I've also worked on crowd spacing and the difficulty curve; both are still being tuned.

Your build now takes shape during the run: merchants sell weapons, defenses and eligible fusions for earned COINS, and purchases equip immediately. There's also original music by Bluefoxx (@bluefoxx_72) and UI improvements for smaller browser windows.

Try the free browser alpha or download it for Windows.

If you give it a run, I'd especially like to know:

• Were Acci's attack gaps clear enough to react to?
• Did merchant visits give you useful choices?
• Where did the difficulty suddenly become too easy or too punishing?

Thanks for taking a look — feedback will help shape the next update.

Full 0.4.48 update notes

Alpha 0.4.48 is out — Acci has discovered rush hour.

Build up Brite's firepower, survive the horde… then find a gap before the Rat King's army charges through it.

Development gameplay from Alpha 0.4.48, shown at its original speed.

FELISOMNIA is a pixel-art bullet heaven / bullet hell hybrid about cats and elemental powers. This update brings:

• Acci's new rat rush: charging lines cross the battlefield from different directions, with gaps to dodge through. His enraged phase turns up the pressure.
• Builds shaped during the run: spend earned COINS at merchants on weapons, defenses and eligible fusions.
• Original music by Bluefoxx (@bluefoxx_72) for the menu, normal run and boss fight, alongside clearer UI and browser improvements.

Play free in your browser or download the Windows alpha.

It's still an alpha, and I'd love feedback: can you read Acci's attacks in time, and which build got you through?

Full update notes

Thank you for the honest feedback! Constructive criticism is just as important as positive feedback, if not more, because it helps me understand what needs improvement. I'm also happy to say I've finally found someone to create the game's original soundtrack! It took me a while because I wanted to find someone whose style really inspired me. Thanks again for giving the game a chance, and I hope you'll enjoy the future updates! 😻

Ohh, now I understand! I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding. The wording of your original comment was a little ambiguous to me, so I wasn't entirely sure what you meant. That's why I asked you to clarify. I'm sorry if I misunderstood your intentions!

I'm more than happy to show the development process behind Felisomnia, including how the sprites were made, the early stages of development, and all the work that went into creating the game. I have nothing to hide, and I'd be glad to share that process with anyone who's genuinely interested.

And thank you so much for your kind comment! It genuinely means a lot to me. ❤️

If you decide to give Felisomnia a try, I'd really appreciate any feedback you have. Any kind of feedback is welcome, especially constructive criticism, even if it might sound negative at first. I'm still developing the game, and honest feedback helps me understand what works, what doesn't, and what I can improve.

Thanks again, and sorry for the misunderstanding! 🐱

Uhm, i’m not sure if you’re accusing me of using AI in my project or not, meow. So before I respond, I’d kindly ask you to clarify what you mean.

It’s a pixel-art bullet heaven where you play as cats with elemental powers, fighting through enemy waves while moving through fragments of memory and unfinished bonds.

At its core, Felisomnia is about survival, builds and progression, but there’s also a story behind each cat and the person they were once connected to.

You can play the current alpha here:

https://felisomnia.itch.io/felisomnia-behind-a-cats-eyes

The game is still in development, but the core gameplay and atmosphere are already in place.

Right now you can start a run, choose your cat, experiment with different abilities and fight your way through increasingly difficult encounters.

Each playable cat is meant to have its own story, powers and way of approaching a run.

The current alpha starts with Brite, a fire cat whose abilities revolve around burning enemies and controlling the space around him.

There’s still a lot I want to add and refine, including more characters, content and polish.

Here’s a short look at the game in action:

If you decide to give Felisomnia a try, I’d really like to hear what you think.

Feedback, criticism and suggestions are all welcome, especially while the game is still in alpha.

Thanks for checking it out!

I’ve been experiencing something very similar with itch.io.

I completely understand that reviewing and publishing games can take time, especially with the amount of submissions they receive. The problem is when developers are left waiting for weeks or even months with little to no communication.

In my case, I’ve contacted support multiple times without receiving a response, and I eventually had to open a forum thread just to try to get some clarification. My game is essentially ready to be promoted, but I’m currently stuck because of the publishing/review situation.

What worries me is seeing other developers reporting that their games have been waiting since April or even earlier. At that point, I think it becomes a broader issue rather than an isolated case.

It’s particularly frustrating because itch.io has historically been such an important platform for indie developers. Games like Vampire Survivors started there, and that’s exactly the kind of opportunity that makes platforms like itch.io valuable to small developers.

I really hope they manage to improve the process soon. I’d much rather keep my game on itch.io than be forced to move elsewhere simply because I can’t get through the review process.

This game gives me anxiety, but in a good way.

I came across your post by chance, and unfortunately I can relate to this situation.

I’m also an indie developer currently dealing with very similar issues with itch.io. I’ve contacted support multiple times regarding my game, but I never received a response. I eventually had to open a forum post just to try to get some kind of information, and even there the situation wasn’t particularly helpful.

I completely understand that itch.io has a lot of games to review and that the process can take some time. The problem is when projects remain stuck for weeks or even months with very little communication or information about what is actually happening.

For an indie developer, this can become a serious problem. Many of us are investing our own time and money into our projects, sometimes even paying other people to work on them. Being unable to properly publish, promote or have people download the game because of review or quarantine issues can basically put the entire project on hold.

What concerns me even more is seeing other developers reporting that their games have been waiting since April or even earlier without being approved. If these reports are accurate, then this seems like a much bigger issue than an individual support ticket.

I’m not asking for special treatment or to jump ahead of everyone else. I’d simply like to see a clearer and more predictable review process. Honestly, I would even be willing to pay for a higher-priority review queue if itch.io offered something like that.

And this is especially frustrating because itch.io has historically been an important part of the indie game ecosystem. Vampire Survivors, for example, started on itch.io before becoming the huge success that it is today. Platforms like itch.io can genuinely give small developers the opportunity to be discovered and build an audience.

That’s why it would be a real shame if indie developers started moving away from itch.io simply because they cannot get their games reviewed or published in a reasonable amount of time.

I really hope this situation improves, because I would personally much rather keep supporting itch.io than move my project elsewhere.

I’m adding my own experience here as well, in case it helps show that this isn’t an isolated issue:
https://itch.io/t/7016659/publishing-game-issue-ticket-406736-felisomnia

Oh yeah, they don't reply on emails and the moderator reply like this:

https://itch.io/t/7016659/publishing-game-issue-ticket-406736-felisomnia

How it's that possible???!!

Same issue, and see how the moderator reply to me.

https://itch.io/t/7016659/publishing-game-issue-ticket-406736-felisomnia

Very disrespectful.

I'm very sorry for you, i have the same issue, no response on email, and see how the moderator reply to me:

https://itch.io/t/7016659/publishing-game-issue-ticket-406736-felisomnia

That is very sick.

Very original idea

I understand that you don’t have access to my support ticket, and I wasn’t expecting you to personally chase itch.io staff.

What I was hoping for, especially from a moderator, was simply some guidance on what I can realistically do when the official support channel has not replied and the quarantine warning is actively preventing me from properly promoting my game.

That’s all I was asking.

I also have to say that the comment about me “using a lot of words” felt unnecessarily dismissive. I was only trying to explain the situation clearly because it is currently affecting an actual project I’m working on.

If there is genuinely nothing else I can do except wait, a simple confirmation of that would have been enough.

I understand that the situation may no longer be directly in your hands, but I have to admit that I’m quite disappointed with the response.

I was honestly expecting a more detailed explanation or at least some indication of what is currently happening, especially considering that I have also contacted itch.io support by email and sent a follow-up, without receiving any reply there either.

At this point, this is no longer just a minor inconvenience. My promotional work for the game is effectively on hold because I cannot comfortably share the itch.io page while visitors are being shown a quarantine warning. I have already had people tell me that they did not feel comfortable downloading the game because of it, which is completely understandable from their perspective.

I fully understand that reviews may take time and that you personally may not be able to resolve the issue, but after waiting this long and receiving no response through the official support channel, I was hoping for something more informative than simply being told that it is now out of your hands.

I’m not asking for special treatment. I would simply appreciate some transparency about the situation, an approximate indication of what I am waiting for, or at the very least a response from the support team confirming that the case is actually being reviewed.

Right now, I have a real project in active development and part of my work is being blocked without any clear information about what is happening or what I can do about it.

Hi again,

I wanted to post a small update regarding the situation.

Unfortunately, about other days has now passed and the issue is still unresolved. I completely understand that reviews can take some time and that 4–5 days may have been too early to be concerned, but at this point the quarantine warning is starting to create a real problem for the project.

At the moment, I don't feel comfortable publicly promoting or sharing the itch.io link as much as I normally would, because I've already had a few people tell me that they simply don't trust downloading the game after seeing the quarantine warning. From a user's perspective, I can completely understand why that message might make them hesitant.

From what I've read online, review times can vary, but legitimate and actively developed projects sometimes seem to be reviewed much sooner. Felisomnia is not a test upload or a small "just for fun" page created and abandoned afterwards. It is an actual game currently in active development, with official social media channels, regular development work, and a properly maintained itch.io page where the project, screenshots, information and development status are clearly presented.

I'm not expecting any special treatment, but if there is any way for an administrator to take another look at the project or help move the review forward, I would really appreciate it.

I also contacted support@itch.io directly and sent a follow-up email, but unfortunately I still haven't received a response there either.

At this point, even just receiving some clarification about whether there is something wrong with the page, the upload, or my account would be extremely helpful. If there is anything I need to change or provide, I'm more than happy to do so.

Thank you again to everyone who has tried to help, and especially to whoever previously forwarded the issue to an itch.io administrator.

Hello,

thank you very much for your response. It was mainly the lack of a reply by email that made me a little concerned.

Hi everyone,

About 4–5 days ago, I published my game, Felisomnia, on itch.io. However, I still can’t find it in the public catalog, and when someone tries to download the game from its original page, a quarantine warning appears.

I already emailed itch.io support at support@itch.io about the issue, but I haven’t received any response yet. I also sent a follow-up. After reading some discussions online, I saw that opening a thread here might help, or at least help me understand whether I may have done something wrong on my end.

If threads like this are not allowed, I apologize in advance. Unfortunately, I currently have a marketing campaign on hold because of this issue, so I’m hoping to get it resolved as soon as possible.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can provide some help or guidance regarding this.