itch.io

The #CozyCatJam charity bundle is officially over (for this year) and we raised over $2k for the shelter! 

Thank you to everyone who contributed games to this project. Everything you made was delightful, and I'm proud to have been able to host such a collection of work.

Although we didn't reach the $2500 goal, we crossed $2k in the final hours, and given everything going on in the world, I think that's an accomplishment we can take pride in.

Again, thank you for everything.

~ Xosh

For everyone who contributed, here is the bundle link where you should be able to approve your content

https://itch.io/b/3118/cozy-cat-jam

Thanks for all the work and patience - and especially the whimsy packed into these lovely games.

I've sent out the bundle link that I have but for the life of me, I cannot see a way to approve a game. I've reached out to Itchio because I must be doing something wrong -- cannot find any different link to send to contributors (I may be panicking a little)

That is totally on me. I erroneously thought the link included automatically. I'll draft another email with the link. So sorry about this - the last minute bundling has me flailing a bit.

Here's the link you need to use to submit your game late: https://itch.io/jam/407638/add-game/3746491/3005866?token=hAzESMS5i3eoYuAItTwmRU...

Looks like it's really easy. Here's a relevant quote from Itchio's helpful article:

Late submissions happen, for whatever reason an entry isn’t able to make it in time for the deadline. Luckily itch.io’s jam feature now lets owners of a jam handle this with ease. From the submissions tab you can find the late submission form. Just paste the URL of the game you want to have late submit access, you’ll then be given a URL to share with the game’s owner. They just need to visit that URL to submit their game, even if the submit deadline is over!

So, all I'll need is the URL for your game. If you're not comfortable posting that directly here, you can send it to me personally at glenarvon @ gmail.com and I'll do the rest.

I would love to have it. Let me see if there's a way I can manually add it after the fact (and if I'm a bit slow to accomplish that, it's because of all the other chaos on the platform right now)

While the game *could* be played as nothing more than back-and-forth card draws for points, the card draw is only there to provide a light framework & resolution to the players' descriptions. The real play unfolds in those descriptions, where players are encouraged to be as creative and elaborate as they're inspired to be.

Physical games only, as stated in the guidelines. Thanks for the interest, though.

I love this! I'm so happy the kiddo was inspired. Please keep them in!

Yes, please! All the hype (I can't wait to see all the creative directions folks take this in)

I think you've misunderstood the TTRPGs / physical game part. Computer games are great & fun, but that's not what the jam is asking for.

This is perfect for ZineMonth!

Thank you. It was always a fun imagination exercise for me, so sharing it as a game made sense.

I can do that! Thanks for checking - I always try to keep a few in reserve, but sometimes I miss when they're empty.

Hello! This is a welcome reminder to add that to my bio here. Reach out to contact @ darkheart.games

Brilliant, kind, and profound. Thank you for this.

Also made a tagged PDF just in case that's what you were looking for. Enjoy

Absolutely! Let me zip them up. (I was just thinking about this)

I don't normally leave comments on -- too many bad experiences in the early days of the Internet. But it's a new year, so I thought I'd try something new. And it's always nice to hear from the folks who enjoyed one of the things I've made.

I love everything about this, Thank you for doing this!

Hello, all!

Been kicking around some ideas for an expansion for Midnight's Kiss. Would there be interest in a specifically polyamorous plotline?

Let me know!

Invitation to Translate: If you like this game, and you would like to translate it to share or resell, here's how to do that:

1. Let me know!
2. Stay true to the spirit of the game - no major changes or insertions
3. Clearly credit me as the original creator; clearly credit the artist
4. Send me a digital copy when you're done (please!)
5. Keep what you make on sales of the translated version
6. No, really: if you want to give me something, donate to help Ukraine instead

Bake bread, appease the faeries

This 8-page solo game Faerie Loaves blends divination and faerie lore with the physical act of baking. Flip a coin and roll some dice to determine what tasty ingredients the faeries want added to their offering loaf, then learn a simple Irish soda bread recipe to bake your own bread. The bread recipe was passed down from the Irish American side of my family, so this one’s perfectly timed for St. Patrick’s Day.

Explore three rich biomes to collect ingredients for an epic meal!

Written for Zine Month, Edible Plants of the Fantasy Wilds can be played as a solo TTRPG or used as a worldbuilding supplement for an ongoing campaign. System-neutral, this lavish fifty-four page zine features immersive descriptions of thirty-six distinct plants. Trees, herbs, fungi, and more await your exploration.

Rainbow Bridge is a gentle game about friendship, memories, and the process of grief.

You are household pets who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but your journey's just begun. Travel the glimmering mist to the next stage of existence, all the while making new friends and sharing what you loved most in life. If you're lucky, you may move on to a new life together.

Rainbow Bridge centers themes of grief and pet death in a supportive and uplifting way.  Free community copies are still available.

No worries. I realized I didn’t notice this until pretty late. But I thought I’d offer the game (it was written to raise money & awareness for the situation in Ukraine). If you do anything like this in future, don’t hesitate to reach out. 

I can't wait to see what Far Horizons does with this topic. To be honest, the instant I saw list listing, all I could think was, "I wish I could write for that!" because it aligns so perfectly with my own creative streams. And, let's face it: cults can be done poorly in fiction and RPGs. Too often they are mere caricatures of the marginalized, but I trust Far Horizons to shift that narrative into something much more self-aware and complex.

https://xoshdarkheart.itch.io/sunflowers

Hey, all 

I started posting games to Itchio about a year ago, but I'm just getting around to an introduction.  I go by Xosh (him/them), but folks might know me better as M. Belanger. I'm US based & a crusty old GenX goth.  

When I'm not writing or running games, I'm making books like the Dictionary of Demons or working with Osbourne Media on one of their paranormal shows.  I've done contract work for WotC, run Mind's Eye Theater LARPs in the World of Darkness at Origins & GenCon (back in the 90s when all of that was shiny and new), and written for Onyx Path, among others. 

Like a lot of you, I started gaming when I was quite young. A program at school introduced me to Dungeons and Dragons when I was nine & I've been hooked on RPGs ever since.

I favor horror and Gothic genres - like my latest offering here on Itchio, Lonely House, which is a hybrid novella and journaling game. In the past year, I've been really getting into writing one and two-page mini-games like my post-zombie apocalypse piece REMAINS.  There's a lot of freedom in creating indie games, especially ones that exist only as downloadable PDFs (for example, I can't think of a single company I've written for over the years that would have allowed me to create something so irrepressibly queer as Midnight's Kiss). Indie games can be short and sweet and quirky and exist simply for the sake of existing. I love it.

Anyway, I have to talk too much about myself for my day job, so I'll leave it at that. I like this space and am happy to have a place to share my work.

Got swamped. Thank you so much for thinking of me - I am almost out of my busy season and might have some time to dig into this. Sorry for the lengthy delay.

Hello, Midnighters.  

I have uploaded an updated file for the game. The only difference from the file you already have in your possession is a correction to the FILE NAME. Close inspection will reveal the PDF as it was initially released was saved as "Mightnight's Kiss." 

For the sake of searching your devices for the file, I fixed the PDF file name. Both files will remain - they are identical in all respects with the sole exception of the corrected file name.

Entirely fair. I’ll be uploading Lonely House for Monday. Easy enough to make the change to Midnight’s Kiss while I’m doing that. 

It took me a while to notice it, too & I’m torn between leaving it in the spirit of acknowledging the inherent imperfections of creation & fixing it for the sake of folks’ searching their hard drives for the downloaded file

Dude, I submitted on time & still didn't get in. So meh. Let it go.

Thanks for doing the work to organize this. Looking forward to when the bundle goes live.

https://xoshdarkheart.itch.io/sunflowers

We’re live. If you’re looking for something to keep you warm this weekend as we head into Valentine’s Day, curl up with your very own vampire lover. I hope you enjoy engaging with Midnight’s Kiss as much as I’ve enjoyed writing this romantic solo RPG.

—M