Solitude: an isometric curio about escapism, and shepherding

There are some wonderful games over on itch.io, and it's actually easier to find the gems, I think, than by wading through Steam's mess of bad recommendations and featured games. I cover a lot of the great freebies in the Free Games of the Week, but there are loads of games with a pricetag that obviously wouldn't fit in that regular column, including Rat King's serene-looking Solitude. It's a game about escapism, and being a shepherd, which means that somewhere a farmer is dreaming of being a game developer. Anyway, here's a description from developer Rat King that explains what Solitude's all about:

"Being a shepherd is my escapist fantasy. I don't really want to be a shepherd, I know it's no easy job. But there are some moments where I just want to leave making computer games behind. Do real work with my hands. Solitude is about these moments. Being not yourself. Wanting to leave."

Obviously I'm posting about Solitude because I bloody love the look of it, its isometric, colourful backgrounds reminding me of Little Big Adventure. I hear it's a bit short, but it's only $2. Here's a nice trailer:

Tom loves exploring in games, whether it’s going the wrong way in a platformer or burgling an apartment in Deus Ex. His favourite game worlds—Stalker, Dark Souls, Thief—have an atmosphere you could wallop with a blackjack. He enjoys horror, adventure, puzzle games and RPGs, and played the Japanese version of Final Fantasy VIII with a translated script he printed off from the internet. Tom has been writing about free games for PC Gamer since 2012. If he were packing for a desert island, he’d take his giant Columbo boxset and a laptop stuffed with PuzzleScript games.