And with eight hours left to run, there’s still time for the itch.io Bundle for Ukraine to raise even more money for relief efforts in war-torn Ukraine.
Update, March 17, 2022:
There are about eight hours left to go on the itch.io Bundle for Ukraine and, at the time of writing, it has raised a whopping $6,166,988.31. There’s obviously still time for that to creep even higher, you know, if you get on that quick, hint, hint.
Original story, March 10, 2022:
Do you know what? As we roll straight from COVID-19 into a third world war, it’s hard to concentrate on video games at a time like this. It feels frivolous. Trivial, even.
Yes, some people need the escape, and I don’t want to diminish anyone’s interest or enjoyment in the medium, but honestly – who gives the tiniest little crap about something like Elden Ring/FromSoftware discourse while Ukraine is on fire? It couldn’t feel less important.
It’s hard to know what to do. It’s easy to feel helpless in the wake of such relentlessly awful news. But if you want to use your love of video games to do some good, then the itch.io Bundle for Ukraine is a good place to start, promising to split its proceeds evenly between two charities:
- International Medical Corps, a charity that provides medical assistance in the region
- Voices of Children, a Ukrainian organization that helps children cope with the horrors of war, PTSD, readjusting to school, and getting back to being kids
In it, you’ll find almost a thousand video games for next to nothing. There are some real stunners in there too, including A Short Hike, Wandersong, Superhot, Baba is You, 2064: Read Only Memories, Celeste, Minit, Hidden Folks, Quadrilateral Cowboy, Golf Peaks, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, Super Hexagon, Old Man’s Journey, Kids, Sokobond, Art Sqool, Wheels of Aurelia, Button City…
It is just a ridiculous collection of indie games, interactive fiction, and beautiful/weird/weirdly beautiful pieces of digital art. And you can have them all for the obscenely low minimum price of just USD $10. (Currently about GBP £7.60.) That’s over $6,500 of stuff for ten bucks, which is an incredible bundle.
But remember what this is for. It’s the Bundle for Ukraine, to raise money to help in any small way we can the innocent people of Ukraine, impacted by Putin’s paranoid, maniacal invasion. Or as the itch.io bundle page puts it:
The people of Ukraine are under attack. As game developers we want to create new worlds, not to destroy the one we have. That’s why we’ve banded together to present this charity bundle to help Ukrainians survive this ordeal and thrive after the war ends. This cause has resonated with creators around the globe, to the extent that our bundle contains almost 1,000 games, tabletop RPGs, books, etc.
We kept the minimum low, but we highly urge you to pay above the minimum if you can afford to do so. All proceeds will be split between the charities 50/50.
We stand with Ukrainians, and with all people around the world who despise war.
Thank you.
It’s tempting to get carried away by the “haul” of games you receive for next to nothing in these charity bundles, but please, remember what this is about, and pay above the minimum, if you can afford to.
Further reading:
- Three ways you can help people of Ukraine from the UK | The Guardian
- How Americans can help people of Ukraine | The Guardian
