Humble Weekly: Liebesgrüße aus Deutschland
Okay, pardon my potentially horrible German (and a James Bond reference for good measure!), but it was worth a shot. The latest Humble Weekly Bundle includes up to twelve games, all from German developers. The core bundle has a “pay what you want” price ($1 or more for Steam codes; DRM-free version of five of the seven core games are available for any donation), with three more games if you beat the current average price ($3.81 right now), and finally two additional games if you donate $9 or more. I’m used to seeing Child’s Play Charity and the American Red Cross as the standard donation options, but this week the two charities are Doctors Without Borders and Make-A-Wish, so if you’d like to help those causes it’s another reason to pick up some of these games. Here’s the short list, ordered alphabetically within the pricing tiers:
- Beatbuddy: Tale of Guardians (75%, 08/2013 – $1+): puzzle-platformer with a world that responds to the soundtrack, with rhythm/adventure elements thrown it for good measure.
- Crazy Machines 2 (72%, 06/2008 – $1+): solve increasingly challenging/complex puzzles by building Rube-Goldberg-inspired machines.
- Galaxy on Fire 2 (63%, 08/2012 – $1+): open-ended space shooter/simulation with an optional story you can follow; updated graphics relative to the original iOS release.
- The Great Jitters: Pudding Panic (~60%, 05/2014 – $1+): a port of a popular iOS game, you guide a scared blob of pudding down the rails of a ghost train – try not to faint! (Reviews of the original iOS version are very positive, but the PC port is so new that I haven’t seen any reviews yet. Personally…I rate it about a 60%; it’s a weak port, with no resolution support above 1024×768 and the gameplay with a mouse is undoubtedly not as compelling as with a touchscreen.)
- The Guild II Collection (~61%, 10/2006 – $1+): this collection includes the original medieval strategy/RPG “life simulation”, along with the two follow up games Pirates of the High Seas (63%, 2007) and Renaissance (56%, 2010). You can choose from a number of professions and then life out your life in the game world.
- Spirits (~60%, 02/2012 – $1+): a puzzle/action game with concepts similar to Lemmings, if you go that far back. Guide the autumn leaves home by altering the way the wind blows and changing the ground.
- Tiny & Big: Grandpa’s Leftovers (75%, 06/2012 – $1+): a 3D cell-shaded puzzle-platformer where you manipulate the environment with various tools to try to recover a lost relic (Grandpa’s Underpants); this was part of another recent bundle, but if you missed it you can pick it up here.
- ArcaniA – Gothic 4 (63%, 10/2010 – BTA): an open-world RPG in the vein of the Elder Scrolls series, this fourth installment moves to more tropical island environment.
- The Book of Unwritten Tales Digital Deluxe Edition (82%, 10/2011 – BTA): this is a classic-style point-and-click adventure game from the Unwritten Tales series, originally funded/launched via Kickstarter. This includes a “making of” booklet and original soundtrack as part of the “Digital Deluxe” package; not to be confused with the later installment in the series, the Critter Chronicles.
- Risen (77%, 10/2009 – BTA): if you’ve finished reading all of the Elder Scrolls and beaten Gothic and you’re still looking for more open-world RPG adventuring, you might want to check out the world of Risen – it’s good for another 50+ hours of gameplay.
- Giana Sisters: Twisted Bundle (~80%, 2012-2013 – $9+): this is a two-for-one bundle that gives you the original Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams (77%) and the Rise of the Owlverlord (84%), with the latter providing seven new levels. Giana Sisters is a platformer (and another game that started at Kickstarter), with the key mechanic being that switching between the two “sisters” alters the entire game world.
- The Night of the Rabbit: Premium Edition (75%, 05/2013 – $9+): last but not least, this is another point-and-click adventure that involves you following a white rabbit to the world of…no, not Wonderland, Mousewood! Help young Jerry fulfill his dream of becoming a magician, and in the process save Mousewood.
I think the “beat the average” portion of this bundle is a pretty easy sell, as you get ten games and at least a few of them should be worthy of your time. The $9 tier isn’t too bad either, provided you don’t already own one or both games. I grew up playing quite a few point-and-click adventure games but the genre lost me as I grew older; with young children of my own now, however, getting some family friendly fare that might stretch their brains a bit is always welcome. I’m not sure I’d rate the bundle as “wunderbar”, but “gut genug” in this case was sufficient to help me part with some of my money. And as an added bonus for making it this far, I have some extra codes for Beatbuddy, Tiny & Big, and Risen, so the first people to ask me for a game code can get a Steam gift code from me.
