PC
We don’t post a lot about bundles and sales here. I largely agreed with simulation maven and long-time indie dev Cliff Harris that unplayed games are a blight upon developers and players alike, and that we might all be better off if we just paid full price for games we really want and then played the mess out of them. My moral authority on this topic, however, is about nil: I have literally dozens of unplayed games installed on my PC, hundreds I’ll never touch in my Steam library, and, even after the 32 bit app-ocalypse, enough mobile games to last me a lifetime, if push came to shove.
As collections go, at least my videogame and (mostly roleplaying) ebook collections don’t take up much space, and so are all-but immune to Marie Kondo-ing. She can have my Steam and Humble passwords over my dead body.
Ahem.
So, to finally get around to the buried thesis of this post, once in a long while I come across a bundle that is chock-a-block with games I’d really like to dip my toe into, but know I’ll never pay sticker price for. In this case, it’s Fanatical’s Reaper bundle, which includes Tales from Candlekeep: Tomb of Annihilation, Renowned Explorers International Society, the Homeworld Remastered Collection, and Dungeon Rats (from the Age of Decadence folks). YMMV, but if you have Homeworld and Renowned Explorers-shaped holes in your collection, or are tired of waiting in hope for a mobile version of Tomb of Annihilation, this may be just the thing.
Oddly enough, Fanatical chose not to feature any of these games as the showpiece of the bundle, instead putting a FPS called Immortal Redneck front and center. Something about a good ‘ol boy turned Mummy shooting up ancient Egypt. So that’s a thing. Oh, and if you like shooters, Payday 2 is in the mix as well.
In other news, Cliff Harris has a new blog post up: “Maybe democracy as a system, cannot work any more.” Not the most encouraging perspective coming from the developer of the deeply nuanced sims Democracy 1, Democracy 2, Democracy 3, and Democracy: Africa (and publisher of Political Animals). To be fair, Harris is British, and the prospect of a no-deal Brexit is enough to inspire existential despair in even the most stiff-lipped of Englishmen.
Existential despair, a sense of shame, and intermittent rage, leavened only by the prospect of shouting “we fucking told you so” at leave-voting cretins for the foreseeable future.
At least playing Homeworld in all its prettiness by the light of a burning turnip will be a nice distraction.
This would be an awesome bundle…if I hadn’t already bought all these games separately already (and not played them yet).
Don’t forget the unplayed board games…
I don’t have many unplayed board games anymore: I gave them away before moving to New Zealand, only to find that geeky board games are a hot commodity here, with used games often selling for about US retail for a new copy, and that’s if they’re in print… so you can imagine what stuff that’s out of print is worth.