itch.io

No definitive news yet, but yes, I have been chipping away at the next iteration of Follow the Bones, with the intent of updating it to take advantage of the procedures introduced by Cairn 2e, and to fit a little more snugly into the better defined world of the Vald. I’ll definitely send a message to itch purchasers of the game once I have something to show. I’m glad to know there’s interest, though, so thanks for the comment!

Sorry about that! Either I’m having connection issues, or itch is having server issues. The file should be available for download now.

Anti-trust would be an odd thing for a libertarian to advocate, but okay.

It’s simple really. This bill is designed to help a lot of businesses that hurt society (fossil fuel producers, arms manufacturers, crypto startups, etc. — a lot of which are libertarian darlings). Maybe, under a different administration, it could also help independent game designers, but with the same legislators working to restrict NSFW and LGBTQ material online, we could very well end up helping those industries without doing anything to help NSFW and LGBTQ creators.

But cheers. This is the third year they’ve introduced it without passage, so I’m not super worried about it making it into law.

The bill itself doesn’t, but this particular Congress, as well as numerous states, are already making moves to restrict legal access to NSFW media online, in which case NSFW media won’t be protected by this bill. So people throwing their weight behind this bill on the premise that it will protect Itch are likely to discover that they’ve wound up making it impossible to de-bank groups like Collective Shout (not to mention arms manufacturers, payday lenders, crypto scams, etc.) without actually protecting LGBTQ or NSFW media creators.

Beyond which, there’s the question of why non-government financial institutions shouldn’t be able to decide not to provide service to some categories of business. If a credit card company doesn’t want to profit from mass shootings by processing payments for bump stocks, even though federal law doesn’t prohibit them, it seems wrong to require them to conduct that business anyway. This bill effectively intervenes in their rights of conscience — which is what it was designed to do.

The problem, from my POV, is not that private institutions can decide they don’t want certain clients, but rather that a few big players have effectively built up monopoly power, which makes it impossible to find another financial service provider when the biggest players say no.

I have read the bill, which is why I’m pretty sure it won’t protect NSFW media creators. I’ve also read statements by the Senator who introduced the bill, which is why I’m confident that it was written to protect conservative causes, like “fossil energy and firearms industries,” cryptocurrency, federal prison contractors, etc. Statements from some of its cosponsors support that interpretation. And while I’m certainly not out to defend Operation Chokepoint, it’s worth pointing out that at least some claims to the effect that it was suppressing NSFW creators were unfounded.

These bills (there’s a similar version in the House) are getting a lot of attention among Itch and Steam this week, but we should be clear that this is a bill designed to serve conservative ends, and there’s no guarantee under a conservative administration that it will protect independent game creators.

To understand how these bills will be implemented if passed, it’s important to understand their origins. One context made explicit in the text of the Senate bill is Operation Chokepoint, and Obama era program that advised financial institutions to deny services to businesses and groups that administration deemed at high risk of money laundering and fraud. A number of those businesses were in industries (like arms manufacturing, payday lending, and crypto startups) with heavy investments in Republican and libertarian political circles. And, indeed, the most consistent supporters of these bills (which have been introduced multiple times since the first Trump administration) have been gun lobbies like the NSSF, and crypto industry investors like Mark Andreeson. (I suspect that familiarity with the legislation came to the indie videogame scene by way of his spiel about it on Joe Rogan.)

So, on the one hand, throwing support behind the bill is likely to help out a lot of business that many here would be opposed to helping.

Maybe that seems like an “enemy of my enemy is my friend”-type situation, but I don’t think it is. It depends on the premise that financial institutions can’t find a pretext for excluding Itch and Steam that will pass muster under the Fairness in Banking Act. But the same legislators passing this act are also drafting laws to restrict access to NSFW material online, and are particularly motivated about limiting LGBTQ visibility and expression, not to mention anything they can connect to “woke” or DEI initiatives. If they pass something like the Fairness in Banking Act, I have no doubt they we’ll see them carve out exceptions for the very sorts of media you’re hoping to protect here.

In other words, it’s entirely plausible a law like this could make it impossible to de-bank Collective Shout, without protecting Itch from de-banking.

Sorry it took a while to get to this, but there are now 3-PC versions to match the 4-PC original. I hope that helps.

Oops! I’ve corrected this in the newest versions.

I’ve added some review copies.

I’ve added some under the “Review copies” heading. All I ask is that you talk about your opinion of the game somewhere online once you’ve had a chance to read it over and give it a try.

I’m trying something a little new. Check the terms under “Review copies” and grab a copy there.

Exactly. Though… that, too, is optional, really. Like, maybe you’d rather end a particular traveler’s story in a way that you find narratively satisfying, but that would preclude achieving sainthood. I like that tension between playing to win and playing to satisfy.

Anyway, I can’t let a known mistake just sit there overnight, so I’ve gone ahead and fixed the leftover “Legacy.” Redownload if you want the corrected doc. Thanks again for the note!

Ah, yeah. “Legacy” was old terminology. I’ll get that changed when I have a free moment tomorrow. Thanks for catching it.

Shuffling the Testament isn’t strictly necessary. There’s a memory game element to Day 6, and shuffling can make it a little trickier by disrupting the sequence, but it’s not required.

Good news! I’m hoping to have print copies available sometime in January 2025.

Thank you!

Oh wow. Yeah, the entry headings changed a ton during development, and I thought I had gotten everything revised properly, but I guess not. I’ll get that changed and a revised version uploaded. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

Go for it!

Check the downloads.

What format did you have in mind? US Letter sized? Right now I’m finishing up another project that should go live soon (maybe even today), but give me a few more details on what you have in mind, and I’ll take a look at it once the new thing is in a good place.

This may be more than you were asking for, but I’ve uploaded a reformatted, print-at-home version. Please check out this devlog entry before doing anything rash, though.

I’ve added some copies. Enjoy.

Psst, the download link for the full macOS version leads to a 404 page. You may need to re-upload the file.