Humble Bundle For Android 2 Goes Live

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Humble Bundle For Android 2 Goes Live

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday March 20, 2012 @07:38PM from the another-day-another-bundle dept.

spidweb writes "The latest Humble Bundle has gone live, with five new games for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, and Android. It consists of Zen Bound 2, Avadon: The Black Fortress, Canabalt, and Cogs, with Swords & Soldiers thrown in for anyone who pays at least the average. As always, the games are pay-what-you-want and DRM-free, and this is the initial Linux and Android release for many of them. Of course, as is the tradition with Humble Bundles, other games are likely to be added on later."

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Waiting for the other shoe to drop by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-03-20 19:46 · Score: 2

Waiting for the other shoe to drop: a competitor to Humble Bundle. To prove that the market is really as vibrant as it seems.

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1. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 19:50 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  There have been a few... Desura runs Indie Royale, Get Games did littleBIGbunch, there's another group called Indie Gala that's done something similar, and there's been a couple of other various indie game bundles that have run as well.
2. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by sourcerror · 2012-03-20 20:35 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  There are quite a lot of them, here's a nice summary:
  http://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/qtna1/upcoming_bundles/
  Indie Royale
  Indie Gala
  Indie Underdog pack
  Gamedev Bundle
  Indie Facekick
  I've bought a few of the Indie Royale packs, and there's always a game I never heard of that is pleasently surprising me. At the moment they're offering Hard Reset, which is quality wise an AAA game. In January they offered Nuclear Dawn, which is almost AAA quality. I bought both of these before they went on sale.
  Vertex Dispenser is a nice casual action/strategy game. If you like Darwinia, you'll like this too.
3. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by Gadget_Guy · 2012-03-20 21:04 · Score: 1
  
  At the moment they're offering Hard Reset, which is quality wise an AAA game.
  No they are not. The St Patrick's Day Bundle is over. But you are right, Hard Reset is a polished product. They also had Jolly Roger (I already owned this) in the recent bundle, which was a fun little old-school point and click adventure.
  I find the lack of a charity aspect to the Indy Royale means that I don't spend anywhere near as much as I do on the Humble Bundle. I spend 5 times more on the HB, and then split the proceeds half to the game developers and half to the charity. So that means the developers get more money from me when there is an opportunity to give away money to a worthy cause too.
  I wonder if other people are like that? Would it be worth it for the other bundles like Indy Royale to get a cause attached to themselves?
4. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 22:07 · Score: 0
  
  That's an interesting link. Thanks for posting.
  Does anybody know if the Indie Face Kick Bundle only comes with Steam versions or do you also get standalone, DRM-free downloads? Their site mentions it comes with Steam keys but is it Steam-only? I really don't like bloated, rent-only DRM.
5. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-21 00:51 · Score: 0
  
  Steam-only, AFAIK. Most of the other ones are just Steam keys really.
6. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-21 01:24 · Score: 0
  
  Meh, that sucks. Oh well, not for me then.
7. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by the_arrow · 2012-03-21 21:39 · Score: 1
  
  I checked out the Indie Royal St. Patricks bundle, and Hard Reset indeed seemed like a nice game. However, most of the games were Windows only, or possibly Windows and Mac.
  The nice thing about the Humble Bundles, at least the non-phone ones, is that they are on all three big platforms, including Linux.
  
  --
  / The Arrow
  "How lovely you are. So lovely in my straightjacket..." - Nny
8. Re:Waiting for the other shoe to drop by sourcerror · 2012-03-23 05:03 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think people outside of the US really care about Child's Play. (I don't. )
Poor. by Beriaru · 2012-03-20 19:49 · Score: 1, Interesting

A little weak for my taste. I've bought the first android bundle, but for this one I'll wait to see the later bonus.
1. Re:Poor. by mwvdlee · 2012-03-20 20:05 · Score: 2
  
  I bought it a few days ago, just for Zen Bound 2 (which pretty much sealed the deal immediately).
  Haven't tried Cogs, but I bought it for PC in a bundle a few months ago and it was good fun for a while. I don't care much for the other games.
  The benefit of "pay what you want" is that, in this case, I just paid for Zen Bound 2 and charity, not for the other games.
  Avadon only works on tablets, so be aware of that if you only have a phone.
  
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2. Re:Poor. by X0563511 · 2012-03-21 03:32 · Score: 1
  
  Avadon only works on tablets, so be aware of that if you only have a phone.
  Although you do get it for Windows/Mac/Linux, in addition to keys for Steam. So it's not a total loss - you just can't take it with you :P
  
  --
  For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
I've got it by Eraesr · 2012-03-20 20:13 · Score: 5, Informative

Canabalt is a side scroller game that shows a character running across rooftops and through buildings. You can only control the jumping of the character, which must be used to jump over gaps and evade obstacles. The goal is to cover as much distance as possible without falling into some kind of pit or smacking straight into a wall. It's a really simple but a fun concept. It does trigger that "Ok, just one more go" thing every time you've stumbled in your run.
Cogs is a nicely designed puzzler game, but in the end it's just a sliding blocks puzzle. They do some interesting things with it, but in all honesty, these types of puzzles frustrate me more than I enjoy them. It's all dressed up in an very steam-punk type of thing and there are quite a few original things in there but the core concept of the game will probably lose my attention fairly quicly.
Zen Bound 2's menu system looks absolutely impressive. When I tap the "new game" button (on my HTC Sensation) it shows a black screen and nothing more seems to happen. Maybe I'll try this one on Windows later, as it does seem like an interesting game.
Haven't tried or looked much at the Avadon game yet. Also be aware that it won't run on Android phones, only on Android tablets. Supposedly it's some kind of RPG type of game.
I haven't played Swords & Soldiers on Android or PC yet, but I did play it quite a bit on the Wii, where it was originally released a few years back. It's definitely a fun game with good production value. It's a strategic side-scroller game where you have a base on the left side of the playing field and the enemy starts all the way to the right. You can build soldiers that slowly march towards the other side of the playing field. As they encounter enemy soldiers they duke it out and the survivor moves on. It's not unlike DOTA or LoL in that aspect. You can aid your own soldiers by using lightning bolt blasts or healing spells and such.
1. Re:I've got it by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 20:36 · Score: 0
  
  If you're at all into old-school cRPGs, Avadon is pretty great. If you aren't, then it probably isn't going to win you over on the genre. The Android port only works on tablets, but it's worth getting even just for the PC version.
2. Re:I've got it by RivenAleem · 2012-03-20 21:01 · Score: 1
  
  How does Canabalt compare to Windup Knight?
3. Re:I've got it by headLITE · 2012-03-20 21:21 · Score: 2
  
  Seconding that statement about Avadon. It's one of the best CRPGs available for tablets. It's still great on PC, especially if you don't need a multi million dollar graphics budget in your games. Admittedly the graphics are a weak point, the developer has been making this kind of game for a long time (since the 90ies) and I remember seeing some of the sprites and tiles used in Avadon in some very old games :) Name is "Spiderweb Software", if you've been around long enough you may remember Exile: Escape from The Pit that is going to get its second remake this April (or a couple months ago if you're on a Mac).
  Zen Bound 2 is also an awesome game, but it kind of works better on a tablet as touching the object you're wrapping feels much more natural. Along with Canabalt, Zen Bound is one of the games that really stood out when they initially appeared on iOS. Canabalt has the "problem" that there are tons of side scrolling running games on tablets now.
4. Re:I've got it by Eraesr · 2012-03-20 23:00 · Score: 1
  
  I'm answering this but I must admit that I didn't know Wind-up Knight, so all I've got as comparison is what I've learned from watching a review video of that on YouTube.
  First of all, Canabalt's graphics and gameplay are very minimalistic. You can't run in the opposite direction or jump off of walls or stuff like that. There's no level structure as you're running through an environment that is (I think) randomly generated out of a handful of buildings and other objects you can run over. There's no items to pick up either and no unlockable content of any sorts.
  Best thing you can do is watch this video as that shows basically all there is to it. It may seem rather plain compared to Wind-up Knight, but it brings the gameplay back to an essential core mechanic that's surprisingly pleasing to play. From what I see in the Wind-up Knight video is also that Canabalt seems way faster and more intense than Wind-up Knight.
5. Re:I've got it by RivenAleem · 2012-03-20 23:12 · Score: 1
  
  You can buy items (earned with in-game currency or bought with real cash) that speed up or slow down the game. I don't know what review you saw, but it may not have shown the sped up version.
6. Re:I've got it by Oliver+Wendell+Jones · 2012-03-21 02:27 · Score: 1
  
  I bough the bundle just to show support for a non-anime-themed RPG for Android - For some reason the anime-themed RPGs just don't sit well with me, I want my heroes to look like heroes, not 6 year old children with big eyes...
  
  --
  A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
7. Re:I've got it by MozeeToby · 2012-03-21 02:46 · Score: 1
  
  Haven't tried or looked much at the Avadon game yet. Also be aware that it won't run on Android phones, only on Android tablets. Supposedly it's some kind of RPG type of game.
  FYI, I have it up and running on my Nexus without any problems. Some of the text is a bit small but it's legible and the game runs fine. Probably not recommended if your farsighted, but it's playable.
8. Re:I've got it by X0563511 · 2012-03-21 03:35 · Score: 1
  
  When I tap the "new game" button (on my HTC Sensation) it shows a black screen and nothing more seems to happen.
  How long did you wait? On my HTC Evo 3D, it took about 20 seconds and the game continued on. Subsequent launches seemed faster.
  That said, basically you have an object with a rope tied to it extending off-screen. You spin the object around to wrap it in the rope, trying to get as much coverage as possible with the least amount of rope - finishing by kinking the rope on a nail sticking out of the object. That's basically it.
  
  --
  For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
9. Re:I've got it by tp1024 · 2012-03-21 06:01 · Score: 1
  
  It's a matter of resolution. It won't run at 800x480 or anything less.
Add to Market/Play Store by NorQue · 2012-03-20 20:19 · Score: 1

I just wish it was possible to add those purchases to Market apps (or Play Store or whatever it's called now), so I can automatically receive updates when they are released.

Oh, and, btw, on a completely unrelated note, does anyone have an Idea why Toki Tori from the last bundle won't work on my Galaxy Nexus? It always crashes with a "this Application had to be stoppped" message. I loved that game on GBC back in the days, would very much like to play that once again in an updated form.
1. Re:Add to Market/Play Store by dns_server · 2012-03-20 20:31 · Score: 1
  
  They have created an app to install and update android apps.
  It is just a wrapper around downloading and installing a third party apk but it does make it easier to see when an app needs an update and install new apps.
2. Re:Add to Market/Play Store by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 21:03 · Score: 0
  
  The advertisement part is just a side effect (and obviously a benefit to the game makers). The reason it is on slashdot is that, being a prolinux community, this is a chance to support some linux gaming. Also a chance to support the "little guy".
3. Re:Add to Market/Play Store by Oliver+Wendell+Jones · 2012-03-21 02:31 · Score: 1
  
  I contacted support through the live chat on their website and got the usual "this is a known issue, we are working to correct it ASAP, until then please manually download the APK files" and I'm OK with that.
  
  --
  A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing -- Emo Phillips
Slashvert by Mathness · 2012-03-20 20:26 · Score: 1

Did I miss something, or don't they even try to disguise advertisement on /. anymore? o_O

--
Carbon based humanoid in training.
1. Re:Slashvert by Black+Parrot · 2012-03-20 20:37 · Score: 1, Funny
  
  Did I miss something, or don't they even try to disguise advertisement on /. anymore? o_O
  You missed the Bitcoin and Tesla product placements.
  
  --
  Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
2. Re:Slashvert by Daniel+Phillips · 2012-03-20 21:01 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Did I miss something, or don't they even try to disguise advertisement on /. anymore? o_O
  See, this Humble Bundle thing benefits Slashdotters in general, whether they buy it or not. Slashdot also tends to advertise Android (aka Linux). Any objections about that?
  
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3. Re:Slashvert by RivenAleem · 2012-03-20 21:14 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I got the email to say that the new bundle as out. I immediately though "I'll keep an eye out for /. so I'll get some reviews of the games included"
  God forbid we avoid discussing anything because it might appear to advertise the product that comprises the topic of discussion.
4. Re:Slashvert by Ihmhi · 2012-03-20 23:06 · Score: 1
  
  Note to Self: start a company called "Bitcoin Tesla Monster Cables RIAA Apple Linux emacs M$ LLC", sell something (anything!), and make a boatload of money from free /. advertising.
  
  --
  Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
5. Re:Slashvert by Mathness · 2012-03-21 01:53 · Score: 1
  
  None at all, but all that was in the summary was some marketing and a link to the site in question. Not exactly a decent setup for discussions. Even a minor review would have added at least some interest in what it was about (I'm not going to download something because someone random mentions it).
  
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  Carbon based humanoid in training.
6. Re:Slashvert by Mathness · 2012-03-21 01:55 · Score: 1
  
  "I'll keep an eye out for /. so I'll get some reviews of the games included"
  Something like that should have been in either the summary or with a link, without it it is just an advertisement.
  
  --
  Carbon based humanoid in training.
7. Re:Slashvert by Mathness · 2012-03-21 01:57 · Score: 1
  
  Hehe, yeah I think that hid in the scotoma of my eyes. xD
  
  --
  Carbon based humanoid in training.
8. Re:Slashvert by RivenAleem · 2012-03-21 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  But the reviews I'm looking for are in the comments.
9. Re:Slashvert by davewoods · 2012-03-22 07:12 · Score: 1
  
  All the things you have said I completely agree with, and are the same reasons why I clicked on this particular story. So far I have gotten some good insight.
  
  The only bad thing about /. comment reviews is that people get off on tangents, then I have to scroll through all the comments about politics or Asian landwars or whatnot until I get to the next on-topic comment. I sometimes wish there was a (Skip to next useful comment) button.
Heh. by Black+Parrot · 2012-03-20 20:36 · Score: 1

I read that as "Human Bundle for Android", and wondered if phones are buying people now.
Kind of works as a metaphor for how consumer economies work...

--
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
Pay what you want by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 20:53 · Score: 0

... get what you paid!
1. Re:Pay what you want by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-21 00:06 · Score: 0
  
  ... get whatever they want!
Canabalt port was released on C64 Cartridge too by Anonymous Coward · 2012-03-20 21:40 · Score: 2

I got Canabalt on C64 Cartridge here
http://www.rgcd.co.uk/p/shop.html
It was miniaturized to 16K to use a less expensive EEPROM.
And was selected after winning a demo scene game completion
the guy hand solders and assembles each cartridge.
1. Re:Canabalt port was released on C64 Cartridge too by sapphire+wyvern · 2012-03-21 02:39 · Score: 1
  
  This deserves some Interesting or Informative mods IMO.
  A trailer/demo would be interesting. I'll check out the page.
Re:These games dont look any good by ActionDesignStudios · 2012-03-21 02:08 · Score: 1

Yeah, you're right. I HATE having fun.
That's a might humble bundle! by Chris+Mattern · 2012-03-21 02:26 · Score: 1

Did I ever tell you about bundles? Bundles *bounce*!