Humble Choice is a subscription service from Humble Bundle that claiming to offer “amazing games and great perks” for 11.99 a month. In reality, the subscription is more of a mixed bag than is advertised. Quality is weirdly uneven from month to month, sometimes the games are only the base with a handwaved discount at whatever DLC is out, and some of the inclusions are…questionable at best.
For that 12 bucks a month, there’s just as high a chance you’ll end up with whatever games dipped under 10 bucks within a week of the bundle as there is getting a deep discount on a quality game. With this in mind, we’ve decided to go through May’s Humble Choice to see what mileage (if any) you’re getting for your money this month.
Warhammer 40,000 Chaos Gate Daemonhunters
Release Date: May 5, 2022
MSRP: 44.99 USD
Warhammer games usually find themselves in the odd position of being “like (other game), but with licensing and weird systems so it’s different!” Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters is similar to that, in that it’s basically a modern tactical-strategy game in a post-XCOM era. It makes up for this by adding destructible environments (a la Midnight Suns), FTL-style travel, a “resilience” option so your troops don’t die immediately, and some excellent theming (the underutilized Grey Knights). Sadly, the one-two combination of baffling technical decisions (the game pausing on loading screens and said loading being long enough to finish a chapter of Infinite Jest before the game loads again) and odd design choices (the characters look plastic and unnerving at points) cannot and should not be ignored.
Spiritfarer
Release Date: August 18, 2020
MSRP: 29.99 USD
Spiritfarer is an…interesting game. It’s a slow-paced (but gorgeous) hand-drawn adventure game about piloting a ship through the afterlife. Along the way, you pick up numerous lost souls represented by anthropomorphic animals, all connected in some way to your protagonist, Stella. You also upgrade your ship, fish for food, and solve various issues for your ethereal passengers. If you can vibe with the slow pace, it’s a good game. There’s also a decent chance that you already have it or might be frustrated with how slow it moves. As far as indie titles go, it’s intriguing and manages its mysteries well. It’s also emotionally devastating (it’s a game about death, that’s to be expected), so if you are intrigued, keep that in mind. But overall, this is an excellent game for what it is, though not reason enough on its own to buy the entire bundle.
Bendy and the Dark Revival
Release Date: November 15, 2022
MSRP: 29.99
By now everyone’s familiar with jumpscare games. The genre, which bills itself as “survival horror,” runs on tension and making one freak out as much as possible. Bendy and the Dark Revival, the sequel to indie smash Bendy and the Ink Machine, stays the course a little, but is a much-needed improvement. Dark Revival sees an animator named Audrey tricked into reactivating the terrifying Ink Machine, kicking off a desperate game of cat-and-mouse through a reality-warped animation studio. The pleasant surprise is that this game draws a lot of inspiration from the first Bioshock, with upgrade canisters, audio logs, door locks, and even sounds drawing distinct parallels. While Joey Drew Studios is the subject of some controversy, the transition from stealth-horror to stealth-horror with immersive sim elements is a welcome change from the average dark hallway gameplay loop.
Operation: Tango
Release Date: June 1, 2021
MSRP: 19.99
I question the validity of putting a game that’s two player online-only on to a service meant to curate the best of indie games, but I suppose that’s why I’m sitting here writing this article and not curating choices myself. If you don’t have a friend to play this with, it’s really not worth getting, much like any game that requires two-person co-op over an internet connection. If you have friends you play with online regularly, there’s probably a chance you have a different game with the same premise. It’s a good game for what it is, but not really worth a buy unless you align with its specific interests and don’t have one of those other games. Also, a matchmaking feature that requires you join the devs’ discord if you don’t already know someone who can play with you is a definite mark against it.
Windjammers 2
Release Date: January 20, 2022
MSRP: 19.99
The sequel to a vintage arcade game somewhere between Pong and a fighting game, Windjammers 2 has a great aesthetic based on retro themes. I’m sure if you learn how to play, it can be a lot of fun. It just seems like one of those things that was made for fans of the original. If you’re not already a fan, there’s games that do a similar thing a lot better. Out of this month’s offerings, it’s one of the tighter entries, but it seems somewhat lacking. There’s also no reason this game should be 20 bucks for what it is, making it a questionable addition.
Builder Simulator
Release Date: June 9, 2022
MSRP: 19.99
Beware any game with “simulator” in the suffix. At best, they’re weird, obtuse experiments in what “simulation” even is. Some of them even achieve the status of being good, solid play experiences. At worst, they’re janky games with a basic premise. Unfortunately, despite the care put into some parts of Builder Simulator, this falls towards the latter end of the scale. Tutorial commands aren’t well telegraphed, the game chugs at odd moments, and it focuses on maddeningly specific, repetitive motions. A game like this feels like it was put here to fill space, which given that all the spring sales are starting, is disappointing.
Behind The Frame
Release Date: August 15, 2021
MSRP: 12.99
A gem in this month’s handful of games, Behind the Frame is a delightful animated game about painting, inspiration, and the work that goes into art. As you uncover more of the story, you finish paintings, solve puzzles, and go about a rather relaxing day-to-day routine. It’s fun, the story unfurls in some truly lovely ways, and the splashes of genuine heart color everything in nicely. It’s the perfect way to spend a few minutes at a time if you need a break on a particularly hectic day. The instrumental soundtrack is also absolutely fantastic. It’s beautiful, emotionally affecting, somewhat soothing, and definitely worth the time.
The Invisible Hand
Release Date: May 7, 2021
MSRP: 12.99
The Invisible Hand is a surreal black comedy about doing devious and underhanded things to make a killing on the stock market. It’s also a ridiculously tense and engaging experience with the most uncanny-valley character models this side of a Cosmo D game. Invisible Hand is on the short side, but it’s ludicrous and bizarre, and that alone is a bit worth the price of admission. It’s also been out two years, so it’s entirely possible that you already have this. Still, it’s a fun game while it lasts.
The Final Verdict:
Highlights:
- Spiritfarer
- Bendy and the Dark Revival
- Behind The Frame
- The Invisible Hand
If You Like It, Might Be Worth It
- Chaosgate: Daemonhunters
- Operation Tango
Lowlights:
- Builder Simulator
- Windjammers 2
Pause this month.
As of this writing, you could easily sweep up Behind the Frame, Spiritfarer, and The Invisible Hand for roughly the purchase price of the whole bundle. All three games are deeply discounted on sale. Not only that, this is another month where all the games released (at most recent) roughly half a year ago. There’s some interesting stuff here to be sure, but chalk May up as a disappointment, and hope June’s better.
In the interest of full disclosure, the writer of this article really did get through the chapters “Year of Glad” and “Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment” in between loading screens in Chaosgate: Demonhunters. It was the closest book they had on hand.
Published: May 5, 2023 08:53 am