The Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has been a stunning success, raising $8.1m for funds supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The bundle, which contained more than 1700 games donated by their creators, was bought by over 810,000 people, raising $8,175,430 - well over its $5m target. The average contribution was $10.30. The top contribution was $5000. The Itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality was widely considered to be the best value bundle in video game history, n...

I used to think I was pretty good at platformers, until I played Celeste. Made the creators of Towerfall, Celeste drops you in the shoes of Madeline, whose goal is to climb a mountain. Except, the mountain isn’t really just a mountain – it’s a metaphor for all the difficulties that Madeline, and you, have overcome, and will need to overcome in the future. It’s gruelling and lovely, and you’re missing out on a wonderful experience if you haven’t gotten around to pl...

I’ve not played Minecraft heavily in several years now, so when I logged in recently I was surprised by some new tunes as I walked about pestering livestock. There are even more new tracks coming in the sandbox game’s big Nether Update, this time created by composer Lena Raine whose excellent sounds you may have heard in Celeste. You can check these tunes out now in the newest Minecraft test version snapshot. (more…)

Every time I sit down to write, the first thing I do isn’t open up a blank document, it’s find some nice video game music to listen to. And loads of it can be found free on YouTube. Ambient music from Skyrim, relaxing compilations from Animal Crossing, lo-fi Legend of Zelda remixes Sometimes, work or study just can’t get done without my 10-hour loop of Chrono Trigger’s Corridors Of Time. Looking at the millions of comments, uploads, and views these uploads get, it...

Whether or not famously difficult games should have an optional easy mode has long been a point of contention. But many already do, albeit unofficially, thanks to modders taking things into their own hands. Take the fella who goes by “n00bplatformer”, for example. He recently created an “Assist Mode” for run ‘n’ gun action game Cuphead. It makes simple tweaks to some of the game’s systems, like granting players six hitpoints instead of the usual three, a...