I’m excited to announce the official TIGSource Tumblr, which is easily accessed by the “TIGTumblr” button on the navigation bar (where the now-defunct TIGRadio button used to be). Of course, if you are a Tumblr user you can also just follow us and get our updates straight to your dashboard. We’d love it if you did!
Now, you may be asking why we have a tumblr AND a front page… well, let me try to explain!
For awhile now the TIGSource front page has been settling into a comfortable niche of infrequently posting news about game releases, reviews, previews, and Kickstarters. In the past there was very little that was irrelevant to the site – tiny experimental games, indie game-related events, interviews, hype, and drama were all a part of what we posted here. Speaking for myself and without getting into it too deeply, my interest in a lot of that stuff has waned in recent years and my goal for the front page these days is to promote ambitious, clever, and fully-featured indie games without much else to dilute that content!
Personally, I’m quite satisfied with the results. If you miss some of the older content, there are sites now that do it better than we ever did, anyway (like the wonderful Free Indie Games website started by Terry Cavanagh). Also, our own forums are bustling with activity and always growing, to the point where they’ve become the beating heart of the site. They’re a good place to be if you’re interested in seeing what people are up to day-to-day.
But there’s still something missing from the “face” of the site, and that’s where I feel Tumblr is a perfect fit. It’s fast, it’s visually-stimulating, and it’s connected to a fantastic (and large!) network of sharers and collectors. I think TIGTumblr is going to be a great way for us to showcase small, experimental, and incomplete works that would drown out bigger titles on the front page. It’s going to be a great way to showcase the artwork and music behind the games, as well. I also believe it will serve as a much-needed link from the creative part of our forums to the outside world.
To sum up, the front page you’re reading right now is for slow-trickling news about the most ambitious of indie games and the forums are for creative activity and discussion… alongside those we now have our tumblr, which will serve as a catch-all for cool snippits that we come across on the forums and around the web. That’s how I see it, at least – the other editors are always free to post what interests them and move the direction of the site.
So yeah, hope you have fun with TIGTumblr and as always, we’re interested to hear any thoughts you might have. Many thanks to Max Sebela of Tumblr for sparking the idea and providing encouragement and support for the project!