Humble Indie Bundle 6 went live this week, offering up five indie games for download for as much as you want to pay. If you pay $1, you get Steam keys for the games. If you beat the average price (currently $5.78), you get a sixth game. The money earned goes to the developers, Humble Indie Bundle, and charity depending on your preferences. I've played a little bit of the available games and any of them would be a steal for the over average price.
Take a look at the pitch then read my quickie reviews.
Rochard is a side-scrolling platformer with really inventive gameplay. You play as Rochard, an intergalactic miner trying to save his station from being shut down. You solve a series of puzzled created by the rundown space station using a gun with a tractor beam and the power of physics. Once you get the handle of the controls on the keyboard (pro tip: you have to switch out the crouch control manually; there is no "left control" key on your keyboard and you will get stuck), Rochard is a fun and challenging platformer with a lot of style.
Shatter is a wall breaker game in outer space. You control a paddle that bounces a ball into the bricks, which shatter into fragments you need to unleash your special abilities. The great twist is that you influence the movement of the ball with gravity. You can push the ball, fragments, and power-ups away or suck them right back up like a vacuum. You can also shield yourself from enemy attack. Oh yes, there are boss battles, and they're mind benders.
S.P.A.Z. stands for Space Pirates And Zombies. It is an outer space combat simulator/RTS game that goes beyond my skill level. There are a ton of upgrade options and lots of ways to micromanage the playing field. It's challenging but incredibly rewarding when you do manage victory in a specific quadrant.
Torchlight is a dungeon crawling RPG all about the dungeon crawl. It's you, your trusty pet (your choice: puppy or kitty), and all the bad guys that exist beneath the town in a series of caverns rich with magical resources. The gameplay is elegant and embraces the dungeon crawl. This isn't killing 100 wild boars to level up; this is fighting an unpredictable series of enemies while helping the poor townspeople not blessed with the skill for magic and combat.
Vessel is a puzzle platformer all about liquid. You are an inventor who has essentially mechanized water. You manipulate the flow of water to create Fluros, water machines trained to seek out and press light up buttons. The problem is they don't stay put unless all the buttons in an area are depressed. They might move faster than you, but you need to think faster than them. The controls are workable on a keyboard. The game itself recommends a controller and I can't disagree.
The sixth game, only available if you beat the average, is Dustforce. This is a fast paced platformer about sweeping. You are a stealthy, acrobatic cleaning ninja tackling the world's dustiest locations. You jump, flip, slide, and run up walls to beat the dust out of the world. The game has a sharp learning curve but once it clicks, you'll be hooked.
This might be my favorite Humble Indie Bundle yet. I can see myself going back to all of these games again and again (even S.P.A.Z.) and playing in short bursts. Only Rochard lacks a dedicated save but the checkpoints are plentiful. It's the perfect game pack to get a quick burst of stylish and challenging gameplay.
Did you pick up Humble Indie Bundle 6 yet? What do you think? Sound off below.