The Itch

The Itch is a free, single player game. Movement and actions are keyboard controlled but the mouse is needed for some interactive elements.

The game starts with the player's character falling into an underground world. Through a series of text boxes it is explained that the inhabitants of the farming town of Prurere were hit by a virus two years ago. It caused skin rashes and it was deadly but only to those whose heart rate fell below 32 or rose above 168. There is no known cure however a doctor did suggest that a blood lily from the underground caverns could be used to make a cure. Since then the doctor gathered many of the infected and ventured into the caverns in search of the blood lily, they never returned.

The player explores the world by using the left/right arrow keys or the A/D keys and jumping by using the spacebar. In the upper left corner of the screen is the player's heartrate which increases the more they move about and decreases when they are inactive. Much of the time is spent climbing vines and scavenging keys in order to progress to the next level. The vines are not in good health but the player can heal them by transferring some of their heart energy, this is where the mouse is used as the player has to click on the screen to initiate the transfer. As the game progresses the player will also use heartrate energy to move objects and shoot projectiles.

The game has just two manual save slots, in-game music and minimal sound effects