The New Humble Indie Bundle [Five games, you pick the price]

December 14, 2010 9:47 AM

The second Humble Indie Bundle just got put up for sale. This time, the bundle contains Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos and Revenge of the Titans - all DRM free. You decide what you want to pay for the games, and as with the previous bundle, you can choose to let part of your payment go to the Electronic Frontier Foundation and/or the Child's Play Charity.

Last time, the sale was a runaway success, selling for over $1.2 million. In return, four of the developers released the source code for their games, they even added in the game Samorost 2 for free, and just a few days ago they also gave you a code that let you add the games to Steam.

posted by ymgve (66 comments total)

Whoa. How have I never heard of Cortex Command? Looks like fun!
posted by brundlefly at 10:01 AM on December 14, 2010

>Cortex Command

It's a MetaFilter simulator ...
posted by scruss at 10:03 AM on December 14, 2010 [18 favorites]

Also, as a person who paid full price for Braid when it first got released on the 360, you should get the bundle just for Braid if you don't already own it. It's a wonderful game.
posted by ymgve at 10:03 AM on December 14, 2010

Cortex Command is the Metafilter version of Subservient Chicken.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 10:05 AM on December 14, 2010 [6 favorites]

Linux games? TAKE MY MONEY!
posted by Skorgu at 10:06 AM on December 14, 2010 [8 favorites]

I haven't heard of any of these. I take it Braid is the headliner here?
posted by roll truck roll at 10:06 AM on December 14, 2010

Perfect timing; I just finished the school semester and I need something else to slowly suck my soul dry.
posted by backseatpilot at 10:08 AM on December 14, 2010

That's a pretty strong lineup. Unfortunately, although I don't have all of those for PC, I have everything except Cortex Command in some form or another.
posted by juv3nal at 10:10 AM on December 14, 2010

Nice, I've been thinking of trying out Braid. This reminds me that last time they did this, I bought the pack and I haven't really played any of them yet (aside from World of Goo, which I already had on the Wii). It seems like a limited free release of Portal shortly after I downloaded the bundle got in the way...
posted by mysterpigg at 10:12 AM on December 14, 2010

Linux games? TAKE MY MONEY!

Which one is the linux game?
posted by DU at 10:12 AM on December 14, 2010

roll truck roll. Machinarium is a pretty awesome game also.
posted by white_devil at 10:13 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

Which one is the linux game?

The page says "All of the games work great on Mac, Windows, and Linux."
posted by backseatpilot at 10:13 AM on December 14, 2010

OIC, I just clicked on Braid directly. Neato, I'm getting this. I've been meaning to try Braid.
posted by DU at 10:17 AM on December 14, 2010

Soulja Boy's Review of braid was almost as good as the game.

(think thats the right one)
posted by Ad hominem at 10:17 AM on December 14, 2010

Braid was too hard for me.
posted by Ad hominem at 10:18 AM on December 14, 2010

Braid's one of those games where once you play it it becomes hard to conceive of games any other way. You go back to other games and wonder why they aren't as beautiful, or as melancholy, or as contemplative. It's a game without lives or points or incentives other than simply seeing more than you've already seen.

I'd recommend it for pretty much anybody. You can play it even if you've never touched a video game before without much of a hassle. I think it's also the most forgiving game I've ever played, thanks to the whole "rewind forever" mechanic. Every level other than the very last one can be unlocked without ever collecting one of the puzzle pieces that you use to eventually piece everything together.

For the real "hardcore" gamers, there's one completely unmentioned puzzle which you have to discover on your own, and which will take hours and hours and hours of your life away. So it's got something for everybody.

If nothing else, you should play it so that you can discover Shira Kammen, whose music Braid uses for many of its levels. It's at once soothing and poignant and then erupts into a fiery dance and basically it sounds like the exact opposite of what you'd expect to hear in a video game. Which was the point of Braid: It's kind of Jonathan Blow's manifesto of what games aren't but ought to be.
posted by Rory Marinich at 10:22 AM on December 14, 2010

Woo, bought, even though I already own Braid.
posted by adamdschneider at 10:33 AM on December 14, 2010 [3 favorites]

I have Osmos on the iPhone and it's one of my favorite games of all times, especially if you play it with headphones. I'd imagine it's even better on the iPad. I had no idea it was available for desktops.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 10:36 AM on December 14, 2010

Honestly, I wanted to love Braid, but

SPOILERS

when I got to the puzzle (quite early) where the solution to the puzzle involved entering the "puzzle solving screen" and moving a puzzle piece, which would move the puzzle piece in the "world," and then exiting and jumping and re-entering the puzzle-solution screen and doing this for a repeated series of jumps or whatnot, I just gave up. It didn't make any coherent sense to have to pop out to what was essentially submenu to manipulate the main game world; while I appreciate the mild mindfuckery of it all, I really wasn't ready to continue on through a game where the challenges could only be solved in completely non-intuitive ways.

I like platformers, and I like clever games, but it just started to feel like trying to play Super Mario while Magritte stands behind you and beats you with not a pipe shouting "eet is just a game do you see do you see".

(I have bought the bundle, though, despite already owning Braid).
posted by Shepherd at 10:42 AM on December 14, 2010 [5 favorites]

Shepherd, that particular puzzle (which took me forever and a half to even think of trying, let alone figuring out) is one of the outliers in the game. Most of the puzzles are fair enough (glaring at you, Fickle Companion) and something I liked about Braid was being able to just ignore the difficult ones, keep moving forward and trying them again later.

Machinarium is absolutely the best game in this bunch, though, by a canyon wide margin. Perfect art direction and wonderful, wonderful soundtrack that game has. I owe playing it to a MeFi FPP back when it was released, actually, so in a sense recommending now feels like giving back.
posted by byanyothername at 10:56 AM on December 14, 2010

Doh, that spoiler just explained the part that was too hard for me. Maybe I'll pick it back up
posted by Ad hominem at 10:58 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I've only played Braid and Machinarium. Both of them are beautiful games, but in completely different ways. I highly recommend Machinarium if you are a person who likes adventure games. Its artwork, story, and gameplay are all in the league of high budget games, and it only cost something like $20 to get the whole thing. My only regret was not downloading the soundtrack the first time. It's not a very long game, so for your own enjoyment I recommend not looking up hints on the interwebs.

Braid, of course, is a high quality platformer about control of time. If you haven't played it yet, now is the time.
posted by Phredward at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2010

Braid contains wonderful puzzles, ugly art, hideously bland music, and some of the worst writing in videogame history. Machinarium is, for me, the star here. I love the rusty, decaying robots, the admittedly simple but charming story, the puzzles that are frustrating at first glance but ultimately intuitive.
posted by IjonTichy at 11:01 AM on December 14, 2010

Braid contains wonderful puzzles, ugly art, hideously bland music, and some of the worst writing in videogame history.

As someone who only knew of Braid in the first place by being a huge A Lesson is Learned fan, I believe the reconciliation of our differences in taste must be decided in the traditional way!
posted by byanyothername at 11:14 AM on December 14, 2010

Oops. I probably should have linked to this one instead of the real one, since it's a little mean and deliberately off putting and the other one is just surreal and bittersweet.
posted by byanyothername at 11:18 AM on December 14, 2010

I'll definitely pick this up, but technology marches on, and instead of "yay, they have a Linux version for once!" my first thought has now become "what, no Android?"

I simply cannot be pleased
posted by davejay at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

WHOO. I cannot love this enough. The last one kept me occupied for months.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 11:35 AM on December 14, 2010

while I appreciate the mild mindfuckery of it all, I really wasn't ready to continue on through a game where the challenges could only be solved in completely non-intuitive ways.

Man, and you didn't even get to the the 'walk left to reverse time' level. I STILL don't understand what my brain did to figure out that level. Like, I think I could do it again much faster than I did the first time, but don't ask me to explain to someone else how to do it.
posted by empath at 11:36 AM on December 14, 2010

I like platformers, and I like clever games, but it just started to feel like trying to play Super Mario while Magritte stands behind you and beats you with not a pipe shouting "eet is just a game do you see do you see".

I would pay to play a game like this.

Also, I think probably the biggest problem with braid is that the intentional references to Super Mario Brothers confused people about what kind of game it is. It's not a platformer where you can reverse time. It's a puzzle game that will break your brain.
posted by empath at 11:38 AM on December 14, 2010

Ooh, this time there's a couple things I kinda want and have not played. I went through Braid on the 360 shortly after it came out; it is awesome. *pays $25 and takes the default split*
posted by egypturnash at 11:39 AM on December 14, 2010

I think the guys that made Amnesia, The Dark Descent should get in on this deal. IT's a fantastic, hugely underrated game that I think didn't sell very well.
posted by empath at 11:41 AM on December 14, 2010

Oh and regarding the first one:

I'm pretty sure I'm one of like 8-10 people who actually beat that stupid lugaru game. SO HARD.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 11:42 AM on December 14, 2010

hideously bland music

There must be some kind of misunderstanding.
posted by saturday_morning at 11:44 AM on December 14, 2010 [4 favorites]

Braid's one of those games where once you play it it becomes hard to conceive of games any other way. You go back to other games and wonder why they aren't as beautiful, or as melancholy, or as contemplative. It's a game without lives or points or incentives other than simply seeing more than you've already seen.

Hey Rory, have you played Knytt and/or Knytt Stories? Because you just described those games to a tee. (More so than Braid, imho.)
posted by speicus at 11:45 AM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

These Humble Indie Bundles have a tradition, so far, of coming out between paychecks for me. The first time I was completely broke (I somehow managed to buy it anyway at the last minute, though I can't remember how). This time I can buy it, but I can't pay what it's worth.
posted by Kalthare at 11:45 AM on December 14, 2010

There must be some kind of misunderstanding.

Nope! The music wasn't even written for the game; it was just plucked off of a website selling bland instrumental indie sludge in bulk.

...Braid's aesthetics really get under my skin for some reason.
posted by IjonTichy at 11:49 AM on December 14, 2010

On a completely different note, I wonder if they're A-B tasting that suggested price that disappears when you click on it. I'd love to see what kind of impact it has.
posted by roll truck roll at 11:56 AM on December 14, 2010

...Braid's aesthetics really get under my skin for some reason.

It's definitely a little precious and a little self-consciously "ethereal" and "bittersweet" for my tastes, too. But people shouldn't let that put them off trying it; the gameplay is great, and I didn't think the puzzles were especially unfair for the most part. I don't play many video games but I do play a lot of interactive fiction/text adventures (and sometimes point-and-click adventure games, when I can find them anymore) and the puzzles in Braid were definitely more in the tradition of games like Spider and Web and All Things Devours than of any other platformer I've ever played.
posted by enn at 11:59 AM on December 14, 2010

Gosh dang it I purchased this fine product so that I could FINALLY play Braid (an activity I have been hoping for for MONTHS) and I download it and each time I try to install it I get the same error!


C:\Program Files\Braid\data\packages.zip

An error occurred while trying to copy a file:
The source file is corruputed

someone please help!!! I've already tried re-downloading it, same thing happened. I'm on Windows 7
posted by rebent at 12:06 PM on December 14, 2010 [1 favorite]

I already have braid, machinarium and osmos (all top notch, for entirely different reasons), and by the time I've gone from sterling to dollars it doesn't seem worth it for a small donation to Child's Play when I can donate to the UK arm directly instead.

Nice idea though. Again.
posted by ArkhanJG at 12:26 PM on December 14, 2010

I actually bought it explicitly for Cortex Command and Revenge of the Titans. The other games are bonuses. Delicious, delicious bonuses.
posted by adamdschneider at 12:31 PM on December 14, 2010

I really regret not getting the last bundle. I'll definitely be picking this up.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:41 PM on December 14, 2010

Do these work for Power PCs?
posted by Brocktoon at 12:52 PM on December 14, 2010

Braid and Machinarium are excellent. Osmos is really good, but a bit more casual. I've heard very good things about Cortex Command and Revenge of the Titans. There are no duds. Buy it now.
posted by archagon at 3:25 PM on December 14, 2010

Bought for Revenge of the Titans, and can't get past the splash-screen on Linux (oh, and the deb failed to install). Not impressed. Did anyone get further than me?
posted by Leon at 4:00 PM on December 14, 2010

I realize I am an outlier in this matter, but I intensely disliked both Braid and Machinarium, did not care for Cortex Command, like Osmos well enough, and haven't tried Revenge of the Titans.

Still, it's all about the charity element here, and most people think I'm a little odd and limited in my gaming tastes, so definitely don't let me stop you from doing something nice.

If you just want to make a donation to Child's Play and already own or don't want these games, definitely do so directly, or if you're a Mefight Club member, you could kick in to our group donation, which is still open for another 5 days or so before it gets made.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:34 PM on December 14, 2010

It's interesting how the Top Contributors has become premium advertising space. Whatever helps, I guess.
posted by tybeet at 4:51 PM on December 14, 2010

holy CRAP. I tried downloading a different game (the steampunk one) and I got this error:

Installer integrity check has failed. Common causes include incomplete download and damaged media.


wtf???
posted by rebent at 5:14 PM on December 14, 2010

They're too popular and have trouble with filling the download demand. I assume your download was incomplete.
posted by ymgve at 5:48 PM on December 14, 2010

rebent: click
posted by flatluigi at 7:17 PM on December 14, 2010

This is a longshot, but does anyone have a Humble Indie Bundle steam code that they don't want to use? My little brother missed out on them and I'd love to give it to him as a small present.
posted by flatluigi at 7:46 PM on December 14, 2010

Leon: Same thing here. Ubuntu 10.04. Deb won't install.
posted by cthuljew at 8:00 PM on December 14, 2010

Cortex Command seems to have installed fine in Ubuntu 10.04 but when I try running the binary I get a "Failed to load datafile object" error. Will have to figure that one out tomorrow/try to talk to the devs I guess...
posted by tronfunkinblo at 10:16 PM on December 14, 2010

cthuljew: try "sudo mkdir -p /opt/revengeofthetitans/full_length_music" before installing (cribbed from the net).

Still can't get past the splash screen, though.
posted by Leon at 11:48 PM on December 14, 2010

Picked up my copy last night. So far I've only played Osmos and it just seems so peaceful and relaxing to me, for the first could of levels at least. Revenge of the Titans looks amazing and my friend was telling me the next game I should play is Braid. I like the fact that they are also allowing you to download the soundtracks for a couple of the games, thats a nice little bonus.

Of course my "To do" list is an absolute waste right now.
posted by lilkeith07 at 7:55 AM on December 15, 2010

Perfect. I just finished finals.
posted by ropeladder at 8:56 AM on December 15, 2010

They just passed half a million in their first 24 hours. Insane.
posted by ymgve at 9:28 AM on December 15, 2010

Current average purchase prices:


Average Windows: $6.20

Average Mac: $8.35

Average Linux: $13.54



So, the average linux freeloader is voluntarily paying more than twice as much as the average windows user. Obviously this is a result of factors such as the desire to support linux games and the relative lack of competing options, but it's still very interesting.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:13 PM on December 16, 2010

I gave them money for this the other day, but just for kicks I put zero dollars in the donation box to see what would happen. This image pops up. Still lets you buy it for nothing, though.
posted by backseatpilot at 1:23 PM on December 16, 2010

Another reason Linux users pay more might be that EFF is one of the charities, and the bond between EFF and the Linux community is quite strong.

Mac owners? They're so used to paying more than PC owners that it probably came naturally. _{I keed, I keed}
posted by ymgve at 10:48 PM on December 16, 2010

wow

Machinarium is incredible

it's on my top 10 games list for sure!
posted by rebent at 5:02 AM on December 17, 2010

Just played Cortex Command for the first time last night, and (maybe I'm just getting old) but it is HARD. Controlling the units feels like pulling a ragdoll around by the neck. It took me about five tries just to beat the tutorial.
posted by backseatpilot at 5:09 AM on December 17, 2010

This morning I got an email saying they're adding bundle #1 to my downloads. It probably applies to everyone...
posted by DarkForest at 7:24 AM on December 22, 2010

A week in, I'm ready to give my opinion on the games.

Of the lot, Osmos and Braid are the winners for me, in that I expect to come back to them over time. In Braid I have been referring to a walkthrough, but sometimes after following the walkthrough and getting a particular puzzle piece, I'm still unsure how that falls within the logic of the game.

I played Machinarium for about an hour. It's pretty, but then it crashed and lost all my progress. I found I didn't want to play through those screens again just to get to the point of some new content.

Cortex Command and Revenge of the Titans just didn't tickle my fancy. Cortex Command just looks buggy at this point--on most levels but the tutorial, the rocket with my initial supplies would fall from the sky and explode without firing its thruster to slow the descent. If I was supposed to control it myself, I couldn't find the right key to do it! sometimes my guys would get stuck, and even trying to use the jetpack and walk I'd just kind of sink into the ground.

Revenge of the Titans takes a traditional tower defense game and adds farmville-inspired(?) "you have to click on every damn building every few seconds" micromanagement to it. I also got baffled when I chose to replay an earlier level and apparently lost all my upgrades, and about that point I quit and haven't run the game since.

I played on Linux, and unfortunately only the installation of Osmos and Revenge of the Titans went smoothly. I ultimately got all the games running on my system (laptop with integrated intel video, debian Squeeze / amd64 at the moment) but there were sure some bumps along the way! All the games play smoothly, but for some reason braid comes up at a smaller resolution than on an ubuntu 10.04/x86/nvidia system.
posted by jepler at 7:54 AM on December 22, 2010

Osmos is neat. Haven't played the others (except Braid on the 360 back when). Be cool to get a Steam code for Cortex COmmand and Revenge of the Titans eventually. I find it amusing that when Steam first came out it was a buggy piece of shit to be avoided at all costs, and now I want every game I own to be on it.
posted by adamdschneider at 9:53 AM on December 22, 2010

Just found this in my inbox:

Dear Humble Indie Bundle customer, I would just like to personally thank you for your support in making the Humble Indie Bundle #2 even more successful than the first one. As thanks, I have added the Humble Indie Bundle #1 into your bundle. If you go to your personal download page, you will find the following games waiting for you:
[...]

posted by Dr Dracator at 11:12 PM on December 22, 2010