Kratzen Manifesto

Introduction

After half a million words, Kratzen is proud to have an editor worth reading.

I made Kratzen with one simple goal: to sort the wheat from the chaff. Within just twenty – four hours on a lazy Saturday, the Itch.io community released over 150 new and in – progress games.

With so many games being produced, how are you supposed to know what’s worth playing? Simple. Read Kratzen. Our articles are short enough for a quickie and long enough to digest. We’ll find you whatever you want to play.

Developers deserve credit

In a 2016 study from Nielsen, 42% of PC gamers learn about what to play from word – of mouth. Less than half that from online magazines. If Kratzen helps gamers find games that offer something new, it’s done a good thing.

Every day, thousands of indie game developers, artists, musicians, and designers work their hearts out doing what they love, and nobody gives them any credit. It’s a big problem. Kratzen wants to fix that problem.

When you look over a Kratzen article, with its distinctive voice and easy – to – read text, you can rest assured it’s the most honest, practical, and well – meaning article you’ll read today. Except for the next one, of course.

Readers deserve rights

Most companies think you’ll steal their work. That’s why they place it under copyright. That means you can’t share it with your friends, save a copy for later, or do what you want with that magazine with your hard – earned money.

In 2015, only 3% of creators were using CC0, getting rid of copyright. That’s 97% of stuff that you don’t really own. With Kratzen, we treat you as our friend, not an enemy. That’s why we’re in the 3% who use CC0.

We believe, most of all, that everybody has the right to see the art that artists make. No contract, no strings attached. When you read Kratzen, you know that we’re the only major magazine that respects your rights as a reader.

The big idea

I’ve written about a lot of games in my time. After a string of failed article submissions, six weeks on an indie game, two blogs, an art gallery, and an amateur art collective, I can safely say this magazine is my best project yet.

I made Kratzen because it fills a need that other magazines don’t: it talks about the games that nobody else does. That’s why Kratzen is important — it gives a fair shake, and a fair review, to developers who need them most.

We don’t ask for much. Just lend us your ears, and we’ll do alright.

With love and respect — Froge.