I recently published my first game on itch.io, which took me nearly six months to develop. The game has undergone a significant amount of user testing, and I am confident in its quality. However, after five days, I noticed that my game has still not been indexed, which has been quite disheartening. During this period, I thoroughly reviewed all available documentation, including itch.io's help files and pinned posts in this section. I also reached out to the support team via email but have yet to receive a response.

While researching this issue, I found numerous posts from other developers asking about the indexing status of their games. A few isolated cases might be understandable, but the sheer volume of such inquiries is concerning. The waiting times reported range from a few days to several months. If the review process truly takes months, the lack of transparency regarding progress is incredibly frustrating for developers. This suggests that the issue is not with the developers but rather with itch.io's user experience for creators.

My suggestions are as follows:

1. Display Review Progress After Submission: Simply showing the review process after published would give developers hope and something to look forward to. This would greatly help in maintaining the enthusiasm of new developers.

2. Implement a Two-Step Review Process: The initial step could involve a basic review to ensure the game meets minimum standards, after which it could be temporarily featured on a dedicated "Newly Published Games" section of the homepage. A more thorough review could then follow.

While I am not familiar with the internal workings of itch.io, I hope you will consider the perspective of a new user and take these suggestions into account.