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Giving your unpainted armies a ray of hope.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

A Bundle of Humble


If you haven't heard of the Humble Bundle, you've been missing out. Originally started as a way for indie developers to help give to charity, the Humble Bundle has become one of my favorite ways to give to charity.

The idea is simple. Game developers will allow Humble Bundle to "sell" their games, without DRM, in a package of 5-10 games. Then people can pay any amount they want, and get all those games for a rock-bottom price. And if you exceed the average price (usually $5-10), you get a few other goodies in the form of extra games, soundtracks, etc.

The money from these goes to three different places, and the donor gets to pick which percentage of their donation each gets. The recipients are

  • The games' developer, as a way of supporting them
  • Humble Bundle, as a tip to keep the charity running
  • The bundle's featured charity. The most common charity is Child's Play, which organizes toy drives for children's hospitals.
After donating, you're given a Steam key and download link for each of your games. From there you can download them, gift the keys to friends, or just activate the keys on Steam and download them later. I've been donating since the Humble Bundle started in 2010 and while I've only played 3 or 4 of the games I've acquired, I've enjoyed donating to charity while watching my Steam library swell to 130 games!


The great thing about this model is that you can comfortably pay any amount you want. For me, it's giving up a couple trips to McDonalds, helping charity, and getting a nice little thank you in the process. Even if someone gives a dollar, it's still a dollar going to charity. Millions have been raised for charity because of Humble Bundle, and I think it's awesome that many have enjoyed being able to give to charity without the pressure of giving a huge amount. $50 can hurt the wallet. $5? Not so much.

There are two bundles going on right now. One is the weekly bundle featuring the Anomaly game. Then there is the Humble Bundle 6, featuring games like Frozen Synapse and Organ Trail (you read that right). So go check it out, get some great indie games, and help support a great cause in the process!


See you tomorrow!


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