As a gamer I love finding new games to play and master, that's why I was so exited when I saw yesterday on Twitter that there was a new Humble Bundle (#3). I missed out on the last bundle so I was even more surprised and exited to see that if you gave more than the average amount of money you get the Humble Bundle #2 for free, now that's a bargain. This post will cover only the games from the Humble #3.
First, just wanted to point out a fun fact:
That's right, Linux Users seem to be more Humble by giving an average of 11.75$ to the developers and Charities (+1 to open powerness!). Windows users only give an average of 4.32$ and Mac users 7.05$. Before someone points out the flaw in my analysis, I know that Windows is the predominant platform when I comes to gaming and that the bigger the statistic sample is, the more accurate the results are. So to be a fair comparison it should be Linux vs Mac, because they seem to have an equal part of the pie chart (But I don't how frequent it updates). In the end, it doesn't matter if you give 1$ or 4000$, what matters is the thought of helping people by giving a reasonable amount to help the Indie dev's and the charities. I guaranty you that whatever amount you will give, the bundle will be totally worth all of your money.
Now, let's take a look at the games (bear in mind that these are quick reviews, I did not play each of them to completion, I just wanted to give you all an idea of each game before buying).Crayon Physics Deluxe
The goal of the game is to draw shapes and paths so that the little red apple get's to the star. The first few levels are a piece of cake, but like any other game it get's tougher as you go. This is a great game to play with a friend, because it's always fun to try ridiculous complicated solutions to simple problems (and the game rewards you for doing so). The game's artwork is nice and clean, it's a bit simplistic but it's a perfect fit for this kind of game. The only major downside is the screen resolution since you can't go higher than 1024x768 pixels and the game doesn't look very good in full screen on a 1080p monitor. All in all, this is a great game to kill some time. Final score: 7.5/10Note: The game wouldn't run on Ubuntu 10.10 for some reason, will update when the issue is resolved.VVVVVV
VVVVVV is a very fun game. Fans of pixel graphics will love (or hate) playing this game. There are basically 3 buttons to press while playing: left and right arrow keys (or A and D) && the action button (space, enter, v or w) to fly to the ceiling (or to come back to the ground). The story of the game is pretty simple, your ship has crashed and 5 of the crew is lost (for more details go buy the game!). This game is frustrating as hell and that's what makes it awesome. Here is one of the passage where it's frustrating (in a good way) and completely mental (Veni Vidi Vici):
The game is in some ways open world because you have no limits to where you can go (you just have to explore a lot, and be prepared to get lost and go round and round past the same places). There is no lives so it's try and reset - try and reset *infinite and there are checkpoints in every area, so the games helps you in some way, but it's still hard as hell. This is a great game for those old school folks or for people who like me, did not have the chance to be born in the 80's... Final score 9/10.
HammerfightFor some reason, the game didn't want to work on my windows machine and since it's not on Linux I'm screwed, so while waiting for an update here is the game on Metacritic and the trailer for the game: And Yet It Moves
Not surprisingly, I left the best for last: Cogs. Cogs is a puzzle game where there are gears, pipes & bells (as of my knowing of the first few levels). It's a fast paced game where quick thinking and fast action is required (if you want the best score). These kinds of game are where I excel and where I have the most fun. The challenge is there, if I finish a level without having all the stars I start over again, and again, and again, and again until I get all the points. There is no story, just puzzle solving which I find perfect for this kind of game. The graphics are great, it has a nice steampunk style and there are plenty of options for customizing the graphics if you don't have a great gfx card. There is even a netbook version available. It suffers from the same problem as Crayon Physics Deluxe, 4:3 is so 2003 but after doing a bit of research I read on the steam forums here (2010) that the team is focusing on delivering more quality puzzles than adding a 16:9 UI, and I'm cool with that (better graphics != better game). For everyone who likes a good puzzle game. Final score: 9.5/10
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The Humble Bundle has a huge value if you consider everything you get (HB 2 & 3) for the low price of whatever you want. And as cool Bonus you get to encourage the Indie dev's, organizations and charities to which the money will go to. Oh and sorry for the long post, the next ones should be less hardcore.
Update: They have added two new awesome games to the Humble bundle, go check'm out!
