The Humble Bundle Thread

Humble Bundle for Android 4 Turns It Up to Eleven | Humble Mumble

Humble Bundle for Android 4 has added 5 new games (all of Humble Bundle for Android 2). That's 11 games for under $7 at the current average. And you're helping charity. And supporting indie developers.

You don't need an Android device to enjoy these games. Every game is also available for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Seriously, what are you waiting for?

 

I picked up my copy yesterday and found a couple of hours to play with it. I'm really enjoying Zen Bound 2 and Splice so far. Waking Mars seems interesting, though I'm not too far into it. Avadon also looks interesting, though it also looks like something I'm going to have to find some serious time to put into. Very Baldur's Gate-y from what I understand.

 

So close to Christmas. Those crafty bastards.

 

Out of these games, the only one I've played is Binding of Isaac. I will cautiously recommend it; I personally enjoyed it, but it's not for everyone. It's a roguelike (no saving your game, randomly generated dungeons, death is permanent). It features matricide, infanticide, drug abuse, child abuse, blasphemy, and just about everything else offensive you can think of. If that sounds like your kind of game it's worth playing.

I suspect I'll end up picking this up at some point this week. I told myself no new games until after Christmas, but between this and the Steam holiday sale I'm not sure if I'll actually end up keeping that promise.

I have a problem.

 

Well, I pulled the trigger on it. I usually wait to see what they add at the halfway mark, but I figured this time around that I know I'm going to buy it anyway so I might as well just do it.

No disapproval from Magpie this time (who usually tells me I have too many games already, and is probably right) because she wants Snapshot.

I'll try to get a bit of time into each of the games this weekend and report back with my thoughts on them.

EDIT: Oh, and the launch trailer:


View: http://youtu.be/gqlc8WCATw4

 

I put about an hour into Shank 2 today. I can't decide if the difficulty curve on it really is just that insane, or if I just suck at it that much.

It's a neat idea, but the controls feel a bit awkward. Might be better with a gamepad, I'll have to give that a try. I was also surprised to find it was apparently published by EA -- stretching the boundaries of what constitutes "indie" I guess. I do like the premise, here; it's over-the-top balls-to-the-wall testosterone-laden action. Like an old Stallone action flick, only more so. It's kind of fun to see what kind of a combo you can chain up, though at times it feels like the control scheme is working against you. I think 2D platformers beg for a console-style gamepad, and this one's no exeception.

I've also got some time into Snapshot now, about two hours. Yet another puzzle game with yet another quirky game mechanic. Fortunately I'm a fan of the style, but it's worth considering whether you are. You play a little robot who's able to remove objects from the world by taking photographs of them. He can then later cause those items to reappear, but if they have any inertia (say, from falling) they'll keep it. Using this ability you'll need to navigate obstacles within the game world, some of which are deadly. I've certainly enjoyed it so far -- it's cute and charming, and tricky enough to be a challenge without being totally frustrating. So far it feels very polished and well designed, though in the interest of full disclosure I am only a few levels in.

And lastly I found 90 minutes this afternoon to sit down and watch Indie Game: The Movie. As a film it chronicles the development and release of Braid, Super Meat Boy, and Fez, three very successful indie titles of the past few years. I'll be honest, by the end of it I found myself for the first time ever wishing I owned an XBox 360, since that's the only platform Fez is on to date. Hopefully there will be a PC port soon.

I was pleasantly surprised by the film. It doesn't spend a lot of time on what is indie, or what it's like to compete against the AAA studios (which indie games don't, I'd argue -- they've more or less claimed their own market space). Instead, it focuses on the developers, the hardships and sacrifices they've endured to get these titles to market. It's a very human story, which honestly isn't at all what I was expecting.

The film also comes with commentary from the developers, which is a nice touch.

 

Humble Indie Bundle 7 has now added Cave Story+, The Basement Collection, and Offspring Fling. That brings the total up to nine games and a movie for $6.49, as of this writing.

Can't comment on these games, since I don't know much about them. Cave Story+ has an excellent reputation, and The Basement Collection is by the same guy who was (partially) responsible for Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac.