How to feel good about yourself today.

by Grungi

Who doesn’t like feeling like a good person once in a while ? And who doesn’t like getting something for it to boot ?

Well, guess what, for a little more than 6 days still, that’s exactly what you can do !

Here’s the deal : you buy 5 great games for any price you want, then decide who gets the money. Sounds good? Head over to the Humble Indie Bundle #2 page.

Still not convinced ? Then please take a couple of minutes to read about some specifics after the break…

As last year, 5 independently-developed PC games are being offered as a downloadable pack, which you are invited to buy for any price you decide. This can be as low as $1, and right now the top contributor is Notch, developer of the hugely successful Minecraft, with a whopping $2.000.The average donation is currently a little above $7, and I paid $30 for mine… So really, your call.

Then, once you decided on the money you wish to donate, you get to choose how it gets splitted. You can divide it between :

  • The game developers. Remember, those games are made by very small teams, and they need the support.
  • Child’s Play, a charity started by the guys over at Penny Arcade, with the intent of bringing toys and games into hospitals to make the lives of children there a bit better.
  • The Electronic Frontier Foundation, whose goal is to defend people’s liberties and rights in the digital age.
  • The organisators of the bundle, via a “humble tip”, to help cover the hosting and related costs, and to give them the opportunity of creating another bundle next year.
Now, what about the games? Because helping charities is all well and good, but this is still a game bundle, right ? Last year, you could have gotten World of Goo, Aquaria, Penumbra: Overture, Lugaru HD and Gish (four of which have subsequently been open-sourced, mind you). And this year, the lineup is just as great :
  • Braid : A platformer/puzzle hybrid in which you’ll need to make use of the character’s various time-bending abilities to grab puzzle pieces and unravel the story. Very unusual, and some of the puzzles are sure to keep you thinking for a while…
  • Cortex Command : Buy artificial bodies and remote-control them to gather resources in a game that is still under active development (fear not, your purchase make you eligible for all future updates), but already impresses with extremely detailed physics, excellent 2D graphics, and more (also, multiplayer !).
  • Machinarium : A point-and-click adventure which is as gripping as it is beautiful. Superb art style, inventive challenges, and a wonderful soundtrack. Speaking of which… Said soundtrack is even included in the bundle !
  • Osmos : Very soothing physics-based gameplay. Absorb creatures smaller than you while avoiding the same fate, to complete various objectives. And if you’re stuck, you can always try a randomized version of the level giving you trouble… A mini-album with some of the game’s music is also included, but you won’t listen to it, because you’ll still be playing the addictive game.
  • Revenge of the Titans : Like Tower Defense games ? Good. Like real time strategy games ? Even better, because Revenge of the Titans is a mix of both. Another game still under active development (and again, you’ll get all the updates for free), RotT is also available for the first time inside the bundle, so be hype and play it before anybody else !
So there you have it, a very, very nice way to do some good during this holiday season. Oh, and not to forget, all games run on Linux (32 and 64 bits), Mac OSX and Windows !!! All. Of. Them. Isn’t that awesome ? And one last word for the competitive among you : checking the stats at http://www.humblebundle.com/ , you can see that the most (on average) generous people are the Linux folks with $13.55/sale on average, before Mac users with $8.12/sale, and finally Windows guys give $5.96 on average. So go increase the gap or turn the tables ! Buy the Humble Indie Bundle for yourself or a friend. Or both. Game on !