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Trauma added to Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle
Per tradition, a new title has been added to the ranks of the latest Humble Indie Bundle. Trauma, an abstract game by Krystian Majewski in which players manipulate photos -- and that's putting it as loosely as we possibly can -- has been added to the Humble Frozen Synapse Bundle today. Rest assured, if you've already purchased the bundle, you can download the bonus game at no extra cost. If you haven't purchased the bundle yet, may we ask why? You can set your own price and these are some quality games. Download them already, you monster!
Humble Indie Bundle team offers a Frozen Synapse Bundle
The Humble Indie Bundle guys are back with another pay-what-you-want bundle of games. Proceeds from your purchase may be directed to the developers or to charity, in any combination you like. This time around, they're focusing on the turn-based strategy game Frozen Synapse, offering it up to anyone who wants to pay in at any price. There is a reason to pay a little higher this time. If the price you choose is higher than the average (currently around US$4.50) will also get you the Frozenbyte bundle, featuring the great Trine, the Shadowgrounds games, a game prototype called Jack Claw, and the upcoming release Splot. That lot for less than five bucks is a great deal, even if the Humble Indie Bundle folks aren't actually providing a bundle to everyone this time around. And as you'll probably remember from the past few offerings, these guys have a habit of adding even more extras into their deals, so odds are good that those six games aren't all you'll get if you buy in now. As usual, all of the games are available through Steam and are compatible with Mac, Linux and Windows. If you need something to play this coming weekend, you won't find a better deal around.
Frozen Synapse stars in new Humble Indie Bundle
The latest Humble Indie Bundle has only one pay-what-you-want participant -- Frozen Synapse, the "simultaneous" turn-based strategy game from Mode 7 Games -- but exceeding the average price will transform it from misnomer into a proper collection of games. Paying more than the average price ($4.27 at time of writing) will net you another cold bonus in the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle, which offers an assortment of games from the Finnish indie developer. Those include Trine, Shadowgrounds, Shadowgrounds: Survivor, the canceled Jack Claw prototype and a pre-order for the upcoming Splot. Plus: your money can go to Child's Play and The Electronic Frontier Foundation as you see fit. Since Humble Bundle games work across multiple platforms (Jack Claw excluded), Frozen Synapse makes its debut on Linux, complete with a free copy of the soundtrack. We'd love a chance to listen to it in isolation, as most of the music gets drowned out by our utterances of "oh shit oh shit" when both players execute their plans at once.
Humble Indie Bundle 3 surpasses $2 million, fewer than 12 hours left
It's time to pay the piper. ... And yes, we're talking to you, indie games. We here at Joystiq have long been supporters of the independent game design scene and now that the third Humble Indie Bundle has surpassed $2 million in sales, we figure it's time indies returned the favor. Now, like doting parents advancing into their sunset years, we'll move down to Edgewater Pointe Estates in Boca Raton, kick our feet up and tell them to send the bill to our beloved "Indie Games." By the way, you've got fewer than 12 hours to buy the bundle, which will now net you 12 games if you donate more than the average ($5.81 at the moment). But hey, why not give a little more than that? We've had our eye on a new Rascal.
Humble Indie Bundle 3 takes in a cool $1 mil in first week
After making an impressive showing during its first 17 hours of availability, the third Humble Indie Bundle has racked up quite a few more successful hours: It just passed $1 million in total payments, a figure it garnered with a little over 215,000 downloads. The bundle, which was recently expanded with the independently developed shooter, Steel Storm, is bringing in an average purchase price of a little under five bucks. In contrast, Linux purchasers are dropping an average donation of $11.62. There's a little over one week left before the promotion ends, so if you're planning on participating, make sure you try to follow the example set by our open source OS brethren.
Humble Indie Bundle throws Steel Storm onto the pile
The five games in the Humble Indie Bundle, plus free limited-time Minecraft access, still aren't enough to entice you to pay literally any amount of money? The bundle just got sweetened again, throwing in a free copy of the hovertank shooter Steel Storm. It's included, of course, with all new purchases; if you already purchased the bundle, you can go load up the download page now and collect your free game! In addition to supporting your massive backlog of unplayed games, the Humble Indie Bundle supports the EFF and Child's Play.
Humble Bundle 3 includes free Minecraft play until Aug. 14
As ever, the latest Humble Indie Bundle is as great a deal as you want to make it (but don't cheap out -- it's for charity!), and it's gotten better since its announcement. Now, in addition to the five games you'll own permanently, you'll also get the opportunity to play Minecraft for free until August 14. That's a great deal for that guy who hasn't played Minecraft yet! That's actually the third way Notch is helping out with Wolfire's charitable efforts -- he is also the top contributor to the bundle, paying $4,048 for games he likely already had. We know he had VVVVVV, at least, since he made a new level for the Bundle version. You can put in your own financial contribution to the Bundle here.
Humble Indie Bundle 3 rakes in $500K in 17 hours
At what point does the Humble Indie Bundle become so successful that it can officially stop being so darn humble? We're not sure if there's a set limit, but we think that the recently launched third edition of the indie game compilation has cleared the bar: In its first 17 hours of availability, Humble Indie Bundle 3 has been downloaded over 105,000 times, pulling in more than $500,000 for the five games included therein. Keep in mind, these impressive figures were accumulated in less than a day -- we can't wait to see how much cheddar these worthy titles (alongside Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation) can nab during their full two-week run. Of course, first, we're going to have to find out the latest dollar-to-cheddar currency exchange rates. We're pretty sure it's $3.09 per brick, but that ratio might be a tad outdated.
Humble Indie Bundle 3 announced, includes Cogs, VVVVVV, And Yet It Moves
The Humble Indie Bundle is back at it again, offering five new indie gaming titles for one low choose-your-own price. This time around, they've got Crayon Physics Deluxe, 3D puzzler Cogs, the excellent retro platformer VVVVVV, Hammerfight, and the award-winning puzzler/platformer And Yet It Moves. They're all solid games designed by talented indie artists, together in this one bundle. As before, the price is pay-what-you-will -- while there's a suggested value of $50, you can donate whatever you like, and you can split your donation any way you want, giving the money direction to the developers, or donating it to either the EFF or Child's Play nonprofits. You even get Steam codes from the purchase, so it'll be as if you picked up the games from Steam, even if you give the money to a charity. You just plain won't find a better gaming deal on the Internet than this one -- the Humble Indie Bundle is always a very generous proposition, and the fact that all the games are Mac (and Windows and Linux) compatible is an added bonus for us Mac users.
Humble Indie Bundle 3 packs VVVVVV, Crayon Physics Deluxe, And Yet It Moves, and more
The Humble Indie Bundle, the wildly successful, DRM-free pay-what-you-want charity game collection curated by Wolfire Games, is back ... right now! The Humble Indie Bundle 3 includes Crayon Physics Deluxe, Cogs, VVVVVV (now with a level editor and a new level by Minecraft creator Notch), Hammerfight, and And Yet It Moves -- all playable natively in Linux, OSX, and Windows. Some of the games are newly ported specifically for this purpose. As always, you'll be able to pay whatever amount you like for the bundle, and you'll be able to specify how much of that payment goes to the EFF, Child's Play, the developers, or Wolfire itself (to offset the costs of hosting the Bundle). The bundle will go away in two weeks, so you have that long to decide how much to chip in, and to whom. We assume you've already decided to buy it.
New 'Humble Frozenbyte Bundle' bonuses unlocked
Through the power of your awesome taste in games, Frozenbyte's "Humble Bundle" has raised more than $700,000 (the average pay-want-you-want purchase price is currently a few cents under $5). As a result of this feat, the studio has released an early, playable demo of its forthcoming game, Splot. The full game will be arriving in "the next 2–3 months" and is already included as a "pre-order bonus" for purchasers of the bundle. Moreover, Frozenbyte has added the Trine level editor to the set, as well as the source codes for Shadowgrounds and Shadowgrounds: Survivor. If you've yet to get in on the bundle, you've still got another four-ish days left to grab it. We hear it's just the right size for an Easter basket.
New Humble bundle offers Frozenbyte games, pay what you want
The folks behind the extremely popular Humble Indie bundles are at it again -- this time, they've assembled a "Humble Frozenbyte Bundle," featuring a pack of games from Finnish game developer Frozenbyte. The real centerpiece here is Trine, an excellent physics-based puzzler/platformer that's done well both on PC and on the consoles, but the other titles (Shadowgrounds, sequel Shadowgrounds Survivor and a preview of a game called Splot) aren't bad either. There's a game prototype in the mix called Jack Claw -- that's a game that Frozenbyte eventually canceled without release, but buyers of this bundle will get to play it anyway (on Windows, that is). As with the other Humble bundles, all of these games are Mac-compatible and DRM-free, and the price is pay-what-you-will, with money going either to Frozenbyte or to the EFF or Child's Play. The suggested price cost of the games separately is $50 (which would still be a great deal for four games), but you can give whatever you want to whoever you want and still get the bundle for yourself. On a quick platform-specific note, too, Mac users aren't being quite as well represented this time around -- they're paying, on average, way less than Linux users, and taking the smallest piece of the pie out of the three platforms. If you do buy the bundle (and the games, with the exception of Jack Claw, are compatible on any and all platforms anyway), make sure to show a little Mac pride over there, and prove that among the three OSes, Mac users are the most willing to pony up for great software.
New Humble Bundle features Frozenbyte games and prototype
Humble Bundle's third, pay-want-you-want indie games collection, "The Humble Frozenbyte Bundle," is now available from the official site for the next fifteen days. As the name implies, the new set features the works of Finnish developer Frozenbyte, including the platformer Trine and the top-down shooter series Shadowgrounds. The bundle also includes a pre-order license -- no, not for Trine 2, but for Splot, a mysterious (yet adorable-looking) title that's still under development. Most intriguing, Frozenbyte has tossed in the source code for a canceled project called Jack Claw. According to Edge, the developer hopes to crowd-source the game to completion and offer it for free to everyone that helps. Like past Humble Bundles, this one is DRM-free and -- with the exception of the Windows-only Jack Claw code -- all the games are available to download for PC, Mac and Linux. Additionally, purchasers are entitled to Steam, Desura and OnLive product keys for compatible titles, as well as the soundtracks for Trine and the Shadowgrounds games. Oh! And how could we forget? Any two portions of your purchase can be donated to the Child's Play Charity and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a public interest nonprofit that protects consumers' digital rights. Check out the Frozenbyte Bundle promotional video after the break to find out more about this most awesome offering -- or just go buy it already! [Thanks, Luis!]
The Humble Indie Bundle: Leaving no customer behind
The charitable, almost casually presented collection of indie games, The Humble Indie Bundle, was born from an earnest approach to customer service. Wolfire Games offered a user-determined price point, ditched DRM, shared earnings with charity organizations and targeted multiple platforms -- including Windows, Mac OS and Linux -- when it launched the first Humble Indie Bundle in May 2010. "It was very relaxed and very good for the customer," said Jeffrey Rosen, co-founder of Wolfire Games and Humble Bundle Inc. "We didn't want to leave anybody out." Rosen and Wolfire's John Graham elaborated on their "leave no customer behind" approach at a GDC panel on Monday morning, emphasizing the importance of including platforms like Mac OS and Linux in addition to PC. The decision to spread beyond Windows was informed by Wolfire's prior experience selling its own games, with anthropomorphic bunny basher Lugaru HD racking up doubly strong sales through Mac and Linux support. Linux users seemed particularly grateful for the support -- when the first bundle concluded after racking up $1,273,613, Linux users had spent the most with $14.44 on average. "If you reach out to them, they want to take care of you too," John Graham said.
Child's Play breaks annual record with over $2 million raised
Child's Play has become the ubiquitous ur-charity for the gaming community. Founded by Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade fame, it's grown into a multinational event for gamers the world over to help out needy children. It's also made a tradition out of breaking records for overall donations every year, and this year is no exception, with the total amount raised coming out to over $2 million for the year and nearly $9 million over its lifetime. The record-breaking effort has always been helped by enterprising fundraisers from the community, and the MMO community is no exception; notable fundraising efforts this year include the Lord of the Rings Online-inspired fundraiser from A Casual Stroll to Mordor and Sony Online Entertainment's donations for the purchase of in-game pets, together with other non-MMO events such as the infamous Desert Bus for Hope marathon and the Humble Indie Bundle. The entire gaming community, online or off, can take pride in another record-breaking year for Child's Play.
Humble Indie Bundle 2 now includes Humble Indie Bundle 1
It just became so much easier to compare last year's Humble Indie Bundle with this year's Humble Indie Bundle 2 in terms of value -- because as of today, Humble Indie Bundle 2 includes last year's Bundle. It's official: these developers have lost their damn minds (for charity). If you've already bought Bundle 2, you're free to download Bundle 1, which has World of Goo, Aquaria, Gish, Lugaru HD, Penumbra Overture, and Samorost 2, all playable on PC, Mac, and Linux. If you haven't bought Bundle 2 yet, you're only eligible to get the bonus games if you spend more than the average payment of $7.34. You have through Christmas Day to pick up this year's offerings. You can download these straight from the site, but you can also unlock them in Steam (by getting a keys from the HIB site), with a few caveats. The Steam keys are "a little glitchy," lacking access to Samorost 2 and lacking Mac versions of Gish and Aquaria. In addition, organizer Wolfire only has 150,000 keys to hand out, so if you already have the games on Steam, or you can deal with just downloading the games (DRM-free) and not having that Steam integration, perhaps you could leave the Steam key for someone else.
Humble Indie Bundle hits $1.2 million, promises Steam integration
The Humble Indie Bundle 2 has reached $1.2 million in revenue, topping the last offering, and there are five days left to go, so the turnout for the pay-what-you-want gaming pack should be pretty spectacular. All of the games were previously announced as released on both Mac and PC, but the group has also hammered out a deal with Steam to optionally give out keys for the games on that service if you so choose. That means that even if you don't have Steam, you can get the games on their own, but if you do, you can pay whatever price you want, and get all five of the games (two of them when they actually debut on the service) through Valve's downloadable game app. That's a pretty spectacular deal -- you can download the games through Steam onto any other computers you happen to have, and as before, you can still give all, some or none of the money you pay to your choice of charities. Mac donations are above the average, but still nowhere near as high as Linux donations. If you do head over there and pick up the bundle, be sure to represent your OS of choice when you do. As I said, there are five days left, but if you're a gamer and want any one of these games, this deal is more than worth getting in on before it ends.
Humble Indie Bundle 2 grosses over $500K in day-one purchases, led by Minecraft's Persson
"Humble Bundle" no longer seems like an appropriate name. In less than 24 hours upon release, the pay-what-you-want indie game collection Humble Bundle #2 earned over $500,000 in revenue and appears to be well on its way to beating the first bundle's seven-figure returns. The Humble Bundle website offers an interesting look into purchasing trends by providing real-time stats. As of writing, over 70,000 people have purchased the pack, including Minecraft creator Markus Persson, who paid an extraordinary $2,000, and Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling, who went with a generous $500 payment. The average selling price for the bundle is currently $7 and change. The Humble Bundle #2 includes five celebrated indie titles: Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos and Revenge of the Titans. Purchasers can divide their payments between the developers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Child's Play Charity as they see fit.
Humble Indie Bundle 2 offers more Mac gaming deals
The Humble Indie Bundle is back for round two, which means that you've got another deal with some terrific indie games to run on your Mac, completely DRM-free. This time, you get Jonathan Blow's excellent time-shifting platformer Braid, quality puzzle game Machinarium, iOS favorite Osmos, and Cortex Command and Revenge of the Titans, two titles still under development. Just like last time, you can pay any price you want. While the games by themselves would cost you $85, people have paid up to $1000 just to promote and support independent game development -- and just like last time, all of the games are playable on Mac, Windows and Linux as you choose. You can also give any or all of the money donated to charity, so really this is about as awesome as a game deal gets. Pay whatever you want to someone worthy of the money, and you get five games to do with as you please. Last time around, the bundle raised upwards of a million dollars, and Linux users, we're told, were twice as generous as Windows users. That seems to be the case this time as well (with Mac users only a little better than Windows), so let's head on over and represent, since it's definitely true that Mac users are willing to pay a quality price for quality software. I can tell you outright that Braid and Osmos are worth a $20 donation on their own, so head on over, give some money, and support some more than generous independent game developers.
Humble Indie Bundle 2 revealed, name your price for Braid, Machinarium and more
Looks like the organizers of the second annual Humble Indie Bundle are busting out the big guns for this year's charity drive -- the name-your-own-price, DRM-free package includes Jonathan Blow's time-twisting platformer Braid, the infinitely charming adventure game Machinarium, the side-scrolling shooter Cortex Command, the super soothing (and equally pretty) Osmos and the tower defense-meets-RTS gem Revenge of the Titans. That's a whole lot of bang for your buck, or nickel, or thousand bucks. This year, purchasers can choose how much of their donation goes to four possible recipients: The games' developers, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Child's Play Charity or the Humble Indie Bundle organizers. Yes, you can not only customize how much altruism you're going to exhibit with your purchase, you can also customize where that altruism goes! Unless, of course, you pirate it, sending out no altruism to nowhere. You monster.
