It’s June 2023 and there are too many video games. Not the large onesThese are rare and becoming rarer all the time– but every step below is absolute stacked There are so many new releases that it’s almost impossible to keep track of them all.
Whether you’re checking out the Steam new releases section, a YouTube recommendation, or… an article on a site like Kotaku.com, there’s just no way you’ll ever learn about every video game that’s released around the world, let alone think about actually playing it. They’re getting too fat and too fast, and each day they’re increasing in thickness and speed.
There are many reasons for that! Game development is more accessible than ever and the industry is gaining more access to customers every day – be it on computers, phones or consoles. To be clear, it’s not a problem for us that too many video games are coming out, but for those who actually make and sell them, breaking the news can be difficult.
So I’m intrigued by the hashtag #PitchYaGame, which has been going for three years now –we wrote about it in 2021– but in 2023 it’s completely blown up and has become an increasingly useful place to catch up on some great-looking games that we might otherwise have completely slept on.
The campaign pitch is simple:
#PitchYaGame is a voluntary movement and event that takes place twice a year; We’re calling on developers around the world, from all walks of life, to showcase their game for the world to see.
Our Mission: Recognize independent video games.
All developers have to do is tweet about their game, add the hashtag, and they’re done. Everyone following, myself included, but also tons of developers, publishers, indie game fans and curious viewers alike will keep an eye on it. It’s such an amazingly simple idea that it almost seems ridiculous; I feel like over the past few years we’ve been conditioned to treat indie games as if they needed to be brought to us by influential streamers, websites, and Steam curators. Since there are so many of them, we have to rely on taste makers to edit the selection for us.
PitchYaGame has just completed its latest campaign, surpassing the total number of pitches shown since 2020 10,000. That’s a lot to cover, but to give you an idea of what’s out there, here’s a sailing game where one person sails while the other consults the map:
Here’s a game where you’re a dog who has to break shit and can piss all over the floor:
In On the hunt for the invisibleyou climb huge monsters:
midnight girl is “a 2D adventure game inspired by Belgian comics and heist movies from the 60s”
In Lou’s LagoonYou operate a seaplane delivery service:
This one blew my mind: It is synergy“an eco-city builder in a sci-fi universe inspired by great games like Pharaoh and Frostpunk”:
Note I didn’t say these were highlights or my favorites because aarrgghh that would be curating again and that’s not the point! The point is to just get into it and be overwhelmed by the variety and amount of incredibly cool and interesting shit, and that’s the best way to do it Check out all the games yourself.
And if any of these look like something you’d like to see more of, then you might be in luck: the hashtag’s organizers are planning a more formal showcase event soon on YouTube, where 15-20 of the games will be given a closer look. Like Summer Game Fest, sort of, just without all the ads.
