#pwyw zine

[rosyelement]

THE WORLD 🌟

my piece for the oc tarot zine, thanks so much for having me!!

all proceeds from this PWYW zine will be donated to care for gaza! i highly recommend checking it out and maybe donating a little if you're able, thanks so much! we're so excited to share this project with you! ☆

ON ITCH.IO

ON KO-FI

ORIGINAL POST

[rumalumasuns]

Lout of the Count's Family Zine - Sample #2: Lost in a Child's Paradise

Hope everyone's doing well! This post is to promote a pay-what-you-want charity zine related to Team One from the webnovel/manhwa Lout of the Count's Family I had the pleasure to write some pieces for. Please check it out!

“Team Leader! You can’t just run off like that!” said a panicked company worker. Roksu ignored him, storming off from the meeting room he just came from, his pursed lips and crossed brows showing his great ire.

The worker, apprehensive of what the heads of the company would say, tried to chase after Roksu, widening his steps for a chance to catch up, but to no avail.

“Too bad. Tell the higher-ups that today is my day off. If they don’t let me have it properly, I’ll quit,” said Roksu as he walked out of the organization’s building, his long tan coat flowing behind him.

He couldn’t believe he was called in for an “urgent task” that could’ve been easily handled by any other team at a lower level than his own. It was his day off, for goodness sake! He was supposed to be picking up his niece from daycare, not dilly-dallying with any sort of menial task, especially on this important day.

Once he reached his company building’s parking lot, Roksu got into his car, closed the driver’s door with a loud SLAM, and secured his seat belt. His phone connected to the Blacktooth speaker of the car, starting to blast an old movie soundtrack he found in the MeTube playlist of the original Kim Roksu. 

Although the music somewhat calmed him, Roksu was still annoyed by the earlier encounter with the company worker, so he aggressively drove out of the lot, his brows furrowed and his grip on the wheel tight.

While driving to the daycare, he received a call from Sohoon.

“Team Leader, did you just leave the building?”

Roksu groaned. He knew that concerned tone meant Sohoon was going to nag at him for being rude to that random worker. So, he used his secret weapon.

“Please, dongsaeng-ah. I’m kind of busy at the moment. Can I call you back later?”

There was a long pause on the call before Roksu heard a flustered huff from Suhyeok’s end.

“Heh heh�� d-dongsaeng?… Jeez, Team Leader. You… Seriously, you have to tell me more about this later, okay? Minah sunbae is also gone... Why am I the only one working today? :(”

“Thanks, dongsaeng-ah. See you later,” replied Roksu, smiling amusedly at his subordinate’s whining.

With another huff, Sohoon ended the call.

Even though that short call lifted Roksu’s spirits a little because he got to tease Sohoon, Roksu was still a little bitter and quietly complained to himself about how he was going to be late as he drove faster to his destination.

Eventually, a one-story pale yellow building came into Roksu’s view. In the space in front of the building was a large yard with patches of grass surrounded by a painted white fence. From the yard, high-pitched shrieks of laughter were heard as little children were playing games like soccer and hopscotch. Outside the gate, other guardians were also picking up their children, walking hand in hand with them to get to their cars and go home or another destination.

Roksu double-checked his bag to make sure that he brought his wallet and ID. Having one annoying inconvenience was enough for the day. He didn’t want another problem at the daycare with some random daycare worker thinking he was a threat or kidnapper. It wasn’t his fault that his dark clothes and height made him look scary to the children. Though, that was a story for another day.

After parking safely in front of the daycare, Roksu slowly got out of the car.

“Uncle Roksu!!” shouted an excited high-pitched voice.

Did you enjoy it? If you want to read the rest, please check out this link here if you haven't already! For more details, please check out @passingrecords

[archiveoftheodd]

Beware: A PSA

It's come to our attention that several small presses, including Archive of the Odd, have shown up on a pirating site. 🏴‍☠️

As cool as pirates sound, we've also noticed that the file that the site claims is Cat Voleur's REVENGE ARC is much too small to be the actual novella. It's almost definitely a virus.

Here at Archive of The Odd, it's important to us to keep our readers safe from viruses, curses, and memetic hazards alike. That's why REVENGE ARC is now pay-what-you-want on itch.io. If you previously couldn't download our fantastic novella because of the price, please just get it for however much you'd like to spend, without the risk to your computer or phone.

[drawnecromancy]

Hm, hm. I'm still thinking about that Hélianthe and Basil short story. I really need to finish those illustrations.

[prawnlegs]

A few years ago I did some art for this free/pwyw zine about advocating against fatphobic treatment in medical and social settings, and now there's an updated edition! Written by Samantha Puc.

[needlepine]

The Warriors coloring book zine is live! This is my page colored in! :D

This zine (hosted by @harriertail) contains 14 coloring pages that you can either print out to color OR color digitally like I did! It's pwyw and all proceeds go to Care for Gaza, so it's a great cause. Tag me if you color mine so I can share!

[anchor-ice]

my piece for the @palimpsestzine

pwyw at https://palimpsestzine.itch.io/zine until 30.04, proceeds go to charity

[swollenbabyfat]

The digital zine of Failgirl Fluttershy is now available for free/PWYW!

Failgirl is about the tragic loss of Angel and Shy's recovery from grief and a painful past. The zine includes everything I made for the story up to the point of printing it. Thank you checking it out!

[if-whats-new]

What's New In IF? Issue 31 (2024)

By Aj, Dion, Briar, Jen and Peter

Now Available!

Itch.io - Keep Reading below

If you read the zine, consider liking the post: it helps us see how many people see it! And sharing is caring! <3

~ EDITORIAL ~

Apologies for the delayed Issue!

As you might know, we unfortunately had to delay this Issue due to some personal matters. But as promised, it’s finally here! We wouldn’t want you to miss out on any news.

As this Issue says on the front page, it contains news from November 23rd to November 29th.

But! The Events should be updated to match their status on December 4th, as they are more time-sensitive.

Issue 32 should be released on time. That means two Issues this week!

We want some feedback!

As we’re starting to get a hand of things, we would love some feedback from you guys! What you enjoy, want more or less off, how we could improve... Anything goes! We even have a nifty form.

We hope you enjoy this new issue!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

~ BE A PART OF THE ZINE ~

THIS ZINE ONLY HAPPENS WITH YOU!

Want to write 1-2 pages about a neat topic, or deep-dive into a game and review it in details? Share personal experiences or get all academic?

WRITE FOR THE COLUMN!

Prefer to be more low-key but still have something to share? Send us a Zine Letter or share a game title for Highlight on…!

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Came across something interesting? Know a release or an update announced? Saw an event happening? Whether it's a game, an article, a podcast… Add any IF-related content to our mini-database!

EVERY LITTLE BIT COUNTS!

Contact us through Tumblr asks, Forum DMs, or even by email! And thank you for your help!!

~ EVENT SPOTLIGHT : Videotome Jam - "Waiting" ~

November 16th to December 1st 2024

Videotome Jam is a two-week-long game jam for games made in any of the Videotome engines with the optional theme of "Waiting".

What is Videotome?

Videotome is a series of small homebrew IF/VN engines made by Freya Campbell (communistsister), an indie game developer focusing on narrative games that are usually:

science fiction, horror, &/or romance

close to 100% LGBTQ characters

free/PWYW with low tech requirements

liable to make players keysmash due to feelings

Videotome was first released in April 2022 as a part of a game entry for the Domino Club collective. The initial idea for the engine was to make writing text-heavy games as hassle-free as possible, focusing not that much on the visual presentation format, but more on the writer's experience. It would allow writers to write in a notepad and then it would somehow grab the .txt file and parse the lines into an array, spitting them out one line at a time as a kinetic novel.

At the moment there are four engines available:

Videotome, for linear, no frills text / images / music;

Videotome ADV, adding a more conventional layout with ignorable choices and branching;

Super Videotome, for more fully featured and freeform image/canvas use;

Videotome Heartbreak, adding a stat raising dating sim & storylets structure to the above.

If you're more interested in the process of making these engines, check out the devs blog post - Words, Friction, Syntax: Stuff I thought about when making Videotome. (The post also includes a very interesting case study concerning other game engines Freya has experience with.)

If you want to check out some examples of projects made with Videotome, take a look at this collection. It includes games made by both Freya and other devs.

~ ENDED ~

The Educational Jam has ended. Check out the thirteen entries and learn something new!

The voting for ECTOCOMP 2024 is officially over! Check out the results!

You can now check out all 16 entries to the Videotome Jam!

Disabled Rep VN Jam has a very simple premise but a very important message. Check out the submissions!

~ ONGOING (VOTING) ~

A Very Hallmark Game Jam has entered the voting phase. You can now vote for your favourite out of the five entries.

~ ONGOING (SUBMITTING) ~

Media depicting healthy examples of polyamory isn’t that common. The PolyJamorous 2024 is trying to break the status-quo!

This year’s Yuri Game Jam is in full progress. The devs have until December 2nd to submit their projects.

Once upon a time, a game jam was held to create stories around the theme of fairy tales… and that game jam is the Once Upon A Time VN Jam. It’s running from October 1st to January 31st.

Concours de Fiction Interactive Francophone 2025 is for all French-speaking enthusiasts. Submissions are accepted March 3rd 2025.

Are you perhaps a fan of more somber, melancholic themes? Then check out the Dying Year - Visual Novel Jam! You have until the end of the year to participate.

The Black Visual Novel Jam is all about working with creative professional developers who work in visual novels to bring more Black stories to life. The goal is to create a space where Black creators can show their unique storytelling through visual novels.

IF Short Games Showcase 2024 is a great way to shine some new light on your projects made in the past year (Jan 1, 2024 to Dec 31, 2024), regardless of whether or not they are previously released! You have until January 15th 2025 to join.

Winter Visual Novel Jam 2024 is here! You have until January 1st 2025 to submit your projects.

Are you familiar with Decker? Then why not take a part in the Deck-Month 2?

Another bitsy jam is here. This time with the theme "better late than never".

~ OTHER ~

PIZZAPRANKS is accepting submissions for their Indiepocalypse Issue #61. If you’re a dev and would like to try out your luck, definitely check it out! Any game is welcomed, not only IF.

~ NEW RELEASE ~

You stand at the edge of a vast and foreboding cave system, its mouth yawning like the jaws of some ancient beast. This is no ordinary cave—it is the entrance to the Caverns of the Forgotten, a labyrinth of twisting tunnels, hidden chambers, and unfathomable mysteries that have claimed countless explorers before you.

Generations ago, invaders brought magic to the Kingdom of Jubai, setting battlemages at the top of the noble power structure and leaving everyone else oppressed. Now, a secret organization of mage hunters has risen up, phoenixlike, to stand against the mages' power and overthrow their rule. Can your secret order of mage hunters save the kingdom, or will internal strife tear you apart in Magehunter: Phoenix Flame (CScript)?

Today is your first day of work here at Toy Maker’s TOY BOX (Ren’Py). Pull apart stitches or rip off an arm or two; we support whatever you must do to ensure that you only save toys of the highest quality. Should you ever feel unsure, there’s no need to panic! Simply toss the trash where it belongs: the incinerator. After all, it’s of the utmost importance that inspectors upkeep the Maker’s image.

You're struggling for friends in a new town and decide to check out a cute diner! — 'That New Diner', huh? Odd name for a restaurant, but I see advertisements for it everywhere. Might as well check it out. Who knows, maybe I'll meet somebody?

What does the glass sound like? Quite tinkly. It crumbled into sand under the feet of all those worried people circling around. As for you, there was darkness in your eyes for a long time. And the glass has melted into silence long since. But what is this place? And who is this stranger standing in front of you? And most importantly, where — or who — did the bullet hit? — Monarch (Ren’Py) is a short visual novel game that was made during Ukrainian Micro Visual Novel Jam in 10 days.

Halloween is a big deal in Port Gillain, steeped as the town is in old folklore and ghost stories. You, the local psychic, regularly attend the festivities. This year, you can bring a friend. The Second Sight: All Hallow's Eve (Twine) is a companion story to The Second Sight: Dead Reckoning.

Your Aunt’s House (Adventuron) is a short story about mourning. @kessielrg

The story centers around Larry, a cab driver eking out a meagre existence in a dystopian near-future, until he unwittingly finds himself centre-stage in the midst of a technological revolution. — For the first time this multi-media project can be experienced in the form of an interactive novel. Larry Folger Volume I contains all the chapters of the ongoing narrative complete with music from the series.

Your feather, my wing is a game about getting close to the object of an experiment that your 'super-secret lab' leads! It's all about fun, fluff and cuddles. Nothing serious and if anyone from the "normal world" came to this organization, they'd be disappointed by the lack of pathos, mystery and seriousness. But do you care?

Nestled at the edge of an ancient forest, Ravenwood Hill looms like a shadowed sentinel against the pale moonlight. This is no ordinary place; whispers of its dark history echo through the trees, carried by the wailing wind. The townsfolk speak of disappearances, of mysterious lights flickering in the mansion atop the hill, and of secrets buried deep beneath its crumbling foundations. In Ravenwood Hill, you are the only one brave—or foolish—enough to uncover the truth.

As always, don't forget to check out the submitted entries to the events mentioned in the previous pages. They deserve some love too!

~ NEW RELEASE (WIP) ~

Iberian Tales (Twine) - Life was once tranquil on the isolated coast of your city, surrounded by a loving family and promising prospects for success in your societal position. However, tranquility shattered as flames engulf your city, escape becomes the only viable option, if luck favors you enough to evade the soldiers blocking your path that is. @iberiantalesif-game

The Thorned Garden (CScript) is a Harem Intrigue game where you can die at any turn. Build up skills and connections to survive and climb the rankings. @opossumfern

Locked in a luxurious but ominous hotel, you are forced to face trials alongside five other people. Who abducted you and for what reason? What does the future hold with different organizations fighting for power over the world? And just how much is at stake when you play a twisted game without rules? Whether you want it or not, welcome to the Threshold (Twine). @thethreshold-if

5 days (Ren’Py) - Every step forward feels like another memory slipping through your fingers and yet, the world moves on — forcing you to find a way to follow, even when it feels impossible to let go.

~ UPDATES ~

As Gods Fall (CScript) released Chapters 4 and 5. @asgodsfall-if

Knight of Greenhaven (CScript) released Chapter 2.

Lost in your eyes (CScript) released part five of Chapter 3 on Patreon. @kathrinesadventures

Saturnine (CScript) added new content to their demo. @satur9-if

The Thousand Of Us (CScript) added new content to their public demo. @ivanwm-05

Weeping Gods (CScript) added new content to their demo. @jcollinswrites

The Summoner (CScript) released a part of Chapter 4.

Ashenmaw - Dragons of Marrowoods (CScript) added a part of Chapter 1 to their demo. @ashenmaw-if

Our Life: Now and Forever (Ren’Py) added Step 2 introduction scenes to their public demo. @gb-patch

Wasteland Pony Express added new content to their demo. @katieaki

The In-Between (CScript) released Chapter 11. @dalekowrites

Crown of Exile (Twine) released Chapter 10 on Patreon. @ramonag-if

~ OTHER ~

350p Adventure has been ported from Infor 6 to PunyInform. You can either download it or play it online in your browser. — (Some interesting trivia: The game is sometimes called Advent, because the system it was created on in the 70s would not allow filenames to be more than six characters long. This game is sometimes considered as the very first text adventure.)

~

As always, we apologize in advance for missing any update or release from the past week. We are only volunteers using their limited free time to find as much as we can - but sometimes things pass through the cracks.

If you think something should have been included in this week's zine but did not appear, please shoot us a message! We'll do our best to add it next week! And if you know oncoming news, add it here!

~ MAYBE YOU NEXT? ~

We did not get a submission this week. But if you have an idea for a short essay, or would like a special space to share your thoughts about IF and the community...

Shoot us an email!

~ HIGHLIGHT ON ~

A couple of games that we thought were cool.

Your favourite game here?

Do you have a favourite game that deserves some highlighting?

An old or recent game that wowed you so much you spam it to everyone?

Tell us about it! And it might appear here!

WE LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! WHETHER IT'S GOOD OR BAD, OR EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN...

Have something to say? Send us a message titled: Zine Letter!

As we end this issue, we would like to thank:

our awesome mysterious anon!

all you readers who liked, shared, and commented on the last issue! What might be tiny actions are huge support and motivators to us! Thank you for cheering us on this journey!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And see you again on Saturday!

AJ, DION, BRIAR, JEN AND PETER

WHAT'S NEW IN IF? 2024-ISSUE 31

[louhinks]

My full piece for the @palimpsestzine :] You can check out the full PWYW zine with all the extras at palimpsestzine.itch.io/zine

[notllorstel]

— tw flashing images —

Behold! My section for TRG KAYF Collab Animatic ✌️;P

Done for and during the D20ZineJam month🫶 Check out all the other cool (68) zines everyone else cooked up for the Charity Bundle! (pwyw)

[rumalumasuns]

Lout of the Count's Family Zine - Sample #1: French… Toast?

Hope everyone's doing well! This post is to promote a pay-what-you-want charity zine related to Team One from the webnovel/manhwa Lout of the Count's Family I had the pleasure to write some pieces for. Please check it out!

Sunlight filters through translucent white curtains, landing softly on the features of Kim Roksu as he snores softly under his fluffy white duvet. As the rays of light scatter over his face, Roksu’s eyes twitch and he groans as the light gets brighter. After tossing and turning around in the bed, Roksu begrudgingly gets up, taking a long stretch while letting out a loud yawn. As much as he didn’t want it, all the years of fighting had trained him to wake at the slightest light or sound.

“Damn… I wanted to slack off today too…” he grumbles, slowly getting out of bed to get ready for the day.

It is a rare “day off” for him. Monsters have not attacked for a couple of days, so although everyone is still on high alert, some people have decided to take some time to rest and recover. This includes taking inventory of available supplies and rebuilding the shelters.

Today, Roksu was planning on sleeping the day away, maybe eating something later, but the sun urges him to be awake and to DO something. So, he heads down the stairs of his house towards the kitchen.

It has been several days since Roksu, Jeongsu, and Suhyeok purchased this house in a partially remote area. The property is a two-story house with a small garden (“But someday it’ll be a big orchard!” said Jeongsu) and some additional unused land. It’s close enough to get to the other shelters quickly, but far enough from where normal citizens live so the three won’t be disturbed often.

Upon entering the kitchen and dining area, Roksu deadpans at the sight in front of him. Just like him, Jeongsu and Suhyeok are wide awake and chattering quietly about what they should have for breakfast. Hearing Roksu’s shuffling, Jeongsu stops talking and turns to look at Roksu.

“Oh, you’re awake! Finally, we were about to come upstairs and ask if you could make us something.”

“Why me?” grumbles Roksu even though he proceeds to go into the kitchen to grab and put on a pink frilly apron (a gift from Suhyeok) from the long cabinet next to the kitchen sink.

“Well, you do cook the best meals out of the three of us,” says Suhyeok playfully. 

“Oh, but we were wondering if you could make us something other than Korean food this time?” asks Jeongsu. “I watched some mukbang videos last night and someone was eating French toast with fruit and some sunny-side-up eggs, so I woke up craving some today,” he says as he gets up to grab some orange juice from the fridge.

“...Fine,” sighs Roksu, and he gets to work.

Jeongsu and Suhyeok marvel at how Roksu handles the eggs as Roksu quickly mixes them together. He then quickly slices thick cuts of bread, dipping the slices into the egg mixture before setting them aside on a plate next to the cutting board. 

Thinking that he is going to cook well, Jeongsu and Suhyeok stop paying attention to Roksu and continue talking about plans to add fruit trees and vegetables to their garden.

All is peaceful, until suddenly Suhyeok stops mid-conversation at the smell of something… burning???

Did you enjoy it? If you want to read the rest, please check out this link here if you haven't already! For more details, please check out @passingrecords

[donnyclaws]

EPHEMERA ZINE

A zine inspired by I Spy books and maximalism. I'm passionate about collecting toys, so I spent a while photographing and editing the majority of my collection together into this zine <3 A taxing little project but I learned a lot from it and would love to update / remake it eventually and include the stuff I left out. Priced a little higher than usual because it took so long ect, but I have multiple pwyw zines and cheaper zines on my page if you want to look around in general <3

And while ur here, here's a collection of free and pwyw posters / zine bundles around Palestine that you should also check out and support HERE . They're also featured on my itch.io profile individually.

[yashita-zine]

[Charity Announcement]

We’re happy to announce that 100% of zine proceeds will be going to Care For Gaza! This grassroots non-profit organization has been working tirelessly to provide basic necessities to Palestinian families in need. It’s our honor to support their work!

As announced earlier, once this zine is available for digital purchase, it’ll operate on a pay what you want (PWYW) system. All the proceeds will be collected and sent to Care For Gaza together!

[violetvulpini]

My contribution to the B-Team zine!! It's pwyw, and 100% of profits will be donated to CARE, a humanitarian organization that does work in Palestine/Gaza. Still available until Aug 15th, check it out!

[flamekeeperzine]

Flamekeeper: A c!Niki Fanzine

We are SO happy to bring you an announcement you have all been waiting ever so patiently for:

THE ZINE HAS BEEN RELEASED ON ITCH.IO

It is free to download and will remain as such forever. Due to a change of plans, we will no longer be handling money through a PWYW system, and instead encourage you to donate yourselves.

Thank you to everyone, both contributors and c!Niki fans everywhere, for making this zine possible. We would never have been able to create such an amazing zine without love and support from the community & the amazing skills of our artists and writers.

We hope you enjoy the work and love that's been poured into this project ♡