Category: Features

Check out the Tiny Games Bundle—A collection of short games by tiny game creators!

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tiny games bundle is a collection of themed short games by a team of itch.io creators. Their objective is to support small creators and normalize the idea that tiny games have value.

Shorter games provide a space for creators to explore unconventional ideas. They give players a chance for concise and unique gameplay experiences that can only be made by creators with the freedom to experiment.

They want to encourage people to support the creators of shorter games so that they can continue to make more tiny experiences for people to enjoy. Each game is playable within half an hour. The bundle is just $10.00!

The bundle’s theme: tiny games to make magic with ✨

Creators

  • npckc: Creator of casting hearts, tiny games bundle founder, logo/card designer
  • clover: Creator of Drinking Tea (with the Trans Boy You Secretly Have a Crush On), tiny games bundle founder
  • Autumnotopia: Creator of Making Friends
  • BáiYù: Creator of Lotus: The Self-Made Witch
  • Heiden: Creator of Tomorrow for Mar

Disclaimer: After publishing this article, there were allegations brought up against one of the developers featured in the tiny games bundle. This post is an objective overview of the bundle and not an endorsement of any wrongdoing on the part of the developer in question. Please respect my space by not using my accounts/platform as a means to voice your concerns to the creators of the bundle.

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Women and Femme Identifying Indie Devs You Should Know About

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Hey there Blerdy Tribe! Today is International Women’s Day, the day when we spotlight the achievements of women and femme identifying individuals past and present. I’m sure many of you are or know some phenomenal and inspiring creators who are out there everyday shining their light on the world.

Everyday here on Blerdy Otome, I strive to spotlight members of the wonderfully diverse gaming community whether that’s with my reviews, lists, or through exclusive interviews. And today, I wanted to spotlight some of my favorite women and femme identifying creators within the indie games community! Each of these amazing creators is dedicated to creating a more inclusive community, by sharing their own unique stories and characters through their games and I want to shine a light on the fantastic work that they do!

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5 games similar to Nightshade

5 Games Like Nightshade

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Hey Hey Blerdy Tribe! I’m bringing you another Games Like list—the blog series where you guys vote on an otome game and I go out and find five games that are similar to the title you guys picked. Last time I wrote a list of 5 Games Like 7’scarlet, so definitely check that post out if you’re looking for some great mystery romance games to get into! For today’s post, I ran a poll over on Twitter and 157 of you lovely readers voted for the historical fantasy otome game, Nightshade (Hyakka Hyakurou)!

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5 Games Like 7’scarlet

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Hey Hey Blerdy Tribe, it’s time once again for another Games Like post—the blog series where you guys vote on the otome game and I go out and find five games that are similar to them. Last time I wrote a list of 5 Games Like Cafe Enchante , so definitely check that post out if you have the chance, there are a LOT of great games to discover! For today’s post, I ran a poll over on Twitter and 99 of you guys voted for 7’scarlet!

For those of you unfamiliar with the game—7’scarlet is a mystery romance otome game developed by Otomate and Toybox Inc. It was originally released in Japan in 2016 for the Playstation Vita. In 2018, the game was released internationally by Aksys Games. It was one of three otome games to be released as part of the Aksys Games, ‘Summer of Mystery’ alongside, Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly and Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk. 

Take on the role of Ichiko Hanamaki, as she journeys into the unknown to uncover dangerous truth surrounding the disappearance of her older brother. Her investigation takes her to the remote crescent moon shaped town of Okune-zato, a place shrouded in dark myths and legends. She and her childhood friend Hino arrive in town hoping to find clues about his disappearance only to find themselves caught in caught up in a dangerous murder mystery. 

So for those of you that are looking for more games with a mystery vibe to them, here are FIVE games like 7’scarlet.

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5 Games Like Cafe Enchante

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Hey Hey Blerdy Tribe, it’s time once again for another Games Like post—the blog series where you guys vote on the otome game and I go out and find five games that are similar to them. Last time I wrote a list of 5 Games Like Taisho x Alice, so definitely check that post out if you have the chance, there are a LOT of great games to discover! For today’s post, I ran a poll over on Twitter and 75 of you guys voted for Cafe Enchante (no surprises there)!

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, Cafe Enchanté is a fantasy romance otome game developed by Idea Factory under their subsidiary, Otomate and published by Aksys Games. The game was originally released in Japan on October 10, 2019 for the Nintendo Switch. The English language localization was released on November 5, 2020.

Take a peek behind the doors of the mysterious Café Enchanté, a coffeehouse that serves a rather strange clientele. Magically hidden from the everyday hustle and bustle of Tokyo, the shop is a meeting place for an assortment of beings from multiple, mystical worlds. When Kotone inherits the café from her grandfather, she has no idea of the adventures in store, or the potential romance that awaits. Meet the king of demons who can brew a perfect cup, an otome-playing fallen angel, a lonely headless knight, and many more. When government agents monitoring non-human activities show up at your door, your new café is about to become much more colorful!

 

So while we’re waiting for the next big otome game to be released here in the West, here are five game titles that are sure to help fill the void! As always, I tried to go with games that have a similar vibe to Cafe Enchante so don’t expect games that are play by play clones. Now, with that out of the way, let’s check out five games like Cafe Enchante!

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Scare Up Some Romance: Four Visual Novels to Get You in the Mood for Halloween

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October is upon us once again and even though we’re all stuck inside there’s still plenty of spooky good fun to get into at home. I’ve been using the extra time to check out a few new games and since Halloween is right around the corner, I figured this was a great time to spotlight four spooky romance visual novels to get you in the mood for the spooky season!

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5 Games Like Taisho x Alice

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Hey Hey Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs it’s time once again for another Games Like post—the blog series where you guys vote on the otome game and I go out and find five games that are similar to them. Last time I wrote a list of 5 Games Like Code Realize and this time around I ran a poll over on Twitter and 23 of you guys voted for Taisho x Alice!

Taisho x Alice is a game that has been localized in English not once, but twice. The first time was the infamously bad localization done by E2 Gaming, that not only had a laughably subpar translation, but absolutely terrible English voice acting. Thankfully, Primula decided to take matters into their own hands, with their parent company pencil handling the localization this time around. The OtomeArmada’s own Verdelish worked on the translation for Episode 1 and she definitely brings her own unique flair to the English version.

For those of you unfamiliar with the game, Taisho x Alice is a re-imagining of popular fairytales, but with a twist—each of the love interests are gender swapped versions of famous characters like Cinderella and Snow White! The game was originally released in Japan in 2015 for PC and was split into four episodes, each with two LIs. The first episode features Cinderella and Red Riding Hood’s stories; the second—Kaguya and Gretel; the third episode— Snow White and the Wizard; and the fourth and final episode focuses on Alice.

So far, only the first episode has been released, but there are plans to release the subsequent episodes in the near future. So while we’re waiting for the rest of the Taisho x Alice games to be released here in the West, here are five game titles that are sure to help fill the void! As always, I tried to go with games that have a similar vibe to TaiAli so don’t expect games that are play by play clones. Now, with that out of the way, let’s check out five games like Taisho x Alice!

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Now This is a Story All About How… I Got Hit with a DMCA Notice from Funimation

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So, this incident happened a little while ago but I needed some time to cool off before I wrote about it, because at the time I was PISSED! Time has softened my anger so that now I look back on the whole thing with some degree of amusement, don’t get me wrong, I am still pretty frustrated about the whole situation, but not enough to wage a one woman crusade against FUNimation. I’ve put away my pitchfork and doused my torch, and after a bit of self reflection I think I’m finally ready to talk about what happened…

For the past few years I have been running an online shop on Etsy where I sell crochet items. I have a few original creations, but the bulk of my merchandise consists of anime inspired amigurumi dolls. For those of you unfamiliar with crochet or yarn crafting in general, amigurumi is a Japanese term used to describe the art of knitting or crocheting small stuffed toys. The term amigurumi (編みぐるみ) literally means knit or crochet stuffed toy and these can be anything from stuffed animals to dolls and I’ve even seen a lot of people who make cute food plushies. There really is no limit to what you can make with amigurumi, so it really allows the crafter the freedom to let their imaginations soar.

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Fuck Marry Kill Otome

F#@k, Marry, Kill Otome Edition – Star Crossed Myth

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Here I am once again using all of my years of otome related experience to ask the hard hitting questions others are afraid to ask! This is quality stuff right here, carefully crafted after not one, but two glasses of really good red wine and an afternoon of playing OZMAFIA.

This is the post that no one asked for, but I felt compelled to write down. I could have easily used this time to tackle my neglected backlog or catching up on game requests, but I felt that a Fuck, Marry, Kill post was exactly what the world needed right now. For those of you that didn’t play this game as a kid, the basic premise is this:

One person poses three names of people known to someone else (either people known in their personal lives or of celebrities). The other person then has to decide which of the three they would kiss (or fuck, in more mature versions of the game… like this one), which one they would marry, and which one they would kill.

-Da Rulez

I’m cutting the middle man and just using the love interest lineup from otome games to answer three sacred, age old questions— Which otome guy would I fuck? Which otome guy would I marry? Which otome guy would I kill? The first game on the chopping block is Star Crossed Myth… because I’ve played all the routes.

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I Wanna Give Myself a Chance to Believe in Myself Again: How Shizuo Never Gives Up Hope in ‘I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow’ – April 2020 “Hope” OWLS Blog Tour

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Hey Hey Heroes, Travelers, and Wandering NPCs, its been awhile since I last participated in an OWLS Blog Tour. We all started this year full of hope, but the recent COVID-19 pandemic has put many of us in a tight spot. Many have already succumbed to the virus and those that haven’t are facing economic hardships brought on by stay at home orders and mandatory social distancing. It’s hard not to feel discouraged, when the impacts of the virus is such an ever present part of our lives. Whether you have been personally affected by the pandemic or know someone affected by COVID-19, it’s important that we keep moving forward. So, it’s only fitting that in the wake of the current pandemic, that the April 2020 Blog Tour topic should be Hope.

We are in the midst of a pandemic which has led people to live in fear and anxiety over the coronavirus. For this month, rather than seeing the dark side of the situation we are living in, we will be exploring anime and other pop culture mediums that bring hope for humanity and why they have such a positive impact on us.

-OWLS April 2020 “Hope” Blog Tour Prompt

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