As the games industry marches towards ever-higher game prices and $80 Mario Karts, you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal than getting a pile of games that'll only cost you around 22 cents each. Over at Itch.io, you can pick up the Crips for eSims for Gaza Bundle, which'll get you 74 indie games for less than 20 bucks—all the proceeds of which will go to a good cause.
The bundle was organized by Crips for eSims for Gaza, an international disability justice collective that has raised more than $1.4 million to support the Palestinian civilians enduring the Israeli military's ongoing offensive in Gaza, which as of last month has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians according to NPR. Crips for eSims for Gaza's funding helps provide and recharge eSims for Palestinians, allowing access to necessary aid that's been repeatedly disrupted by IOF blockade.
"In order to communicate with their families, send and receive warnings about Israeli attacks, and document the atrocities they face, many Palestinians rely on eSims—digitally activated cellular voice/data cards," Crips for eSims for Gaza said in its mission statement for the fundraising bundle. "Since they do not require physical hardware, eSims can be purchased and topped-up online by anyone, anywhere. In a time when moving basic resources like food and cash into Gaza has become virtually impossible, eSims remain a valuable and accessible site of support."
The bundle, which already blew past its initial $20,000 goal a day after it kicked off on Monday, includes indie bangers of all stripes and sizes. There's Baba is You, the 2019 logic puzzler breakout hit. There's Arctico, a peaceful, polar base builder and exploration game. There's Street Uni X, which is like Tony Hawk's Pro Skater except unicycles.
Alongside dozens of visual novels and platformers all but guaranteeing you'll have options to dig into the next time you're looking for something new to play, the bundle includes more than 80 TTRPGs. Of particular note is FIST: Ultra Edition, a tabletop game about paranormal mercenaries inspired by Metal Gear Solid and Doom Patrol—sounds rad to me. You'll also get dozens of zines, books, soundtracks, and even asset packs you can use if you ever want to dabble in game dev yourself.
What I'm particularly fond of about Itch.io fundraiser bundles like these are the inclusion of tools and software utilities. One that caught my eye in the current eSim bundle is ManyNames, a name generation toolkit that'll spin up names for people, eldritch horrors, hacker groups, numbers stations, and more. Good for naming your own paranormal mercenary, perhaps.
The Crips for eSims for Gaza Bundle will run until May 20.
