The Humble Bundle, or who wants (nearly) free indie games?

[e]

Some of you might remember 2D Boy's sales trial a few months ago, where they tried a name-your-price approach to promote their game, World of Goo. They reported a massive increase in sales, and major profits: the people who would've bought named reasonable prices, and others, let's say, less fortunate consumers, bought it at a reduced price. These people, who would probably not have bought the games, were the reason for the profits as reported by the developer. Furthermore, this allowed them to cut the middle man and get 100% of all profits.

So, thanks to their success, all of you can now benefit, for the next 4 days, of developer Wolfire's similar attempt: the Humble Indie Bundle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7Aw5C7WQ6g

In short, you can get the following games for the price that you want, from a penny to a billion trillion dollars:

World of Goo
2D Boy's award-winning strategy game, World of Goo consists of building structures out of little goo balls to solve puzzle. It's short n' sweet, and definitely worth a look.

World of Goo is a physics based puzzle / construction game. The millions of Goo Balls who live in the beautiful World of Goo don't know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious.

Aquaria
Aquaria is another award winning game from developer Bit-Blot. It's an adventure/exploration game set underwater. Most famously, all the graphics were done by Derek Yu.

A massive ocean world, teeming with life and filled with ancient secrets. Join Naija, a lone underwater dweller in search of her family, as she explores the depths of Aquaria. She'll travel from hidden caves, shrouded in darkness, to beautiful, sunlit oases, all lovingly handcrafted by its two creators.

Naija's story, narrated fully with voice overs, will become yours, as you join her on this magnificent adventure.

GISH!
I haven't played GISH! yet (I will soon enough!), but it looks like another of those odd indie games which recycles known game models (i.e.: the 2D sidescroller platformer) with a few twist and a cool atmosphere.

Gish is a one of a kind 2d sidescroller with a twist you play as a totally physics based ball of tar.

Lugaru HD
Another one I haven't played yet, Lugaru HD is Wolfire's own game. It's an action/adventure game which seems pretty violent (Monty Python's killer bunny anyone?), and, more importantly, fun.

Lugaru (pronounced Loo-GAH-roo) is the predecessor to Overgrowth. It is a DRM-free, third-person action game available for Mac, Windows, and Linux. The main character, Turner, is an anthropomorphic rebel bunny rabbit with impressive combat skills. In his quest to find those responsible for slaughtering his village, he uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy involving the corrupt leaders of the rabbit republic and the starving wolves from a nearby den. Turner takes it upon himself to fight against their plot and save his fellow rabbits from slavery.

Penumbra
Penumbra is a pretty cool, atmospheric first person horror game, a sort of cross between Silent Hill and Myst. The game is part of a trilogy, and is definitely worth playing (especially since you can get it for 1/5 a penny!)

Penumbra is a first person horror adventure focussing on story, immersion and puzzle solving. Violence and combat is hardly an option - the player has to use wits to guide Philip through his final test, and this makes the series unique in offering a truly dangerous and terrifying experience.

Basically, to get these game, simply go over to Wolfire's Humble Indie Bundle page, fill the form; you can use Google Checkout, PayPal or amazon.com as payments methods, and all data is confidential (as in, if you're cheap and pay 1 penny for 5 games, no one will know!). You can then decide to send the money to either the developers of the game (it's split in 5) or to charity.

Anyway, happy gaming! There's only 6 days left to this offer, so do follow it up and see what indie developers out there have made!

 

[friend]

Oh my, its cheap.

I bought without even considering it.

It's cheap even by our country's standards ( Ahaha pirates get out of business already )

 

[candle]

Before you all start shelling out a lone penny for this bundle, keep in mind that most proceeds will be going to charity. That's why some idiot ponied up $500 USD for it. Suffice it to say, I spent $2.15. I would have given more, but that was all that was in my paypal at the time.

 

[Daxis]

I'm sorta feeling like dirt for buying this for a penny. If they do this in two years or so, I'll shell out the big bucks. So, I'm just not going to buy anything.

 

[friend]

I spent a dollar on it.

But a friend wants me to buy it for him because he has no credit card.

So I gifted it to him for a penny

 

[e]

Quick update: last day of the sale, and they've added Samorost 2!

 

[Alexander Morou]

So far they've made a cool million. They've all decided to go open source, from what I can gather.

 

[friend]

They've already reached 1 million?

Oh my, open source we go!

Can't wait to mess around with Penumbra's physics.

 

[Glitchfinder]

I find it funny that Linux users tend to pay nearly double what Windows users pay. It makes sense, too. The Linux community tends to be composed of free software that only survives because people donate to keep it online and updated often, while the Windows community is mostly composed of paid software that is often pirated. In other words, the communities tend to have opposing mindsets.

 

[friend]

Maybe because Windows = Majority

and Majority = Pirate.

 

[AskaRay]

Oh my god if my computer wasn't complete crap, I would do this now.

WoG is a great game, and Penumbra scares the shit out of me... just, uuugh.
I've only seen Aquaria played but it looks fantastic.

 

[friend]

Uhh... You can actually buy it now?

What does a crappy computer have to do with buying something?

 

[Dr. Funk]

I just got this, payed $25 bucks just cause it seems well worth it. I haven't played all of them yet, but the ones I have played are awesome.