Itch.io has released an astronomical indie games bundle to raise money for organizations working towards racial justice. When the aptly named “Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality” released earlier this week, it contained more than 700 indie games, assets, and other media from more than 500 different creators. Since then, more content has been added to the bundle, which now contains more than 1500 different items from more than 800 creators. The minimum donation for this bundle is a mere five dollars. All donations are split equally between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund.
You may have to sift through a fair share of crud, but the bundle does contain some of indie’s greatest hits. Celeste, Night in the Woods, and A Short Hike received accolades across the board. Purchasing them through Steam would cost about $50 – not a single dime of which would go towards fighting a monumentally worthwhile cause.
The bundle also contains some other known, but not terribly lauded games. A Mortician’s Tale and Wide Ocean, Big Jacket are both games I’ve heard about but were narratives I’ve hitherto been deprived of. Having finally experienced them, I can say they too were worth the donation incentive alone.
And who knows what hidden gems you’re bound to dig up? Throughout the Sisyphean ordeal of cataloging games in a bundle that seems to expand every time I log-in, I’ve come across titles that only seem to exist in the most unknown corridors of Itch.io. Puppet Combo’s Babysitter Bloodbath, for example, is ostensibly a two-fold nostalgia trip that harkens back to the eras of great slasher horror and original PlayStation graphical style. William Baldwin’s Stealth Fishing is an “arcade bullet hell with fishing action!” I hope it’s as satirical as both its name and description imply.
Of course, you don’t (and shouldn’t) need an incentive to donate to organizations supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. But if you’re going to donate and can get some great games out of it, then why not? At the time of writing this article, the “Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality” has raised $4.9 million of its $5 million goal. (The original goal was $2 million, but it seems the bundle’s early success warranted pushing the goalpost back quite a bit). The bundle ends Monday, June 15 at 3 a.m. EST.
