If you’re even remotely interested in video games and you haven’t heard of the glorious work the folks over at Humble Bundle are doing then stop reading this and go to humblebundle.com. The most recent group of games on sale marks the first time a major publisher, THQ, has gotten involved.
The first Humble Bundle came out in early May 2010, and was a collection of indie titles for PC. They’ve since put out more indie game-themed bundles, but have branched out with the Humble Music Bundle (which featured the great They Might Be Giants and MC Frontalot), Humble Bundle for Android and Humble eBook Bundle. And, just recently, Double Fine Productions has teamed up with Humble Bundle, putting up old prototypes for download, as well as a poll so fans can vote which games the studio will make at their next annual Amnesia Fortnight, a two-week-long game jam.
The Humble Bundle operates on a pay-what-and-who-you-want format, usually with a game or two available only to those who pay more than the average. You split up your payment between the studios/artists who produced the games, books or music; charity; and the people behind the site. You can choose how much goes into each category, giving all of it to just one group if you wanted.
The Humble THQ Bundle runs until Dec. 13 and features Darksiders, Metro 2033, Red Faction: Armageddon and Company of Heroes with its two expansions. If you pay more than the average (a meager $5.68 at the time of this writing), you also get last year’s delightfully absurd Saint’s Row: The Third. The games download through Steam, and this bundle is only available for Windows.
Gaming can be an expensive hobby, especially for college students. However, a great many cheap avenues have sprung up recently, the Humble Bundle being one of them. You would be doing yourself a disservice not to check it out.