The Humble Bundle has become one of the most popular and longest-lasting software bundles ever. After releasing a number of Android-centric bundles that included Mac games as well, they’re back again with the 6th of their namesake Humble Indie Bundles. This time, for any price you want to pay, you can get 5 popular indie games, as well as their soundtracks, and can get an extra game for beating the average.
It’s quite the deal, one you’ll likely want to check out as soon as you can. This time, though, there’s a bit more than just the bundle.
But first, you might want to go grab a copy of the bundle before it expires in early October. We’ll wait. All set?
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The Humble Bundle Tradition
The Humble Bundle started back in 2010 with their first bundle, and it was instantly popular for offering a number of popular indie games for any price you wanted. Best of all, it included Mac and Linux versions of each game, in addition to Windows versions you’d expect. It’s been a boon for Linux users, who typically have few games to choose from at all, but even for Mac users, it’s pushed more indie games to support our favorite platform for gaming. And while it’s always exciting to get new, high-quality games in the App Store, who can complain with a whole bundle of great games at a great discount?
Through the years, the Humble Bundles have included more and more things. All of them let you give back to charities, ranging from the EFF to the Red Cross, which can make you feel good for splurging on a few games. They’ve also often included extra games or whole previous bundles of games if you pay more than the average, an ingenious plan to make sure their “Pay what you want” program doesn’t backfire revenue-wise. Another nice feature is Steam keys for games, so you can download them from the most popular app store for games, though that requires a purchase of $1 or more. Then, best of all (for me, at least), most new bundles have included soundtracks for the games, which can provide some nice background music to your day.
The latest Humble Bundle
Keeping Your Old Bundles
Chances are you’ve purchased a Humble Bundle in the past, if you’re anything like us. One nice thing Humble Bundle has always offered is a link to re-download your games and soundtracks anytime later. The only problem is, it’s easy to misplace your purchase emails, and while you can always reclaim old bundle purchases, it might be more trouble than you want to go through every time. Now, though, the Humble Bundle site has accounts, where you can add all of your old purchases from any email account you use and access them fully without needing a special link again. If you’ve already purchased several bundles, you’ll have quite the list of games for you to download already!
The all new Indie Bundle Accounts
The Future of the Bundles
At a time when it seems that software bundles, especially on the Mac, have become too common and boring at best, the Humble Bundle team keeps releasing new bundles that sell incredibly well each time. Perhaps its the consistent quality of the bundles, or the frequently included extra games, or the charity contributions, but many of us keep coming back to get more indie games each time a new Bundle is released. I’ve only ever purchased 2 Humble Bundles, skipping many of the more recent ones that included games I’d already tried, but was excited today to pick up the latest bundle even if I know I’ll likely only ever play one or two of the games included. If anything, the soundtracks will keep me company while working, and that’s worth the $6 I paid for the bundle.
The Humble Bundle team obviously doesn’t plan to slow down either. They’ve received a significant investment and now have a dedicated team working to put out new bundles. And with their new ventures into Android games, as well as including soundtracks from games in the bundles, they’re broadening their base appeal.
The best thing is, the Humble Bundles seem to be a win for everyone, all around. We get games we want, and might have never heard about otherwise, and can pay just what we want for them. Developers sell more of their games and get the word about their studios out to the public, many of whom (like myself) would never normally purchase most games. Charities many techies would support already get extra funds. And the Humble Bundle team gets to keep promoting games and making exciting bundles. Sounds like a winning combination we’d all like to see keep going!