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Game Jolt

Game Jolt Logo

Game Jolt is a relatively new Freeware games host with a growing user base and a sense of graphical polish. Game Jolt prides itself on a central niche aspect: it aggregates the products from numerous game creation languages and programs into the one hosting platform.

Content wise the site already has a number of well made titles, but in what is quite a twist from other new hosts the player community is quite lacking, with only a smattering of games being widely downloaded and commented on. Presumably this problem will disappear as the site gets more exposure. It’s quite an odd situation though, considering that the mission statement of the site:

Publicizing a freeware game can be tough, and that’s why Game Jolt exists: to help developers get their games in the hands of some hungry hungry gamers (sorry, no hippos)

The site layout is clean and minimalist, and uses a color scheme that is inexorably similar to Yoyo. The homepage “featured game” embellishment is a great touch, and adds immeasurably to the completeness of the look. However, there are some questionable layout decisions; screenshots reside closer to the bottom off the screen rather than the top, and not all major areas of the site are accessible from the “dashboard panel”. These are but minor quirks that will probably be fixed up in later development.

The site offers standard blogging facilities which are increasingly becoming standard practice. However, it also takes an interesting approach to Indie Game media, with an “Articles” section which unites points of interest from all across the Indie Games community (including posts from this very blog). It’s innovative and convenient, but really, it would be nice to see this space predominantly used for the Game Jolt Community’s own textual musings.

With a graphical scheme that invites comparisons to Yoyo, an Articles section that links to other sources and field of games with marginal exclusive content, it’s clear that Game Jolt is focusing on amalgamation rather than innovation. It’s uncertain whether this will be enough to entrench it as an internet nodal point; a question only time can answer. What is definite is how well made the site is considering how soon it is after its inception. The future looks bright indeed.

What do you think?

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