Gaming
Incredible deal: Fight racism, get 740 games for $5
Itch.io's bundle makes it easy to contribute to a worthy cause and might even keep you busy until racism and police violence are consigned to the history books.
Independent digital marketplace Itch.io has put together an enormous bundle of 740 videogames, digital assets to use to create your own games, and rulebooks for tabletop RPGs, from more than 560 creators. The goods in the bundle are worth over $3,400, but can be yours for a minimum donation of $5. All proceeds are being split equally between the Community Bail Fund and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
In other words, you'll be helping the Black Lives Matter movement and related efforts for racial justice, while also getting enough goodies to ensure you can distract yourself from the horrors currently unfolding across the U.S. and beyond in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.
Not all of the games included in the bundle are available for all platforms, naturally, but there's a good mix of wares for Windows, MacOS, Linux, and even some content for Android devices. There are far too many to list, but some of the titles that jumped out at us are A Short Hike, Overland, Luna, Loot Rascals, Oxenfree, and one called Plant Daddy, which we know nothing about, but which sounds right up our alley.
Other titles we love the sound of include Babysitter Bloodbath, Mausritter, The Testimony of Trixie Glimmer Smith, the oh-so-apt Tonight We Riot, Pet the Pup at the Party (in case you didn't know, we love petting digital doggos), Three Lesbians in a Barrow, Extreme Meatpunks Forever, The Steadfast and Rebellious, One-Eyed Lee and the Dinner Party, Whipped and Steamy, and Dogs Throwing Swords II: Three Barks to the Wind.
PayPal or plastic? — You can pay for the bundle via PayPal or using a credit or debit card. If you don't have an Itch.io account you're not obliged to create one, but doing so will make it easier to ensure you never lose access to the repository of digital delights you've just bought. It also makes it easier to keep track of what you've got and install games via the Itch.io desktop app.
Understandably, the bundle doesn't grant you any keys for external services like Steam. You'll need to do direct downloads from the aforementioned app or from Itch.io's website.
The bundle continues to grow, and if you're a developer who wants to contribute one of your projects to the mix you're encouraged to. At the time of writing the goal of raising $1 million is less than $20,000 away, with a little over nine days left. Here's hoping that'll increase exponentially by the time the fundraising window closes. Now, if you'll excuse us, we've got some games to play.
