I got the itchio bundle but i'm at a bit of a loss to what to play. Do you have any specific pc/singleplayer games from there that you would heartily recommend?
Sure thing. The Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality actually contains a fair number of games I already owned, so it’s easy to point out a few worth checking out.
(I’m also tagging @moosh101 here because they submitted a similar request for character-driven, “feelsy” games at around the same time; the ones that specifically meet their criteria are marked with an asterisk.)
Some personal favourites:
2064: Read Only Memories* - An investigative point-and-click adventure game in the mode of Snatcher. All the content warnings you’d expect for a murder mystery.
Anodyne* - A Zelda-alike crossed with a Yumi Nikki-style dream exploration game. Not quite as clever as it thinks it is, but very solid gameplay-wise. Content warning for implied self harm.
Beglitched* - A self-described “cyberpink” puzzle game that plays like a cross between Match Three and Minesweeper. Content warning for discussion of mental illness. (You may notice that this is a theme.)
Bleed 2 - A bullet time, bullet hell twin-stick shooter about a girl with a gun and a sword. The first game in the series is also included, but the sequel is probably the better introduction if you’re new to the genre.
Celeste* - Probably one of the best precision puzzle-platformers out ther, and an excellent introduction for newcomers to the genre in spite of being hard as balls. Content warning for discussion of mental illness.
cityglitch - Basically a chess puzzle game with a very slick visual presentation; manoeuvre on a grid versus enemies with strictly defined movement patterns who will always make the worst possible move.
Corinne Cross’s Dead and Breakfast* - A visual novel where the titular protagonist accepts a job house-sitting a bed and breakfast in the off season and ends up playing life coach to the resident ghosts.
Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor - A life sim about being a minimum wage service worker in a spaceport. Gender dysphoria is a core game mechanic, reflected by various UI distortions if you can’t afford your HRT.
Dreaming Sarah - Another game that wears its Yume Nikki inspirations on its sleeve, this one a side-scrolling platformer. Content warnings for self harm and body horror.
flux - Sort of a cross between a visual novel and a typing tutor, I guess you could call it? No real game-mechanical goals, beyond following up on the various story threads -- very chill.
Four Sided Fantasy - A puzzle platformer where you can manipulate the game’s screen-wrapping behaviour to get around obstacles. One of the shorter games listed here.
The King’s Bird - Another puzzle platformer, this one focusing on momentum rather than precision. Plays fast, and the learning curve isn’t super friendly, but it’s not as scary as it looks.
The Last Word - A bottle-episode RPG set in a world where winning a battle of wits gives you power over your opponent. No conventional content warnings, but loss of autonomy is a squick for you, fair warning!
Lenna’s Inception - One of those glitchy brainfuck RPGs, this one in the mould of Legend of Zelda. All the usual content warnings for the genre, plus a surprising amount of (pixel-art) gore.
Micro Mages - A cute little NES game developed last year. No, I don’t mean NES style -- I mean you can actually buy it on an NES cart and run it on original NES hardware!
Minit - A low-bit Zelda-alike where your cursed sword means you have only sixty seconds to live. The challenge is 100% routing, since you can never be more than 60 seconds away from the nearest save point.
Night in the Woods* - A cute visual novel with light platforming elements about post-industrial desolation in small-town America. Content warnings for self harm and discussion of mental illness.
NO THING - The literal apotheosis of the whole “there’s not much to the gameplay, so let’s set it to vapourwave and call it Art” school of game design. I like it anyway!
OneShot* - Anon-violent top down RPG where the protagonist is aware of and can talk to the player. Numerous fourth-wall breaking puzzles; content warning for on-screen suicide in one of the routes.
Oxenfree* - A horror VN whose real-time dialogue mechanics manage to make simulated conversations as awkward as they are in real life. Content warnings for self harm and discussion of mental illness.
Planet Diver - Sort of like an endless runner, except in this one you fall. Arcade-style base jumping on a planetary scale with light upgrade grinding and the occasional freefall boss fight.
Pyre* - Dante’s Inferno meets Space Jam; a visual novel about escaping an underground purgatory by participating in special rituals that just happen to resemble basketball. Plays that premise 100% straight.
The Rainsdowne Players - A minigame-centric RPG about running a community theatre troupe. Sort of a love-it-or-hate-it proposition, depending on how you feel about the minigame gimmick.
Semblance - One of those puzzle platformers where you play as a ball of goo, with the twist that the terrain is just as squishable as the player character.
A Short Hike* - A low-fi walking sim about climbing a mountain in order to find cell phone service. Very short if you go straight for the goal, but there’s a lot to explore.
Signs of the Sojourner* - A deckbuilding game that -- like The Last Word, above -- gamifies conversations rather than fights. Very cute for a game that’s technically post-apocalyptic.
They Bleed Pixels - A melee-focused precision platformer that’s just unbelievably gory for being a low-res pixel art title. I’m not usually a fan of gorn, but something about this one charms me.
Verdant Skies - A sci-fi farming sim that really dials up the dating sim elements. Like, it could almost be described as a dating sim with farming sim elements, rather than vice versa!
Vision Soft Reset - A metroidvania where the gimmick is that you can fast travel in time as well as space: warping to a save point warps you back to when as well as where you saved. Has a built-in timeline tracker.
WitchWay - A short block-pushing puzzle game starring a telekinetic witch. Not terribly challenging, but you’ll have to do some lateral thinking in the later levels.
I’m going to somewhat arbitrarily cut it off at the thirty-game mark just so this post doesn’t go on forever. Seriously, if even one of the listed games has caught your eye, the bundle is totally worth the minimum five-dollar buy in. Check it out!
