Indie digital storefront Itch.io joins the Winter Sale festivities

GOG's Winter Sale started last week, and Steam's will begin later this week. But today, it's time for Itch.io, the home of experimental indie stuff (and maybe a few games you might have already heard of) to kick off a seasonal sale of its own. 

As it sometimes is with Itch.io's seasonal sales, it's not the most distinctively organized collection of bargains you'll ever see. Sagebrush, for instance, is on sale until December 27, which is when the Winter Sale is scheduled to end. But Rodina, which shares the top row on the sale page, is only discounted until December 23, while Walden—also top row—is on until January 3.   

I can't really make sense of it, but we're here for the deals and there are many to be seen, particularly if you have a taste for less mainstream fare. Tacoma is a fiver, for instance, Super Win the Game is $1.50, Caves of Qud is $9, Faerie Solitaire is $1 (I've plowed a lot of hours into that one), Chuchel is $6, and Sokobond is $5. There are quite a few freebies on the table, too. 

In all honesty, I think it's more a matter of games that happen to be on sale during winter than a full-on "Winter Sale," but I can't fault Itch.io for wanting to get in on the action and it's good to shop around, especially when everyone is trying to pitch you a deal. And Itch.io does handle some pretty esoteric stuff—including a surprisingly wide range of games for the Commodore 64.   

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.