This is the two hundred twenty-third entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-third random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is inviting us to throw some awful people into the sun. It’s Into The Sun, by Jess Go, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

A game and pamphlet about where trash people can go.

They can go into the sun. Just making sure that’s clear.

Into The Sun is, technically, a tabletop game, in that it asks the player to roll dice. But it is really just a silly exercise in catharsis. Described succinctly in a single PDF pamphlet (or a Word document, for those who prefer simpler formatting), Into The Sun offers several prompts that are decided by rolling an eight-sided die. First, choose a target, from options like racists or transphobes. Next, roll to determine exactly how we’ll get rid of them (hint: all options lead to launching them into the sun). Then, a final dice roll determines how one gets away with it. One triumphant shout (the shout is required) later, and the game is complete.

For my target, I rolled “misogynists”. I’ve met some of these before, and yes, I would quite like to get rid of them. How to achieve it? First I rolled the “punch them” option, but that might hurt my hands, so I’m prompted to roll again. Next I rolled “eat them”, but they might taste bad, so once again I’m told to re-roll. I comically rolled “eat them” and “punch them” again, but finally arrived at “toss them into the sun!” Now we’re getting somewhere.

With the misogynists successfully hurled into the sun, it was time to come up with an excuse. I rolled “ummm… they fell into the sun?” Yeah, that sounds right. The sun has some pretty strong gravity after all. You need to be careful when orbiting that bad boy. Didn’t their mothers tell them not to go running too close to the sun? Oh wait, they probably didn’t listen to their mothers, because they’re misogynists. Oh well. Having gotten away with my sun-throwing, I let off a cackle of victory, and pronounced Into The Sun complete.

As should be clear by now, this is very much a joke game, and it can be played in about 30 seconds. Many of the options are genuinely funny, and it genuinely made me feel better to imagine tossing misogynists into the sun. Jess Go keeps things lighthearted by only referring to hateful groups, never to individuals, although I admit I did imagine launching a few specific people into the sun. Like many of the people currently running the executive branch in my country. Seriously, they’re just awful humans and I wish I never had to hear about them ever again.

If sending some terrible people into the sun sounds cathartic, why not give Into The Sun a try? If you missed it in the bundle, it’s offered for any price you wish to pay, including free, so there’s nothing stopping you. Go on, shout with glee as those hateful bigots fly into the sun. Yeeeeees.

That’s 223 down, and only 1518 to go!