Blow up some blocks with the Humble Voxatron Debut

Nov 2, 2011 by Joshua    1 Comment     Posted under: game short, games

The Humble Indie Bundle is back, but this time it comes with a twist.

For anyone unfamiliar with them, the Humble Bundles are a series of limited-time offers through which gamers can buy multiple independently developed, DRM-free games at whatever price they choose. The great thing about the bundles is that the buyer can decide how much money goes to each game developer – and how much goes to the charity or charities that also benefit from the sales.

Of course, buyers can be cheapskates and pay the minimum, or they can be generous and pay well beyond the suggested price. Either way, the money goes directly to the developers and charities, save for whatever portion the buyer chooses to give to the company that runs the series in the hopes of encouraging more in the future.

But like I said, this bundle has a bit of a twist. It’s presented as a debut, specifically of a crazy block shooter called “Voxatron”. But if a buyer pays more than the average price of all the buyers that came before, the sellers throw in a couple more titles (as well as the soundtracks to each game): disturbingly surreal “The Binding of Isaac” and the geometric puzzler “Blocks That Matter”. At the time that I am writing this, the average is $4.40, definitely a reasonable price for the three titles. Of course, there’s no harm in giving a little more, right?

Not to mention the charities. According to the website for Child’s Play, the charity is “dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in our network of over 70 hospitals worldwide.” The organization also assists in setting up wish lists for hospitals so that donors can provide gifts to child patients at particular hospitals.

Also on board is the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The organization’s website indicates that its goal is to “confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights” particularly in terms of technology and the way it affects our society. EFF has had legal victories in cases involving the rights of online journalists and the privacy of users’ online communications.

When all is said and done, though, the Humble Vexatron Debut is a great deal for some great causes. Act quickly, though – the deal is available for a little less than two weeks as of the writing of this article. If you didn’t catch the link up above, you can find the bundle for sale at http://www.humblebundle.com/.

Also, expect reviews from me for each game in the near future. In the meantime, here’s the trailer for the “Voxatron” debut:

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