I feel mostly the same, I love the itch trawl and not because I feel like I should, I just prefer small games.

For me I think it's because I don't really like clear communication, like a sanded down Aaa game. I like when the goals and mechanics are unclear, especially when they're unclear on accident. it's thrilling to play a horribly opaque game by someone who's never made a game before, you have no idea what's gonna happen next

I like a certain kind of pixel art for the same reason. if the game isnt stimulating my imagination I tend to get bored

hmm I should also find sources to get me out of my bubble of the-sort-of-stuff-that-i-click-on. any sources you can share?

i don't have a large collection because i don't really save them, but here are some sources just off the top of my head that have given me good breadcrumbs to follow:

• warp door
• my itch.io feed (i mostly neglected this until recently when i discovered that oh yeah, the people i follow have good taste.)
• paradise (see above)
• escapethealgorithm
• sweetfish checkout counter (i only checked out a few things but it was nice! i think it overlaps with my interests but it's not stuff i've already seen)
• bandcamp daily

well there's indiepocalyse!
https://pizzapranks.com/
collection of ~10 small games that comes out each month, it's paid but the creators get paid too