Itch.io Games as a Tool for Self-Expression and Societal Commentary: Review(s)

I would like to take you on a journey to the land of itch.io’s free games. By “free,” I don’t mean free-to-play – I mean games with no monetization whatsoever. And by “games”, I mean specifically games with something to say, targeting games with societal and/or mental-health-related commentary.

I believe that money changes what we make, whether it be pandering to the customers of the game, the kickstarter community, or the shareholders. I’m interested in what people have to say when they are allowed to do that freely. I will not review games where making money could have affected the design of that particular game. So Patreons for the game, kickstarters, monetisation, and paid DLCs are off the table. Creator Patreons and option to support the game (such as “name your own price” setting turned on) are allowed.

And now, without further ado, to the reviews!

Adventures with Anxiety Gives Anxiety a Form

This charming game, developed by Nicky Case and published in 2019, tells a story about anxiety. The twist is that you play as the anxiety, trying to “protect” your human by using three fears: Fear of being unloved, fear of being a bad person, and fear of being harmed. Your goal in the game is to get your human’s energy to zero to better keep them safe. You do this by choosing dialogue options: Despite having RPG-like elements such as health bar as visual add-ons, the game is a visual novel.

While the game is based on personal experiences, the designer really seems to have processed their own anxiety (at least, they’ve written an article about anxiety to supplement the game) and it’s evident by how well the game articulates them. This game could be used as a self-reflection tool for players with or without problems with anxiety, as it gives complex, universal emotions form and frames them with humour.

Basic Information:

Developer: Nicky Case

Publisher: Nicky Case!

Release date: 10.12.2019

Platforms: Browser

Genre: Visual Novel

PEGI: N/A

Picture is a Screenshot from the game.

 

There’s just something about u Illustrates an Abusive Relationship with Clever Platformer Mechanics

In this platformer by Goose Stranger published in 2024, the game’s text and the story becomes the platformer level. You, player, are the letter i, representing one of the game’s two characters (both as in typing and as in people): u and i. You jump through the story of first love turned into emotional abuse.

The situation turning darker is presented by the platformer becoming more difficult as well, with letters starting to move, disappaer and attack you. The more difficult the emotional atmosphere, the harder the platformer. The play experience of this game from a purely mechanical standpoint is frustrating, especially by the end, when you get killed by random t’s for hundredth time. As a whole experience the game ties its narrative and game mechanic together elegantly.

This game, like Adventures with Anxiety, seems to at least somewhat be based on a personal experience. This game also still evades the dangers of using personal experience as inspiration, and rather mindfully illustrates a situation relatable to many.

Developer: GooseStranger

Publisher: GooseStranger

Release date: 24.4.2024

Platforms: Browser, PC

Genre: Platformer

PEGI: N/A, contains mentions of self-harm, suicide, and abusive language

Picture is a Screenshot from the game.

We Become What We Behold – I Would Hope Not

We Become What We Behold, made by Nicky Case and published in 2016, is a five-minute experience that captures vicious news cycles. The player holds a camera, taking photos of what is around and focusing the public’s attention to specific things they’ve captured. As the game progresses, hate, prejudice, and violence increase in the game world. As the game itself puts it: ”Peace is boring. Violence goes viral.”

It’s hard to believe this game is almost ten years old, so well it seems to encapsulate the way social media algorithms work today: Radical, hateful content gets pushed because that is what people engage with, which creates more radicalized individuals, who provide more engaging content.

So, the game remains topical. The use of the game mechanics is innovative, and the title (originally from a quote by Marshall McLuhan) perfectly fits it. While the game provides an illusion of choice, it ultimately forces you onto the same path, and ironically presents a black-and-white view of the issue itself. While the game had limitations (in both play and development time), maybe it could have been more clever in making the player feel like their choices matter. But overall, this game had something to say and it said it well.

Basic Information:

Developer: Nicky Case

Publisher: Nicky Case!

Release date: October 2016

Platforms: Browser

Genre: Point-and-click

PEGI: N/A, contains stylized graphical violence and blood

Pictures: The image is from https://imgur.com/a/we-become-what-we-behold-screenshots-gifs-promo-art-Krep9

All these games were short in time, but with a lot of food for thought – at least, that was my experience. Did they say things differently because of not being monetized? Probably. Especially the Adventures with Anxiety and There’s just something about u felt personal, because they were. The expression in these games felt at the same time more limited (in terms of time & budget) and less limited in terms of expression. Either way, I hope you found something new to try!

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