Indie Bundle for Palestinian Aid - Our Top Picks

After the success of last year’s fundraising bundle for Black Lives Matter, Itch.io is again the location of another fundraising bundle, this time for aid for Palestine in light of the ongoing crisis. The bundle is organized by Toadhouse Studios developer Alanna Linayre (known as Tybawai on Itch.io), and all proceeds will be going to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, which has already given food assistance to over one million Palestinian citizens in need. The bundle contains over 1,000 entries, including both tabletop and video games, game assets, and several books.

In the name of supporting a good cause and helping people in need, here’s some of our picks for great games to grab from the bundle!

2000:1: A Space Felony

Recommended by our esteemed reviews editor here, 2000:1: A Space Felony is described by the developers as a “murder mystery courtroom drama set on an interplanetary spacecraft.” I sure hope they have a brig on board, otherwise it’s gonna get real awkward with people taking turns sitting on the guilty party.

Sidewords

Crosswords got you bored? Tired of Boggle? Craving something fresh and new to play with your words? Try Sidewords! A fun little puzzler with several difficulty levels, Sidewords sets out to shake up the word game genre. Using letters on two sides of a square (which increases in size as the difficulty does), your objective is to fill all the boxes with words without letting any of them overlap. While it's a simple concept, latter levels of the game ramp up the challenge considerably. So word nerds, this one's for you!

Ace Baker

Made for the Ace Jam in 2018, this cute little futuristic baking game tells the story of two asexual partners, one of whom is on their way home from work while the other is desperately trying to bake an edible treat before their partner gets there. Guess which one you play as! Combine truly bizarre ingredients and use the magical power of cyberpunk instant-baking ovens in order to cook up something delicious in Ace Baker.

Lesbian Mothman Hunters

Another game perfect for Pride month! Lesbian Mothman Hunters is developed by Zoe Lillith A. and is, well, pretty much exactly what it says on the tin. There’s lesbians. They hunt the cryptid Mothman. It’s a short visual novel with fun character designs and the potential to find the Mothman, what more could you want?

Fairy Corgi Steeplechase

An adorable yet short tabletop game about fairies who no longer need to ride corgis into battle, so instead they race them for fun! Please note, no corgis were harmed in the making of Fairy Corgi Steeplechase, but 10-sided dice are a necessity.

Animal Crackers

I’d had my eye on Animal Crackers for a while, because the lovely background music is done by the supremely talented Louie Zong, a previous staff member of the show We Bare Bears. Animal Crackers itself, however, is a delight. Straighten up your mouse-sized tie, get your keyboard ready, and make this the best president’s birthday party ever! Includes copious amounts of poking fun at real-life political divides using the Republicanines and the Democats.

The Missing Locksmith

An AR investigation game, The Missing Locksmith was something I played with my family for a game night during lockdown. It’s quite cleverly done, but I definitely recommend playing with more than one person, though you could solo it if you like. Search through clues from an old robbery to find the code needed to unlock the safe with all the pilfered loot, but be warned that is not as easy as it seems.

Fallen Down: Heartache and Compassion in Undertale

While not a game, this book is on here as a bonus recommendation. For those interested in discussions about emotions, talks about games, or just Undertale, this is a very interesting, if somber at times, read.

Are you going to buy the bundle? What are some of the included games you'd recommend? Let us know in the comments below!