What Is Jez Swanson's itch.io Page?

Updated

Jez Swanson's itch.io page is the profile of indie game maker Jez Swanson, and it hosts a collection of his small, often game-jam-created games that visitors can browse and play directly in the browser. It's the right place to look if you want short, experimental games you can try without installing anything; it's not a studio storefront or a source for his older Flash work, which the page says is currently inaccessible.

What you'll find on the page

The profile introduces Jez as someone who enjoys "making small, silly games," many created for game jams such as Ludum Dare and Global Game Jam. The page mixes a short recommendation list with a catalog of playable titles.

Game What it is Stated playtime
GA GAME ME A recursive game for the theme "deeper and deeper" 10–15 mins
gaarden A toy with no objective; grow a peaceful forest with little people and one big egg 5–15 mins
Shovelware Knight Create and upload awful games to defeat shovelware titles 5–10 mins
Phone Tree of Despair Automated phone-system frustration turned into a game; a web version now exists 30–40 mins
Adventure Boy Cheapskate A game made with a friend over 8 years 30–60 mins

The wider catalog includes Cable Connectors LLC, PhishScape, I Have Put The Creature Into My Gun, Echoes of Players Past, Mission: Programmable, The Teeniest Seed, 10 Second Wordle, Kitastrophe, Dogs++, and Adventure Boy Cheapskate DX. Several are tagged as platformers or puzzle games and marked "Play in browser."

How to use it

  1. Open the profile and scan the recommendation list first if you want a known-good starting point.
  2. Pick a title and select "Play in browser" where that option appears — the page presents these as directly playable.
  3. Check the stated playtime before starting; most recommendations run 5–40 minutes, with Adventure Boy Cheapskate at 30–60.
  4. If a game doesn't load, it may be one of the older Flash titles — see below.

The Flash caveat

The page states that many early games are in Flash, including VUEL, the winner of Ludum Dare 37, so "they're inaccessible at the moment." Jez adds that they may be ported one day. In practice, if a title won't run, this is the likely reason rather than a problem on your end.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, if you want quick, browser-based experiments from a jam-oriented developer and are comfortable with uneven polish — the page itself frames the games as "small, silly," and the recommendation list is explicitly limited to ones that are "all still good." Skip it if you're looking for finished commercial releases or his archived Flash catalog.