Sometimes a description of a game appears in my inbox that makes me think “why would you send me this”. It is a mean impulse and I’m glad when it’s challenged by a prospect like Itta.

Itta is a top-down bullet hell shooter about a vengeful young girl fighting a series of cosmic monsters with a revolver, and a ghost cat. It’s due out later this year, and below is a taste of its rather expressive style.



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I did chuckle a bit when she whipped out that revolver. Neither bullet hell or boss rushes are my thing at all, especially in a world where so many real bosses deserve a solid kicking, but I can’t deny I like the look of this one. I like the animation, and the juxtaposition of gruesome tragedy, cutesiness, and cartoony action is refreshing.

Your task is to guide young Itta from waking up in a pile of dead loved ones to confronting and slaughtering powerful monsters until you get some explanation and, I would hope, an apology. Extra weapons are available (you can briefly see a laser and an oversized sword in the trailer), and there’ll be options to change damage rates or activate invincibility to skip bits that trouble you too much.

Developer Jacob Williams says that it was conceived during his time in a psychiatric ward, and originally very dark indeed until a moment of kindness encouraged him to bring some hope into it. That little hit of sugar can make all the difference in games that are often relentlessly grim, so I’m rather curious to see how well it works.

Itta is due out this year. You can wishlist it on Steam.