They call it the Indiepocalypse – the oversaturation of indie, outsider and hobbyist video games that results in poor sales for the vast majority of them. Strategies have been suggested, such as those from gamedev Jason Rohrer, but Andrew aka PIZZAPRANKS has another solution: convenient bundles of diverse, disparate games. Hence his $15 USD bundle-slash-zine series, INDIEPOCALYPSE (itch.io store – always updated first), which is literally hours away (if that) from posting Issue #21. All devs and zine writers are paid, both up front and per sale. At least ten games included with each issue. Stuff besides game info in the zine from #5 onwards. One exclusive game with each issue from #13 onwards. Anyone can submit games, comics, and mini-zines. More info and important tips after the jump.
INFO
Andrew also does a live weekly radio show on Twitch, also available as a podcast, where he talks to indie devs, mostly ones who have appeared in Indiepocalypse.
Whenever a new issue is posted, limited numbers of free copies of older issues are made available for those having trouble affording them. Be considerate!
To aid in the creation of mini-zine-within-the-zine submissions, issues from #5 onward include the gorgeous free mini-zine-making program Electric Zine Maker (previously). The version I linked to is guaranteed to be the latest.
If your game/s is/are accepted (see submissions page for info about multiple submissions), you will not be able to submit another for a roughly-defined number of months that’s currently around six. This does not apply to comics or mini-zines.
TIPS
Each bundle comes with a convenient launcher program; however, its descriptions of which games will work on your OS may be out of date; they definitely are in Issue 1. Explore the folders!
Issue 1’s excellent The Manse on Soracca has a couple of issues. The game includes Steam DRM that will direct you to its page on Steam (Andrew is aware of this problem and is trying to fix it – if you want to buy the game, it’s also on itch.io). There is also another, more unusual problem being worked on by the game’s developer; this currently has a simpler workaround.