Kartridge is the new digital distribution platform designed to compete with other portals such as itch.io, GOG Galaxy, and Steam. Instead of just being another digital distribution outlet, though, Kongregate has focused on making Kartridge a social network of sorts for like-minded fans of indie games.

The new web portal allows you to open a free account, browse through an-ever growing library of games, and connect, communicate, and congregate with other gamers who enjoy indie titles. There’s also user reviews, user ratings, general discussions, and an app overlay so you can connect and chat with your friends while you play your indie titles.

At the moment the platform offers gamers 250 titles to browse through, including games from recognized indie studios such as Positech Games, Double Stallion and Raw Fury. Some of the games currently available for purchase from Kartridge includes Psychonauts, Speed Brawl, The Banner Saga, Grim Fandango Remastered and Thimbleweed Park to name but a few.

Kongregate’s creative director of platform content, Theresa Chien, mentioned in the press release that the 250 games is just the beginning and there are plans to include more titles, more community content, and more social interactivity options…

“Today’s Open Beta launch is really just the starting point for Kartridge. As we keep expanding into a rich social playing experience, players can expect to see great, new games added each month, community events, and plenty of reward opportunities on the platform.” Chien continues, “We’re also looking forward to seeing how players and developers interact with the platform, and learning what features are most important to our audience as Kartridge grows.”

Right now there are over 100 developers that support Kartridge, but the company plans on expanding that support to allow for more developers to get in on the operation.

There’s also strong incentive for indie devs to make the switch over to Kartridge, or at least offer their games on the platform, considering that there is no distribution fee for developers for the first $10,000 in sales that they make through the platform. So within that margin, indie devs get to keep 100% of the revenue.

You can check out Kartridge right now by visiting the official store page.

You can browse around now that the platform is in open beta and see if it just might prove to be a worthy adversary for GOG Galaxy or Steam.