Update (June 16): A big surge over the final 24 hours pushed Itch.io's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality to nearly $8.2 million raised for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund.
The bundle ultimately grew to include 1704 projects, ranging from well-known indie hits like Night in the Woods and Celeste to smaller-scale and more experimental fare like No Brakes Valet and One-Eyed Lee and the Dinner Party, both of which I selected for mention because their titles made me laugh. 814,679 people threw an average of $10.03 at the bundle, with a top contribution of $5,000, and the final total raised was $8,175,570.67. The money will be split evenly between the two organizations.
If you purchased the bundle and aren't sure where to dive in, this "Random Bundle Game" tool might be just the thing. Click the "help me pick" button and it'll throw a game at you randomly (like, for instance, Dungeons and Lesbians, a game about "mildly dating your BFFs in the midst of a game of D&D"), but you can also apply an array of filters to narrow it down by genre, tag, language, accessibility features, and more, if you're interested in something more specific.
Update (June 15): There's less than 24 hours left to buy one of the most impressive bundles you're likely to ever find. The Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has raised almost $7 million for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund, and you can add to that total and net yourself over 1,000 games in the process.
Update (June 9): Just one day after breaking $2 million, Itch.io's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has now sailed well past the $3 million mark. The number of games on offer has also grown: A new round of additions has brought the total number of games in the bundle to more than 1,000. There's just under a week left to pick it up.
Oh, and did we mention: We just passed $3,000,000 in money raised 😱Thank you so much to everyone involved, this is incredible#BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/vKiCmQWMd9June 9, 2020
Update: Itch's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality has now raised more than $2 million for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund. It launched a couple of days ago, on June 6, and since then more than 200,000 people have slapped down some cash.
While the bundle lets you scoop up 742 games for a mere $5, the average contribution is more than double the minimum, sitting at $11.46. The top contribution so far is $5,000. If you find yourself laden with money, why not try to beat it?
The goal keeps being moved to keep up with the contributions, and it's now risen to $5 million. With another seven days to go, I reckon that seems pretty feasible.
Original story: Hello! Would you like 742 games for $5? That's a rhetorical question because of course you do.
In what is perhaps the best deal in the history of indie games, itch.io has organized the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. It's a $5 minimum donation for 742 items from 564 distinct creators, which is a lot of games.
The contents run the gamut from quirky experiments and in-development games to fully released, critically-acclaimed indies. It includes both PC games and tabletop games in digital format, which you can play on your PC. The proceeds from the bundle will go to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Community Bail Fund in support of the anti-racist, anti-police brutality protests calling for justice around the world today.
There are a few games in here that I'd recommend at $5 each, let alone at $5 for all of them. Indie darlings like Night in the Woods, Minit, Oxenfree, and last year's A Short Hike are all here. Recently released grim reaper simulator Death and Taxes is here. There are more that I'd put in the same pile: A Mortician's Tale, Overland, Super Hexagon, Verdant Skies, The Night Fisherman, Dorfromantik, Beacon, and Quadrilateral Cowboy.
In the tabletop RPG department, you'll get great mileage out of Mausritter, Lancer, Blades in the Dark, and Troika. All four of those games are well-suited to online play via virtual tabletops.
There are enough good games here that you could play for the rest of the year. You can find the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality on itch.io.
Software developer Gregor Santner also has a nice way to use a browser script to claim all the games into your library from the bundle page, if you're into that kind of console cowboy stuff.
