Publishing on Itch.io

 Just over a month ago, I started making Print-and-Play games on Itch.io.
I've been working on a solo whodunit-type board game, called An Invitation to a Murder, and was thinking of where to put it when I was done.
The idea of using Itch.io came up after I saw that physical games were accepted more readily than I first thought.
I considered joining a jam or two to see how well it worked for me.

I'm now on my third jam, and I have to say it's been exciting. There's things about making a product and publishing that you may not think about until you're actually doing the work (or after, in some cases).

I've learned how to make a pdf file in Photoshop more effectively. I've had to push my skills at layout and design to doing more than just one image. I've had to grow my resources for public domain art. I plan to do some drawing of my own, eventually, but I think trying to do that for a whole project right now would just add another year or two to any works.

So far, I've released three items on Itch.io: 

 

 The Living Oracle - A d100 yes/no oracle for solo role-playing that adapts the kind of responses you'd get from a Magic 8-Ball type of novelty item. I've been using it in my games and find the answers make the game feel more immersive.
I created The Living Oracle for the Pleasure-Not-Postcards Jam, which required the submissions to fit on one postcard-sized card. As a result, I made it available for free.

 

 The Winding Journey - A journaling-type of solo game, based on the Carta System by Peach Garden Games. It uses a deck of cards, laid out in a grid, to tell a narrative kind of game. Making this book taught me quite a lot and helped me develop skills in laying out and design.
I created The Winding Journey for the Carta Jam, which featured many submissions using the Carta System.

 

 The Temple of Karthis - A dungeon-crawling game that uses cards and dice. I've had an idea for a dungeon-crawler that was more inspired by Indiana Jones, after playing Castle Ravenloft numerous times and discovering the old Indiana Jones game by West End Games. Peach Garden Games is currently hosting a jam called Gamer Games Game Jam, where creators are tasked with making a physical game inspired by a video game they like.
I already had the tiles made, as I had been using them in my rpg gaming. I took my ideas for the relic-hunting dungeon-crawler and listed Tomb Raider as the inspiration (the next best thing to Indy).
For Temple of Karthis, I also experimented with a Slay the Spire type of dungeon progression combined with the mapping of the tiles. I think it turned out pretty good.
I did feel that it was missing something, however, after I submitted it, and spent a few days making custom cards for the game to replace the standard playing cards.

What this is all leading to is my eventual release of An Invitation to a Murder.
This game has been a lot more work than the ones listed above, and will be playtested extensively before being released.
I'm shooting for it to be out by Halloween (hopefully!).
An Invitation to a Murder grew out of my love of the board games Cluedo and Whodunit and the movies Clue and Murder by Death, as well as a deep desire to find a way to play a Cluedo type of game solo.
This is me trying to crack that puzzle.

Here's a preview of the current build, via Tabletop Simulator:

Some preview art:

I'm looking forward to completing An Invitation to a Murder, and I hope I manage to capture what I'm trying to emulate within its work.
At the very least, it'll be a love letter to the deductive games that I like so much.

In the meantime, I suspect I'll be doing a few more jams.
I have another game that's been brewing for a few years, that I originally had planned to do as a video game. Once I complete An Invitation to a Murder, I'll be dusting it off and seeing what I can do with it now.