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VitaGames

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A member registered Oct 31, 2022 · View creator page →

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Hello Adam Freeman.

Thanks for your interest to the Bundle and the project in general. Unfortunately, we can't add any new games to the bundle since after it beginning the bundle's page turned "read only".

We will notify you in the future our team organize another charity bundle. Anyway, I wish all the best with your games!

Have a nice day.

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Hoorai!

The "Games Against War" charity bundle is already live 🕊️

It contains 34 games from 32 creators. Over $180 of paid products are available with a minimum donation amount of $15.

MASSIVE thanks to ALL participating creators. Thanks to you all for your support and readiness to help!

You can buy the bundle and save 91% by the link.

Hoorai! The "Games Against War" charity bundle is already live 🕊️

You can find it there.

(2 edits)

The "Games Against War" charity bundle is already OUT NOW! 🕊️

MASSIVE thanks to ALL participating creators. Thanks to you all for your support and readiness to help!

Our apologies to all who added their games to the thread, but games wasn't included in the bundle afterwards. Most likely it happened because we couldn't reach you directly by twitter or email.

The bundle is still pending since not all creators approved their participation.  I hope we will make it public soon 🤞

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Just a kind reminder

Only a few hours left until the bundle's start date. To everyone who still do not review the bundle page and not approve their participation, please, follow this link to do this.

Cheers!

Hey!

Thank you for your readiness to support our initiative with your game. Unfortunately, we can't add 'Where Sunflowers Grow' to the bundle, since the bundle is fully completed. All changes are blocked and page is read-only.

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck with your game!

Have a great and peaceful day  🙌

Hey!

I'm wondering if there is a way to exclude those participants who didn't approve their participation and make a co-op bundle public without abandoning it? That's 100% charity bundle, and I'm sure that the rest of participants wouldn't be against such a decision.

Before organizing this bundle, we asked all participants to publicly show their consent to add their games to the bundle.

Bundle get to go live tomorrow, but 3 out of 32 creators still didn't approve their participation, and we are not sure that they do it tomorrow by 12 PM.

Thank you in advance.

Hi! 

Just a kind reminder 😇

We know that the bundle will start only on Saturday, but because of different time zones, we would like to make sure in advance that everyone who gave their consent to participate in the bundle will approve their participation just in time. To review the bundle and approve your participation, follow the link, please: https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Do not hesitate to contact me directly in case you have questions or would like to clarify something.

Sorry for bothering you.

Have a great and peaceful day!

Hi! 

Just a kind reminder 😇

We know that the bundle will start only on Saturday, but because of different time zones, we would like to make sure in advance that everyone who gave their consent to participate in the bundle will approve their participation just in time. To review the bundle and approve your participation, follow the link, please: https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Do not hesitate to contact me directly in case you have questions or would like to clarify something.

Sorry for bothering you.

Have a great and peaceful day!

Hi! 

Just a kind reminder 😇

We know that the bundle will start only on Saturday, but because of different time zones, we would like to make sure in advance that everyone who gave their consent to participate in the bundle will approve their participation just in time. To review the bundle and approve your participation, follow the link, please: https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Do not hesitate to contact me directly in case you have questions or would like to clarify something.

Sorry for bothering you.

Have a great and peaceful day!

Hi! 

Just a kind reminder 😇

We know that the bundle will start only on Saturday, but because of different time zones, we would like to make sure in advance that everyone who gave their consent to participate in the bundle will approve their participation just in time. To review the bundle and approve your participation, follow the link, please: https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Do not hesitate to contact me directly in case you have questions or would like to clarify something.

Sorry for bothering you.

Have a great and peaceful day!

Hello!

Just a quick reminder that the bundle get public only after ALL participants approve their participation. To review and accept it, please, follow the link https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Also, there you can find a link to the study proposal where project purposes are described in details.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate and ask me here or directly via Twitter.

Thank you in advance, and have a great day!

Hello!

Just a quick reminder that the bundle get public only after ALL participants approve their participation. To review and accept it, please, follow the link https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Also, there you can find a link to the study proposal where project purposes are described in details.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate and ask me here or directly via Twitter.

Thank you in advance, and have a great day!

Hello!

Just a quick reminder that the bundle get public only after ALL participants approve their participation. To review and accept it, please, follow the link https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Also, there you can find a link to the study proposal where project purposes are described in details.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate and ask me here or directly via Twitter.

Thank you in advance, and have a great day!

Hello!

Just a quick reminder that the bundle get public only after ALL participants approve their participation. To review and accept it, please, follow the link https://itch.io/b/1646/games-against-war-charity-bundle

Also, there you can find a link to the study proposal where project purposes are described in details.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate and ask me here or directly via Twitter.

Thank you in advance, and have a great day!

(1 edit)

We couldn't expect so many game creators to support our initiative and show their consent to add their beautiful games to the bundle. Being a small part of this friendly game-dev world is an enormous pleasure. 

In a couple of days, we will finish organizing this bundle, and all of you will receive a link to approve your participation. PLEASE NOTE THE BUNDLE CAN NOT START UNTIL ALL THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE REVIEWED AND ACCEPTED IT.

It goes without saying that our small VitaGames team is grateful for your support. We will be happy to credit all of you for the first game that our young students will make.

Cheers from temporarily de-energized but still full-of-light Ukraine!

UPD: Special thanks to BLANK who permitted us to publish his game on our page to support 'Games Against War' co-op bundle.

Hi, criacuervos!

Thank you for permitted us to add your game to the "Games Against War" co-op bundle. Is there any way to contact with you directly (e.g. Twitter, Gmail)?

Unfortunately, I can't direct message you on Twitter. Looks like you disable an option to receive DMs from anyone.

Hi, Niall Chandler!

Thank you for permitted us to add your game to the "Games Against War" co-op bundle. Is there any way to contact with you directly (e.g. Twitter, Gmail)?

Unfortunately, we can't direct message you on Twitter. Looks like you disable an option to receive DMs from anyone.

Hi, cagibi!

Thank you for permitted us to add your game to the "Games Against War" co-op bundle. Is there any way to contact with you directly (e.g. Twitter, Gmail)?

(1 edit)

Hi, The Voices Games!

Thank you for permitted us to add your game to the "Games Against War" co-op bundle. Is there any way to contact with you directly (e.g. Twitter, Gmail)?

Hi Eldwood!

Thank you for permitted us to add your game to the "Games Against War" co-op bundle. Is there any way to contact with you directly (e.g. Twitter, Gmail)?

(1 edit)

Hey all!  Just a quick announcement.

Right now, VitaGames organizing the "Games Against War" co-op bundle to raise funds for a three years therapy program.

If you are a video games creator and share our values, the following thread will definitely be interesting to you. Check it out, and let's make this world better together.

(20 edits)

Greetings, itch.io community! VitaGames is here and that's our call for submissions to the “Games against war” co-op bundle.

Firstly, a few words about what VitaGames is.

VG is a unique project aimed at helping Ukrainian children to adapt to new environments and overcome the adverse effects of war and immigration. We use game development by children not only as a way to obtain new skills, but as expressive art therapy and stress relief to show them that war is not the end of their childhood. It’s a brand-new approach to expressive therapy with no analogs yet.

First groups of children have already completed our course. Considering the scale of this war, we can do more, but we need the help of the game community. However, to organize a 3-year game-dev therapy program, we need the funding. To raise funds, we are organizing a “Games against war” co-op bundle, starting on the 10th of December. Date has not been chosen randomly. That’s the International Human Rights Day. The end date is the 18th of December; that’s only one week bundle.

There are no doubts that our project will be helpful not only for Ukraine; we will share our experience with researchers and psychologists worldwide. Video game development as a therapy is an entirely new approach to psychological help in dealing with post-traumatic stress. That's one of many reasons why we are asking for help, right here, on ITCH.IO. That's not just a site where creators try to sell their games, but also a place where the game community can influence the world. Bundle for Palestinian Aid, the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality, Bundle for Ukraine are solid proves of it. 

So meet our call for submissions to the “Games against war” bundle! It would be great to have all submissions in by the end of the 1st of December at 11:59 PM.

Here's some important stuff (parts of this were owed and modified from the Bundle for Palestinian aid and the Bundle for Ukraine):

- please submit your game as a link in reply to this posting. Your submission indicates consent to publish the game in the bundle.

- you MUST be signed in to the itch.io dev account associated with your game when you submit it here. Otherwise, it won't be counted.

- please, do not say anything else in your post. It may sufficiently increase the time of organizing this bundle.

- paid games only. There has been too much back and forth about free and paid games in past bundles, and the fact is some folks will be buying this bundle because of the "value" for better or for worse.

***

Below, we prepared the Q&A section with some crucial information. In case you have any question, there is a big chance to find there information you are interested in.

Can I get more information about the VitaGames project?

Of course. To get more info, just go to our website. Plus, you can leave whatever question you have in this thread.

Is this a charity bundle?

Yes. It is a 100% charity co-op bundle. If you are a submitter, we can send a budget summary and the research proposal to you on demand.

Can I submit non-commercial/free projects?

Not this time, sorry! As mentioned above, the free aspects of prior bundles caused a lot of consternation and winded up diluting the perceived "value" of the bundle. There was also a lot of debate about whether free games in a bundle like this wound up becoming self-promotion. All of that sucks, but we're not out from under capitalism just yet, and we decided to avoid it in this bundle. The games can be affordable, but not free.

Can I submit non-games?

Not this time, sorry! This bundle is all about games only.

Can I submit adult content?

No, sorry! We want this bundle to be media-friendly for maximum reach, and you know how people get. Just use your discretion.

Will Steam (or other external keys) be given with a purchase?

No. It's too difficult to coordinate and can wind up inviting scammers. Only itch.io projects will be considered for this bundle.

I'm worried people might already have my game from another bundle.

That's okay. Obviously, we want as much new stuff as possible, but there will be new people buying this bundle, and there will be new games in it.

So let’s make “Games against war” together!

UPD: We are grateful to all creators who answered to our call for submission. To show our appreciation, we will credit all submitters in the first game that will be made by our young students. Cheers!

(1 edit)

I would like to make it clear, that a video game as a finished thing isn't the goal of the program. As I already said above, it's more about process, then a result. Because of different tech background and ability to work, we don't always get a finished product at the end of the course. More often it is just a project with interactive main character, BG, some obstacles, and enemies with simple AI. That's it.

Well, about team work. I'm glad you ask this because team work is a very important thing in order to increase children's social skills and self-confidence, and help them to develop into happier adults. All our students working in groups depending on their ages. Average group size is 6-8 persons.

Your second question is about a developing direction. Whether it is predefined or not?  It is predefined, but only partially. The only things we predefine are a game genre and some assets. Everything else is absolutely depending on our students' will and imagination.

Thank you for your recommendation and attention to VG project. Currently, we are absolutely ok with Construct 3 game engine. However, I will keep in mind your words.

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Indeed, that's not easy to perform study process now. Almost all VG members didn't leave the country and still live in Ukraine. I can say that we already have some experience of working in kinda extreme situations. For example, that's not something unusual to us to conduct our lessons from the bomb shelters. Even now, I text you the answer when my city is under rocket shelling (biggest since Feb. 24) and I have no electricity in my house. At least I have fully charged powerbank and mobile internet 😃 Also I would like to add, that thanks to kind and dedicated people that's not so difficult to develop this therapy program as it would be without any support. You all guys, who's showing your interest to the VitaGames project also motivating us a lot. Thank you 🙏

UPD: Eventually I left without mobile internet. So, I was forced to post this text only today.

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Yeah, I understand your point, but I can't give you an extent answer this time. We are still looking for the best strategy to identify and deal with children despair, fears, and anxiety via video-game development. All of this requires careful research. As I said already above, it is a long ride. 

At this stage of the project, we operate as follows. On the beginning of the course, our students fill out special questioners to identify a trauma's level. Their parents (caregivers) do the same. On the finish of the course, we repeat this procedure. Based on the results of analysis of their answers, VitaGames psychologist can identify if kids need additional help or no. 

Please note, that we teach our students only the basics of game development. It helps them create whatever game they want after course has been fulfilled. If they would like to create a horror, actually... that's not good, and not bad. Sometimes children do creepy things not because they are traumatized, but simply want to obtain a control on their fears.  In that case, we can only recommend parents do soft supervision. We are always glad to help, if our students parents ask us for an assistance or expert advice.

Thank you for kind words and your attention to the project! We will do our best to keep VitaGames as public as it is possible. Actually, that's the one of our purposes, because we have no doubts that our project will be helpful not only for Ukraine; we’re going to share our experience with researchers and psychologists from over the world.

Yes, that's a very good point. Indeed, creating a video game is not easy. That's why our team doing a lot to make the study process more understandable and convenient. For example, we use Construct 3 as a game engine. This allows our students to learn game development without deep knowledge of coding. Also, we prepared students worksheets (depends on student's age), dictionaries, color rating scales (to identify bottlenecks of the VG study program). Currently, we are about to create a video course to help them learn game development and game design in a more quick and convenient way.

IMPORTANT NOTE. On this stage of VG program, our main purpose isn't a game developing as it is in the traditional sense, but bring back to young survivors the confidence that they still have complete control of their life by developing game worlds and characters, and letting children feel themselves responsible creators. This isn't about getting something done. It's about process. From this point of view, a small challenge is a very useful thing, as it encourages kids to adopt a growth mindset and teach them to see failures as opportunities to learn, grow and do things differently next time.

Also, I would like to add that, some parents were asking our mentors something like: "Is it possible to get a finished game at the end of the course?". Actually, yes and no. No, because our students have very different tech background. They can work as a group of students, but not as a team of developers. That's why we teach them the basic knowledge of game development. After our course, they will be able to create their own game by themselves. Yes, because we are working on additional classes where a group of kids will be working on developing some particular game. We are form believers that in the nearest future, we will publish the very first game developed by our students on the VitaGames itch.io page.

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Forgot to add to the main topic. If you like purposes which VitaGames chases and have any recommendations on how to improve the project, then do not hesitate and type down all your thoughts as well as your questions.

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Hey, all!

Three month ago, in cooperate with a small group of volunteers, I created the VitaGames project. VitaGames is a unique project aimed at helping Ukrainian children to adapt to new environments and overcome the adverse effects of war and immigration. Under the supervision of our project team, which includes software development, psychology, and medical research specialists, children will learn how to create video games. Besides new skills that can be an introduction to a future career, we expect to find a decrease in children's anxiety and depression levels after the VitaGames educational course has been fulfilled.

The first three groups of children have already completed our course - and results are promising. But still, it is a very new approach to mental health recovery. So I wonder what itch.io community thinks about the idea of using gamedev as an expressive art therapy. Is this effective to use objective language of art, storytelling, and programming to help children (whether war survivors, witnesses, or responders) recover from their trauma?

Any thoughts are very appreciated.

Your game have touched my heart, and I felt that I have no option but to rate it with five stars. Amazing work!