The Humble Bundle for Android (and Mac / Windows / Linux)

http://www.humblebundle.com/?android

by jeff18 • 14 years ago

252 97 14 years ago

jc4p• 14 years ago

The downside is that if you install the Android games on your Android phone you won't get any updates they release on the Android Market for them. You'll have to get a new APK from the folks making the game with each update.

martythemaniak• 14 years ago

The upside is you actually get it on your Android phone :D

But I agree, the Market is way overdue for coupons, discounts and other promo options.

BiosElement3• 14 years ago

You mean besides a whole crapton of 1 penny apps? That was one hell of a discount if you ask me.

robbed• 14 years ago

From reddit ( http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/p4t4w/introducting_t... ):

You will get future updates as well (although not on the marketplace.) We are currently beta testing our Android app which will make it easy, which should be publicly launched in the next few days.

jeff185• 14 years ago

We are currently beta testing an app that will organize your downloads and provide updates in a central spot for Humble Bundles (like the Amazon Marketplace), which should be ready for the public in the next couple of days.

Additionally, the apps themselves will notify you if there is an update, akin to how Sparkle works on Mac OS X (Adium, et al. use this).

Finally, you can download updates from our website similar to how it works for PC.

mladenkovacevic• 14 years ago

I love this business model. As a customer it makes me feel like such a winner through every aspect of this transaction. I give myself a deal on quality DRM-free games that I can play on a phone AND on Linux. I wish you crazy amounts of success.

Just a question: have you tried this with apps? You could bundle apps according to theme.. so you could have a Photography Bundle, Office Bundle, Fitness Bundle... etc

cryptoz• 14 years ago

> We are currently beta testing an app that will organize your downloads and provide updates in a central spot for Humble Bundles

I'm sorry to be a downer here, but this really bothers me. The Android Market is built such that 1) each version of each app has reviews, 2) each version has permissions, 3) updates for all of my apps come from the same place, 4) the apps come from a single trusted source, signed, and 5) I could continue forever listing the advantages of the Market.

> Additionally, the apps themselves will notify you if there is an update

No, no, no! One of the main advantages of modern app distribution is that we don't have 100 apps each telling us to update. We have one OS that manages this and updates according to our preferences. I understand that you consider your app distribution needs special, but each time a large, active and popular company/developer does this, it hurts the platform as a whole.

Edit: I purchased Osmos on the Market, at full price, yesterday. I love the game and I'm very happy with it! I'm already addicted. For feedback from here, I'd like to add that I'm very happy to have bought it on the Market and that I wouldn't consider getting it from somewhere else, even if it's cheaper, if that means circumventing the market. What if you release an update that causes a problem? How will I know if I cannot easily access the Market reviews to make sure that the new version is at fault? Alternatively, what if I drop offline someday and attempt to play Osmos, only to find that there's an update? Having the Market version I don't have to worry about that since the app will (according to my preferences) already have updated itself. Anyway, keep up the good work and I thank you very much for Osmos!

invalidOrTaken• 14 years ago

This sort of thing always makes me so darn optimistic. I wish I had enough money to contribute $256 like that one guy(poor college student here). Best of luck to everyone involved.

greyfade• 14 years ago

I feel the same way. Even though I'm gainfully employed, I'm not comfortable spending much more than I already have.

But any chance I get to support developers that release Linux games, I'll take it.

alexyoung• 14 years ago

Hey, that's my unlock gesture!

moxiemk1• 14 years ago

Now I know what Android users feel like when people announce endless iPhone-only mobile apps. I was super bummed that I missed the last Humble Bundle, since it was chock full of games I had been meaning to buy. This one is smaller, though, and the having the "cool" feature targeted at a group I'm not in makes me feel like the bundle isn't really worth paying attention to.

This is the first time I have ever felt left out by not using Android. I think I'm going to more seriously consider needing Android versions of projects. The feeling sucks.

bookwormAT2• 14 years ago

It makes sense to include Android in the Humble Bundle, since it is the only popular PC platform that was not already included. It is not really possible to deliver a iOS or WP7 app without DRM, so they cannot extend the offer to applicances.

shinratdr5• 14 years ago

That's what he was looking for, a nice snide response.

EDIT - I'm guessing from the downvotes that the Hacker News community finds it acceptable to refer to iOS and WP7 as appliances? I'm sorry but that's BS. Every definition of computer appliance I can find excludes devices that can have programs added after the fact, something that is definitely possible with both operating systems.

EDIT 2 - If people feel so strongly about this I really would appreciate a reply instead of just a downvote. I thought this place was about discussion over simply dismissing?

cube132• 14 years ago

Every previous bundle has included Steam keys, which aren't DRM free.

icco• 14 years ago

Being a long time Linux user, I am very aware of the "I don't want you as my customer" feeling.

Being a software developer, I have never understood the decision on why to essentially limit the number of customers you can have. I think the only thing worse than not supporting the majority of platforms is not making them have feature parity.

Caligula• 14 years ago

Fairly obvious reasons.

-price,time,skills

They do not do it intentionally. It just is not worth it, or possible.

replax3• 14 years ago

While I can understand not porting e.g. a DirectX game to Linux/OSX or any other program which heavily relies on OS specific libraries/features, I could not yet understand why not to port it when it is possible with little effort. I'd really like to hear an explanation from someone with knowledge in that matter, unfortunately the only example I can come up with at the moment from the top of my head is WoW/Warcraft/Starcraft. It runs on Win/OSX but has no Linux client. I do not understand why Blizzard would not release a Linux client for which no support will be available. A small team could probably achieve a port in reasonable time and create the update infrastructure around it.

cube132• 14 years ago

The first mobile platform all of these games were released on was iOS. Most of them have been there for over a year. The only one that is relatively recent is Anomaly, which was released late in 2011. You can't get them as cheap as the HIB, but they are available. I'm actually surprised that they're not offering iOS keys as well for all of them, but these are all iOS bestsellers anyway.

EDGE is $2.99, World of Goo is $2.99 for iPhone or $4.99(I believe) for universal, Osmos is $2.99, and Anomaly is $1.99 for iPhone and $4.99(I believe) for universal. I don't have prices for the universal apps because I've already bought them for my iPhone.

buss• 14 years ago

Incidentally, this site is almost unusable on an android phone. Flash and detail popups that are always floating off the side of the screen, despite scrolling.

It would also be nice if there were links to the market so I could read reviews of the games.

makepanic• 14 years ago

On the other hand the page with your download links is well optimized for mobile devices.

bookwormAT2• 14 years ago

Right. Once you purchased the app, however, the download page and installation is done very professional.

jamesgeck05• 14 years ago

Is this the Linux debut of Anomaly and EDGE?

jeff185• 14 years ago

Yes it is :)

rogerbinns• 14 years ago

What about those of us who already bought Osmos and Goo several times over in previous Humble Bundles? If I bought this it would only be for the Android ports.

amikula• 14 years ago

Well, it is all about "pay what you want". I'm sure you'll figure something out.

jamesgeck05• 14 years ago

Both Edge and Anomaly are really high quality. The bundle is worth more than the average just for them alone. Plus, it's traditional for an additional title or few to be added a week or so after release.

cjkarr• 14 years ago

Doubled my originally intended contribution given the availability of the soundtracks. I wish all games came with the MP3s of the music used within. Game soundtracks are a staple of the music I listen to when I code.

Great job Humble folks!

jamesgeck05• 14 years ago

The Edge soundtrack especially is fantastic. I've had it in my tune-everything-out playlist for a few years now.

trotsky• 14 years ago

Thanks for bringing the EFF back.

ysangkok• 14 years ago

Looks like you can't give all your money to them though. You can only control the ratio between tip/developers/charity. Which means you'll end up giving half your money to Child's Play, even if you go full charity.

jeff185• 14 years ago

You can indeed by clicking the disclosure triangle to the left of the charity slider. Perhaps it is too small?

nextparadigms• 14 years ago

Something like this needs to be done for independent music artists, too.

baddox• 14 years ago

I suspect a "music pack" has a very low chance of having much value to any one person.

kzrdude2• 14 years ago

You could suspect that too for a game pack, but then comes the low price.

spacemanaki• 14 years ago

That doesn't make any sense; there's a lot of overlap between different people's music tastes and across genre fans. Even so you could also easily have things like a punk rock bundle, rap bundle, electronic bundle, etc and that might even be more lucrative.

rcfox• 14 years ago

Unfortunately, the sale is over, but: http://www.gamemusicbundle.com/

moondowner2• 14 years ago

There's a similar music albums bundle sale at the moment, but it's not exactly the same (not pay as much as you want, but 10$ for 10 albums, which is great also!)

http://www.soundsupp.ly/

robocat2• 14 years ago

Nexus owners: Edge didn't work on my Nexus (neither Edge Classic nor Extended). The other HD apps seem to work great.

Permissions: All apps except Anomaly only asked for Network Communication. Anomaly needs Network Communication, Modify/Delete USB storage, and Prevent Phone from Sleeping.

TobbenTM• 14 years ago

What Nexus phone?

robocat2• 14 years ago

Sorry, Galaxy Nexus running 4.0.2 (GNex)

Ryanmf• 14 years ago

Same issue here, Nexus S GSM, Android 4.0.3

Support was pleasant but didn't have any solutions. The rep I chatted with indicated that the upload dates for any updated installers would be visible on the website, unfortunately that info isn't displayed on the Android/mobile version of the site.

collinjackson2• 14 years ago

It should work now on the Nexus One, try the latest version 1.82.3

snowpolar• 14 years ago

Well, I don't know why, but I just hate it when Humble Bundle puts in a game I already purchased in previous humble bundles and all games being in the same steam key as well. However, having an android app this time lessen the pain by a little though. Although I not owning an android currently.

moondowner2• 14 years ago

As a Linux/PC gamer (non Android user, at least at this moment :)) this is the first time I have doubts whether to buy the bundle. Two of four game we're already featured in previous bundles.

I'm interested in `Anomaly: Warzone Earth` can anyone give an opinion on the game?

simcop2387• 14 years ago

I went ahead and bit the bullet but I haven't been able to give that one a test. It currently is segfaulting for me so I'm waiting on a response from the developer and/or getting my normal machine back up and running (down for backups) to test it somewhere other than my laptop.

kzrdude2• 14 years ago

  > Linux:
  > Processor: 2.4 GHz
  > Memory: 1 GB

Pff.. is a x86_64 distro supported or not? Also, "2.4 GHz"..., that simple era is over.

mitakas• 14 years ago

Yes, there are tar.gz, deb and bin files for amd64, but for me (Core i5 with HD3000) Anomaly isn't running on Ubuntu 11.10.

gcb3• 14 years ago

and.... the humble bundle is dead. good while it lasted.

clicked the very first icon there, and the movie ONLY had cinematics. not a single slipt second of gameplay.

Indie games came a long way, but they are now just the same as big studios. milking any branding they can. humble bundle unfortunately being one of them :(

Jaecen• 14 years ago

I assume you're talking about the Anomaly icon, which is the only one without gameplay (and is also the third icon, but maybe that changed). I'm not sure why you'd base your opinion of a game, let alone the continued success of the bundle and the indie game industry itself on the content of a single video link. The Humble Bundle continues to provide what it always has, and the game it promotes continue to be created by small independent studios, distributed DRM free on a large number of platforms. The choice of using a cinematic rather than gameplay video hardly impacts these other factors.

If you're concerned about the game itself, it's been out for a while on a number of platforms and is well-reviewed, so finding gameplay videos should not be difficult.

gcb3• 14 years ago

it's the first icon if you follow the path.

well, i base that on my knowledge that cinematic scenes are the blame of gamers. so a bad way to promote something.

jeff185• 14 years ago

That video is certainly a poor representation of Anomaly's gameplay since it is just a cutscene. I will make a note to find a better one. Thanks for the feedback!

soci2• 14 years ago

Any clue how an independent game developer can build the same app for multiple platforms without wasting a lot of time?

Being a sole developer I find it quite difficult to develop for multiple platforms at the same time unless there's a framework that allows me to do so. Are the people behind the games in the bundle using a sort of "multiplatform-framework" ?

Stormbringer• 14 years ago

Focus on gameplay rather than graphics.

Which is to say; make a game with compelling and interesting rules that doesn't rely on performance

doomlaser• 14 years ago

Write your code in C++. Use OpenGL 1.x for graphics. This will allow you to easily target pretty much every platform in existence now. People used to use SDL as a general wrapper for OS specific stuff like setting up your window context and getting UI events, though I'm not sure if it's still in vogue now.

That said, writing games is one of the hardest types of software engineering task, in my experience. On top of that, all but the best games tend to have a very short lifespan compared to other kinds of software.

You've really got to love making games to stick around in the field long enough to get good.

vog• 14 years ago

I don't know about proprietary games, but Free Software games commonly make use of very good libraries and APIs, almost all being cross-platform. SDL, Qt, and OpenGL come to mind. Also LUA as embedded language for scripting, and highlevel libraries for various programming languages such as PyGame.

rdouble• 14 years ago

use Unity

gcr• 14 years ago

Does Unity have Linux support?

replax3• 14 years ago

You can use OpenGL & Qt for that matter. You can write proprietary software if you purchase a Qt license. In fact, programming with Qt is usually write once, compile for: Windows, OSX, Linux, Android. Most of the time, you will not need to adjust a single line of code for it to work. Given that you keep the other platforms in mind while designing your e.g. UI.

dagw• 14 years ago

You can write proprietary software if you purchase a Qt license

As of at least a year or two ago Qt as been LGPLv2 and thus you can write proprietary software with the free Qt license as well. The only thing you can't do (without releasing your code) is make changes to Qt itself.

collinjackson2• 14 years ago

Apportable helped Osmos and EDGE cross-compile their Objective-C code bases on Android using GNUstep and other open source libraries.

soci2• 14 years ago

I guess Apportable is building a framework to manually port iOS to Android.

"Apportable is a venture-backed team of six engineers, looking for a few more. We're solving some ridiculously hard problems porting iOS to Android. Our software is already being used by some of the world's largest and best game developers"

shinratdr5• 14 years ago

I don't know why iOS users are in this thread complaining. This is barely indicative of anything, except that developers don't have unlimited promo codes in the App Store so iOS isn't eligible for this style of promotion.

Last time I looked all of those titles are available on the App Store right now, and they have all been on sale for a dollar at one point or another. They were still published on iOS before any other mobile platform. Most of them I already own and don't even have on my phone anymore. They have been available in the App Store for well over a year, some for over two years.

Maybe it's just me but I'm not exactly getting much of a left out feeling from this bundle. On top of all that, as we are seeing it's hardly a perfect system. They have to design an updater because the Android Market can't be used to update non-Market APKs. IMO it's more trouble than it's worth.

vacri• 14 years ago

Anomoly's website screams at you that it's already available on the iphone, so iOS users aren't losing there, either.

http://www.anomalythegame.com/default.aspx

shinratdr5• 14 years ago

Good catch, I fixed the comment.

liquidsnake• 14 years ago

Tried all the games on my Touchpad running ICS (Cyanogenmod 9 Alpha 0.5) and they all ran flawlessly (except for the video playback in Anomaly but that's a known issue). Great stuff!

dddrh• 14 years ago

Got these all loaded onto the Kindle Fire. They work beautifully. I was meaning to post this about an hour ago but Osmos absorbed my attention.

patio11• 14 years ago

I'd start picking a different challenge mechanic than "Beat the average" since the average is sensitive to distribution bring dominated by poor Redditors and incentivizing "Pay us $5.50" does not result in hugely more successful outcomes. How about hiding the average and offering the bonus to anyone paying $25+? Or even $10+?

teej• 14 years ago

I totally agree. I think they're leaving money on the table with this particular strategy. I even told them so last week to their face (their office is 4 floors below mine). The answer I got surprised me.

First off, they test the hell out of everything. They've tried dozens of variations with different offers, forms, and copy. This is what won. "Beat the average" is a compelling call to action. Think about it, would you rather "pay $10 to get X" or "beat the competition with $10"? The latter has bite to it.

It's also about brand. The only way theses offers stand a chance with consumers and developers in the long run is by staying Humble. It's in the name after all. These guys take it VERY seriously. And it's been paying off - their bundles have been doing better and better because people know the name. They trust the name. And they want to give money to support it, along with charity & game delopers.

Does the road end there? Certainly not. But I have huge respect for these guys. I totally trust that they know what they're doing here.

The Humble Bundle for Android (and Mac / Windows / Linux)

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