Not a game recommendation here, but a very useful tool for filtering when browsing itch. On any browse query, append this to the URL:
?exclude=tg.horror
e.g.,
https://itch.io/games?exclude=tg.horror
Substitute “horror” with your tag of choice (horror being the example because I’ve become very exhausted by seeing 1,000 haunted VHS PlayStation lo-fi aesthetic retro 90s horror games—using this surfaced some stuff that’s very much my shit from the main browser pages, which rarely happens otherwise; no shade if that’s your jam, but it really ain’t mine). Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like excluding multiple tags at once is possible.
i played this on android and it’s really good! it’s basically a combination of Threes and billiards, with an end goal rather than just being endless. beat Hard this morning
i just played combo pool. it’s good.
i like how pico-8 hosts a lot of games that iterate on the popular indie games of the moment, adding or subtracting stuff as they see fit. as well as suika game, there’s also a lot of games inspired by vampire survivors.
an open-world? puzzle game. uses a Waving Hands-style casting system, where spells are a string of movements. one level, but designed for multiple playthroughs with limits on the spells used.
cross of Obra Dinn & Hypnospace Outlaw. resolve the claims on the estate of the Roottrees by determining their family tree. regrettable use of AI art but a commercial remake is planned with actual artists.
I played through this a couple days ago, it’s rather good. There was a different itch browser puzzle game with the same central gimmick a couple years ago named Mimic but that one was very stage based while this is a single big space you slowly figure out so it’s got a distinct feel.
I feel bad as there’s one spell I never got as I grabbed the last star without thinking about it so I may have to go back for another run. I do like how the first spell you learn which returns you to the home tile is actually mostly a pain/trap that you gotta be careful not to fire off on accident.
Happened to claw my way through about 30 of the “top games tagged NES” or whatever on itch this morning and it is a bit frustrating when authors expect you to pay or even just download a game file without bothering to offer even a preview video, particularly since these games are usually pretty graphically minimal so you can’t tell much just from a handful of screenshots.
Many of them DID have a play-in-browser option, which is nice.
