

Humble Indie Bundle 9 released - makepanic
https://www.humblebundle.com/#9

======
jerf
I've slowly been transitioning to Linux-only gaming, because the whole reboot-
into-Windows just to play is a pretty steep bar. (Steeper than it even sounds
in practice, as now, basically, every time I boot into Windows I have to spend
about 10 minutes updating the damn thing, because I don't do it often enough;
this has become a vicious cycle.) This bundle is _great_ for that, with all
the Linux debuts.

Linux gaming is still young, but it's picking up surprisingly quickly, really.
I describe Netflix streaming as: "If you ask 'Does it have X?', the answer is
no. But if you ask, 'Is there something I want to watch?', the answer is yes."
Linux gaming is getting there, slowly but surely, at least if you can deal
with Indie stuff. (And no hipster intended, but Indie stuff has come a _long_
way in the last couple of years. There's a _lot_ of stuff there that would
have been at least A-grade, if not necessarily AAA, only five years ago.)

~~~
green7ea
I have also been doing more gaming in Linux recently. I only have a windows
partition for Starcraft 2 and League of Legends. If blizzard ever gets on
board the linux bandwagon, I won't need a windows partition :-D.

~~~
Attic
SC2 works perfectly fine on Gnu/Linux with wine.
[http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId...](http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=20882)

I don't know about LoL but you might want to give SC2 a try on wine if you
haven't already.

~~~
barbs
I found that I got pthread protection problems, but other than that SC2 worked
great.

No idea how well LoL works under wine, but DotA 2 has a native linux client.
Just saying! :P

------
elliottcarlson
Why does every bundle get upvoted to the top every time? I love Humble Bundle,
I have bought a majority of the ones they release - but this is no longer
news, it's their business model. If they were doing something new (like the
introduction of the eBook or comedy bundle) then I can see it being
interesting. Now it's no different then if every new AirBNB listing were
upvoted to the front page.

~~~
larrik
They're rare enough to be notable, and they promote Linux (usually) and
charity. Why not?

~~~
brador
They're every week.

~~~
jere
They have a weekly sale, but the HIB is more rare. They're up to 9 and they
started in May 2010, so... every few months rather than weekly. I don't mind
that getting upvoted if the games are good.

FTL and Fez are real damn good.

~~~
elliottcarlson
Of the numbered main ones - but the problem is all of them get posted here -
the THQ, FrozenByte, Origin etc bundles... They are far more frequent then you
think:
[https://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/submissions&q=humble...](https://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/submissions&q=humble+bundle&sortby=create_ts+desc&start=0)

~~~
masterzora
As the guy who submitted the front-paged link to the Origin bundle, I thought
it was interesting because it was a significant departure from the usual
Humble Bundle fare and perceived ethos.

Submitting every bundle that's offered, however, is just annoying. They have a
mailing list for a that.

~~~
Wingman4l7
You must have missed the THQ Bundle, which was the start of their whole ethos
departure, IIRC.

~~~
masterzora
Perhaps it's just my personal feelings towards the relevant companies but I
felt like it was a totally different affair than the Origin bundle, though you
are right that it was different from the original ethos.

The main similarity to the Origin bundle was that only DRM-full copies were
available and, again, this was definitely a departure.

On the other hand, while THQ was technically a AAA developer/publisher as
well, by that point it was largely an in-name-only sort of deal. The THQ
bundle was (or at least looked to be; I don't know if there's a definite
official word on it) a last ditch effort to save a well-liked company from
bankruptcy. Maybe trying to prop up a large company is not quite in the same
vein as trying to support a tiny company but I personally felt like the spirit
was mostly intact.

The Origin bundle, on the other hand, was a different beast. EA is a large,
_stable_ company and has a strong reputation for being anti-consumer. They
also only provided DRM-full games in the Bundle but most of the games were
only available on a service used by fewer people. And, for that matter, that
seemed to be the entire point of the bundle: actually get people to use
Origin. As much as I hate to say this phrase, the Origin bundle definitely
felt like the HB guys selling out.

~~~
larrik
The Origin bundle was entirely for charity, though. Kind of hard to consider
it "selling out." AND EA let them post Steam keys for some of the games, even
though the whole point of the bundle was to promote Origin.

I'm not happy about them not having Linux games, but it's hard to really feel
bad about buying that bundle. At least for me.

~~~
masterzora
It would be one thing if it felt like EA had decided they wanted to do a
charity event out of the goodness of their heart or at least like the charity
was the point of it. As was, it felt more like EA didn't think they could get
away with positive PR by actually making money directly from the Humble Bundle
but they didn't particularly care since their point was getting buy-in.

I don't mean to say anybody should feel bad about buying it--I don't think
they should feel bad even if EA had gotten all the profits--but backing EA's
attempt to get market share does feel like a major shift for Humble Bundle.

~~~
ewzimm
I'm happy to read that you're complaining about the Humble Bundle's attempt
get EA market share. That's as if someone were to complain about Orval trying
to get Anheuser-Bush Inbev market share because their lead brewer once said he
would buy a Budweiser.

~~~
masterzora
First, if you think I'm complaining you may be misreading. I'm explaining the
difference in perceived ethos but I have no problem with HB at all.

Second, I think you already realise that your analogy is only analogous in
that there's a multi-billion dollar company and a much smaller company are
both involved.

For example, AB InBev makes up half of the US beer sales with Budweiser and
Bud Light being the top two US beers and the Budweiser family is the best
selling worldwide. On the other hand, while Valve doesn't release many
numbers, it's estimated that Steam has a strong majority of the PC game
digital distribution market and Origin's market share is, obviously, lagging
far behind.

Also, it doesn't take into account the vast difference between Origin and
Budweiser. Origin exists to sell you other products and you have to use the
service in order for this to happen. It is difficult to overcome the initial
user inertia to get them to join and install the service and to keep it
running on their system so that things can be further pushed on them. Once
this inertia is overcome there is very little extra resistance to using the
service to purchase games. This inertia is also increased because the market
of people who would use a DRM-full digital distribution service is not at rest
but is rather largely moving along happily with another service. By offering a
significant discount on popular games if you start using their service they
could convince people to get and run Origin giving them that initial hook.

Further, the Humble Bundle was creating an opportunity to have a significant
effect on their user numbers. At 50,000,000 users in July, even if only half
of the bundle purchasers were new Origin users, that's an extra 2% of people
using their service, and they created positive exposure to many more that may
have also joined or may be more inclined to join in the future.

And, finally, I don't think HB was attempting to get EA market share at all.
EA was trying to increase Origin market share; Humble Bundle was trying to
grow their own service and make some money. (People keep saying the Origin
Bundle was "all for charity" or whatever, but don't forget that sending a
portion of the money to Humble Bundle was an option that I'm sure some people
chose, if only by default.) Again, I don't fault HB for this but it is a
noteworthy difference from their prior operations.

~~~
ewzimm
Thanks for the additional thoughts. I'm not arguing with you. I genuinely
appreciate that Humble Bundle is being compared to EA. I think their
distribution model is a huge improvement to EA's.

------
jeremygallant
Faster Than Light is a great game. Worth more than the average price by
itself.

~~~
gtaylor
Indeed, it's a simple and challenging little sucker, too. But a word of
warning: It will make you feel like you're doing well for a while, then
curbstomp you with zero warning. There's no saving/loading, and if you die,
you start back at square 1.

It definitely feels awesome if/when you finally beat it, but be careful with
this game if you tend to throw things when angered.

~~~
afterburner
You have to approach it as a roguelike, which does the same thing to you (way
more deaths than successes).

But I loved it. Played it many many times, but only won it twice I believe.

For some of the unlockables I'd recommend looking at a walkthrough; for one of
them at least I believe I decided to not pursue it since it would require too
much random chance hitting all the right spots in the right order.

~~~
phenol
You totally can get good at it, it's a skill like any other. I've won like 40
games out of 200 or so, and I'd say that I win about half of my games I decide
to play past the first sector.

You just have to have a good feel for progression. Always fight as many ships
as possible, and only leave the sector when the rebel fleet is riding your
ass. Know which weapons, events, and upgrades are good, and roughly what order
in which to get them.

I have played over 100 hours of FTL. Help me.

~~~
WA
I was often in the situation that I fought every enemy but either didn't have
enough cash or the available weapons were pure crap and I couldn't progress
much further, because I didn't have the equipment.

Since that happened way too often and I hate it if my success depends on dumb
luck of weapon "drops", I don't play anymore.

------
middus
You can buy this for Mark of the Ninja alone - it is gameplay-wise really
great and a very artistic game.

~~~
kzrdude
It's a very, very memorable game, but what do you think about replayability? I
can't really bring myself to play it again.

~~~
wmf
There are so many games being released that I appreciate a game that I can
play through in 10-20 hours and then put aside. Speaking of Mark of the Ninja
specifically, I thought new game plus mode was fun because you can use
abilities unlocked later in the game in the early levels, and there's a DLC
coming soon.

~~~
CrystalCuckoo
Are you talking about the Special Edition DLC? It's already out:
[http://store.steampowered.com/app/239570/](http://store.steampowered.com/app/239570/)

Hopefully it will be included in the bundle as the week progresses.

------
barbs
Rumour has it that Monaco is one of the games that is yet to be revealed in
this bundle.

[http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/monaco-whats-his-
will-...](http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/monaco-whats-his-will-be-ours-
interview.2241)

Monaco's an excellent team-based heist game.

~~~
ekianjo
It's not a rumor anymore, Andy has announced it officially on the 24th of
July.

------
cocoflunchy
FEZ! Awesome! I've been waiting for this game for so long.

~~~
Zimahl
I'm probably the last person on HN who hadn't seen 'Indie Game: The Movie' but
an entire third or fourth of it is about the development of Fez by Phil Fish.

That said, I wish Fish would make a second Fez and just not say a word about
it until it's maybe a month out. He'd still get hype and sell a ton of game
without people pissing him off.

~~~
ekianjo
The only thing I don't like about FEZ is his creator. And the "Indie Game: The
Movie" just reinforced that impression. What a douche.

~~~
barbs
I don't see where all the hate comes from myself. Mind explaining your
position?

~~~
ekianjo
The way Phil talks, the way he shits on japanese games （saying they are crap）
, and his behavior very much alike to a spoiled brat. I have no sympathy for
him and I strongly feel he should be way more humble about himself.

------
msg
I too love this bundle. Pretty awesome that the three charities are Watsi,
Child's Play, and EFF.

The games are all very distinct from each other and top notch. My three
favorites:

Fez: a perspective-altering puzzle platformer. It's cute, clever, and well
designed.

FTL: a real-time starship crew management game, where you assign people to
stations and target your opponent's systems. You fly through randomly
generated galaxies and have random encounters. Super replayability.

Mark of the Ninja: a stealth-action ninja platformer with very high production
values and multiple paths to victory.

~~~
stevewilber
FTL has a fantastic soundtrack with a chill, electronic sound. Great coding
music.

------
MarcScott
I keep buying these and never have time to play any of the games. I guess I'm
doing it for altruistic reasons, as I love the whole philosophy behind the
business model.

~~~
benjamincburns
I'm in the same boat, and like you it never stops me from buying the next one.
Like you, I'm trying to support the thing as a whole (Humble, the devs, and
the charities), but the side benefit is that if I'm ever bored I have a whole
cache of really awesome games I can download at a moment's notice.

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narfquat
Oh cool, Watsi is one of the charities that the funds are being shared with.
Gaming for medicine!

------
aray
All the games support Linux this time! Really looking forward to playing Fez
and FTL.

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dschep
Mark of the Ninja is an awesome game, well worth whatever you chose to pay for
a bundle.

------
milesf
Gotta say I'm really impressed with the Humble Bundles. I buy most of them,
and still can't believe how cheap they are, assuming you get in early.

Their "unlock more products by paying more than the average" is sheer genius.
Most people will pay just a hair over the average, which causes the price to
creep up as the bundle gets older. So to get the best deal, you have to buy in
early.

I don't know of any other bundle products out there (MacHeist, MacLegion,
Paddle, etc) that even comes close anymore.

~~~
SEMW
> So to get the best deal, you have to buy in early.

Thanks for the advice. I wouldn't want to give any more to the EFF, Child's
Play, or Watsi than I absolutely have to.

OK, apologies for the sarcasm, but, well— advice on how to pay as little money
as possible, while usually great, strikes me as being in poor taste when the
money is going to charity (and/or the indie developers, in whatever
proportions you specify).

~~~
ckannan90
I don't think he was saying you should pay less. I think it was just an
observation that people are compelled to pay now rather than put it off later,
because they know the price will rise, which in turn will actually cause the
price to rise for the next person. I think he was just observing that it's a
smart system that both compels more people to put their money down, and slowly
raises the price at the same time.

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helloTree
If you are interested in chilled thoughtful gaming and have a faible for SciFi
ala Star-Trek and Co. you MUST try FTL. It is one of the best games I have
ever played and I do not know another game that is similar. It is easy to
learn and hard to master and although it is Single-Player it has an immense
replay potential.

------
OWaz
Fantastic selection! I love these bundles because the games are always great
and the included soundtracks are a pleasure to listen to while coding.

------
shmerl
At last - Trine 2 is DRM free.

~~~
onosendai
Huh? I got it back in April from the official site, I believe, and it was DRM-
free.

~~~
shmerl
Was it? May be I missed that.

UPDATE: I actually bought it for the Linux version now, and I had no idea it
became DRM free earlier. In the past it was DRMed. HB writes however:

 _> Trine 2: Complete Story is making its DRM-free Windows and Mac debut!_

~~~
onosendai
Yeah, now that I think back on it, Trine 2 had been out for some time by the
time I got it through the Humble Store, which was what Frozenbyte used to sell
the game outside of Steam and other DRM'ed distribution channels.

And I just got it again, apparently. Not sure what the 'Complete Story'
edition is all about, but hey, more content can't be bad.

~~~
mineo
(I haven't gotten Trine 2 before, so this may not be correct) The HIB9
includes a Trine 2 Complete Edition ebook, maybe that's what makes the
'Complete Story'?

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michaelx
In case FEZ is grey on your Mac, @flibitijibibo already fixed it. The second
binary works for me:
[https://getsatisfaction.com/polytron/topics/humble_bundle_ma...](https://getsatisfaction.com/polytron/topics/humble_bundle_mac_osx_mountain_lion_bugs_everywhere)

------
axelfreeman
I bought Alienware X51 with Ubuntu (it's preinstalled in US-Region) and love
this indiegames. They (most) work very good. I don't need Windows to gaming.
Steam, Humble Bundle and WINE for older games. C&C Red Alert works better with
WINE than >Windows XP.

------
nollidge
Trying to buy with credit card, and get a message from Stripe saying "you
passed an empty string for iovation_blackbox", as if that means something to
me.

EDIT: Nevermind, just had to pause Ghostery. Not sure what script was messing
it up.

~~~
ebroder
Sorry about that! Has to do with some anti-fraud tools we've built into Stripe
Checkout. Should be fixed now, so you shouldn't see that again, Ghostery or
no. Feel free to let me know (evan@stripe.com) if you (or anyone) still sees
it.

~~~
ameen
Gotta say, no one's kidding when they say Stripe's super responsive to
respond, unlike a certain "Pal that doesn't pay!".

------
Pxtl
Holy cow, this one is diamonds.

~~~
teamonkey
Yep, the best one yet, IMO. A stunning selection.

The only trouble is I already own all of them. :(

------
sobering
This is great! Bought it but paid less than I should have. Broke at the
moment.

------
bnolsen
I already picked up brutal legends from steam for 5usd a few weeks ago. The
sad part is that I can't deal with the camera controls very well while
driving.

------
talles
Mark of the Ninja looks amazing, buying when I got home.

------
danso
Holy...moly. As a Mac gamer, I've been waiting forever for Mark of the Ninja
and Fez. AFAIK, they've not yet been previously released, so is this an
exclusive for Humble Bundle? If so, what a huge scoop. If I were those
developers, I would've hawked the games on Steam for a couple of weeks...as
Mac fans like me would've happily paid full price.

edit: The average purchase so far is $4.37...seriously? Given the caliber of
games included, and that this is the first bundle (I think) since the Edward
Snowden revelations, this is a great excuse to give a large donation to the
EFF.

~~~
breadbox
This is the first game indie game bundle; they've been branching out. (The
previous bundle was a bunch of standup comedy videos, actually.)

But I completely agree. In fact, in the wake of Snowden, I made a mental note
to pay extra attention to the next Humble Bundle charity split. I was planning
to send it all directly to the EFF, but now I've realized that I can't just
stiff everyone else. In the end, I paid double my usual amount.

~~~
daxelrod
> This is the first game indie game bundle

Are you talking about Humble Bundle? The first few Humble Bundles were all
indie games.

~~~
PebblesRox
I believe they're talking about the post-Snowden bundles.

------
michaelbuddy
No other mention of Trine on here yet. That game looks so beautiful. I'm
however having trouble understanding the steam key thing. I put my key into
steam but my games aren't there to download. Oh well. Downloading Amnesia a
Machine for Pigs right now anyway. That wasn't part of this bundle, but
happened to release yesterday so I've got games in the queue before having to
worry about this bundle just yet.

------
dalerus
I am super impressed with the slider to choose what money goes where. Very
cool.

------
larrik
All the games have separate Steam keys, too. Sweet!

