By John Walker on November 10th, 2011 at 4:03 pm.
The second Indie Royale bundle has this second gone live. You’ll remember the first one from Adam telling you all about it. It’s the excitingly confusing system where the price goes up over time, but people paying more than that price cause it to go down. I think. Whatever it is, it works, and tens of thousands of people bought the first one, getting a splendid bargain. So what’s in the second collection?
Why, it’s only Red Redemption’s Fate Of The World, Charlie’s Games’ Scoregasm, Size Five Games’ Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen Please!, and Nifflas’ NightSky. Individually those games would have cost you £25. You could be paying an awful lot less than that. Or maybe you’ll choose to pay an awful lot more, to make it cheaper for others? I don’t know you – there’s literally no way I can tell who is reading this, nor how profligate you are. The previous bundle never went over £4, to give you an idea of the bargain you could be getting here. Or offering to others.
So, well, want them?
10/11/2011 at 16:06 Juan Carlo says:
They seem to be getting hammered and their site is down. Maybe the “pay less the earlier you buy” scheme isn’t such a great idea as it means everyone will try to access it at once.
10/11/2011 at 16:10 Teddy Leach says:
I have to pay a whole 2p more.
10/11/2011 at 16:11 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
would work, if they announced it the way the humble bundle does. (“Hey, it’s here!”)
With this countdown, there were 4k people online at the moment it started.
10/11/2011 at 16:11 siegarettes says:
I was super excited bout this one. Payed $5 bucks as with the previous. I’m excited to simply get and support the bundle, not some much to get them super cheap (probably buy a few more copies for friends).
I’ve finally got through to my bundle but the traffic is once again murdering the Steam key allocation.
EDIT: In hindsight the countdown wasn’t such a great idea I agree. Built up more hype, but they sure don’t have the resources to handle the traffic.
11/11/2011 at 13:42 cptgone says:
i tried to log in ASAP but the site went down. after a while, i made it in, tried to buy, site went down. had to go do stuff, and now the price is too high for my taste (cause i only want 1 of these games, as i already own Fate of the World)
:shrug:
10/11/2011 at 16:10 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
noo, nooooo, don’t post about it yet, the site’s getting hammered, and i haven’t gotten hold of one yet!!!
10/11/2011 at 16:10 phlebas says:
Hmm. Any info on the DRM status?
10/11/2011 at 16:11 Teddy Leach says:
Direct download, Steam, Desura, where applicable. As usual.
10/11/2011 at 16:13 danthat says:
Don’t know about the others, but there’s no DRM whatsoever on BTDT:SE & TGP. :)
10/11/2011 at 16:13 phlebas says:
Bought.
10/11/2011 at 16:16 AbsoluteDestiny says:
Fate of the World’s DRM is a cd-key whose use is logged on a server if you have an internet connection but plays anyway if you don’t (on steam it’s steam’s DRM)
10/11/2011 at 16:27 Tusque D'Ivoire says:
Indie Royale has the same DRM-free mindset as the Hundle. All the games are DRM free and can be installed as many times as you want, with no strap-on DRM, as i recall.
11/11/2011 at 00:28 Saldek says:
Strap-on DRM sounds more like a weapon from Saints Row The Third. But, what does the RM stand for? ‘Royale Master’, perhaps?
10/11/2011 at 16:10 Flukie says:
Your gonna break the site even more guys!
Why they don’t do completely random releases rather than timed releases like Humble do I have no idea.
10/11/2011 at 16:11 pakoito says:
50k dollars in 10 minutes. Colour me impressed.
I won’t buy this one either, tho.
10/11/2011 at 16:19 ComradePenguin says:
Not certain but I think they may not have reset the counter from the previous bundle so it’s a cumulative total for both. Sadly can’t check as the website is down again.
10/11/2011 at 16:12 Avish says:
Managed to buy it.
Now I can’t reach the redeeming page.
10/11/2011 at 16:14 Pod42 says:
Not buying due to the chan reference when the timer ended.
Yep I’m that shallow.
10/11/2011 at 16:22 hench says:
What did it say?
10/11/2011 at 16:24 Memphis-Ahn says:
I’m a channer, and I find your comment incredibly insulting. I’ll have you know that stupid face is from Reddit.
10/11/2011 at 16:25 Dominic White says:
That is catastrophically shallow. How do you even function in society? If you see a reference to something on the internet in a movie, do you just storm out?
10/11/2011 at 16:39 Pod42 says:
It screams out “look at how cool and edgey we are” and I for one am fed up of that type of stuff popping up everywhere, it’s unprofessional.
10/11/2011 at 16:46 Teddy Leach says:
You might have noticed that they’re not trying to be professional.
10/11/2011 at 23:27 Delusibeta says:
Confirming Memphis-Ahn, that’s a Reddit reference, not a ‘chan reference. This is the first recorded use of the picture in question: http://www.reddit.com/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu/comments/9sv6q/fffffffantom_menace/
11/11/2011 at 13:08 Saiko Kila says:
Pod42: It wouldn’t be a problem to me, but I applaud you for being able to stand up to social pressure.
10/11/2011 at 16:17 fuggles says:
This the first bundle (Humble or royale) that I’m going to miss. None of the games really grabs me and there isn’t the charity hook to soothe my concscience as I throw money at games I’m clearly never going to play. TOO MANY GAMES!
10/11/2011 at 16:57 mongpong says:
I played the demo of Scoregasm the other day and it was uber fun! Had a weird feeling it was going to be in the Indie Royal or Humble Bundle release…yay for me.
10/11/2011 at 20:26 Jahandar says:
yeah, same here, I have all the bundles, but this one is pretty weak. Time Gentlemen Please/Ben there Dan that is the best, but its been given away free in other places before. What remains is a generic arcade thing, a generic limbo-looking puzzle thing, and what looks like some sensationalized global warming game.
10/11/2011 at 16:17 J. says:
Good heavens. Managed to reach the checkout bit twice now, but timed out both times. Now I’ll have to pay dozens of pennies more. Bankruptcy! :(
10/11/2011 at 16:18 Kdansky says:
Already at 40k sold? Does that include the first bundle?
Edit: They fixed it. It’s now ~4000 and counting.
As for the title: Definitely a pun on “difficult second album”, and not related to the difficulty of the games. Which is a shame, really. I would have loved four really hard and good games. And I already own half of these.
10/11/2011 at 16:46 Mirqy says:
Fate of the world is fairly tough. I was playing last night and killed a couple of billion people (I was trying to keep them alive). Also I didn’t save the world. Or the polar bear.
11/11/2011 at 00:38 Saldek says:
Sounds like a rough night, Mirqy. If it’s any comfort, when you’re trying to save the world, it’s usually best to go all in. If it does go wrong, you don’t really want too many people left to start playing the blame game.
(Edited a typo)
11/11/2011 at 08:35 Mirqy says:
Good point. Should have unleashed the gene plagues.
12/11/2011 at 15:56 ScorpionWasp says:
I was looking forward to this bundle thinking we were getting a bunch of Nintendo-Hard old school titles. Pretty disappointing that’s not what was meant.
Anyway, I certainly don’t want to give any money to that fear-mongering, sensationalist, tree hugging game that appears to think the Earth is a static entity and humans have way more influence than they do.
10/11/2011 at 16:25 InternetBatman says:
I’m kind of wondering at the choice in games, especially considering the name. I’d kind of like games of similar genres to be bundled together since I have no desire whatsoever for two of them. At least the Voxeltron bundle has two twinstick shooters and two platformers.
10/11/2011 at 16:36 Juan Carlo says:
And I don’t see “Ben There Dan That” as being particularly hard. It’s pretty moderate as adventure games go, so that one seems a bit out of place.
10/11/2011 at 16:39 Teddy Leach says:
Alternatively, it could be interpreted more as a “difficult second album”.
10/11/2011 at 16:40 danthat says:
Yeah, I think it’s just a play on the famous phrase “the difficult second album”. I don’t know, but I don’t think game difficulty came into it anywhere.
10/11/2011 at 16:55 Zyrocz says:
It’s obviously called “difficult bundle” cause it’s so fucking difficult to buy.
10/11/2011 at 17:31 unless says:
Perhaps the misinterpretation owes to the fact that that’s not a famous phrase outside the U.K. (or at least, it certainly isn’t one in the U.S., and every reference I could find to it is from the U.K. press).
10/11/2011 at 23:32 chalriesgames says:
For Scoregasm, there should be no DRM except on the Steam version.
Cheers
Charlie
10/11/2011 at 16:54 MadMatty says:
seeing if i cant pick it up for Fate of the World alone- also Nifflas games were allright…i remember playing Knytt.
I always wanna´d rule the damn place!
10/11/2011 at 16:58 mongpong says:
The site is down!
10/11/2011 at 16:58 Zarunil says:
“Royale Not Found”. :(
10/11/2011 at 17:00 airtekh says:
Bah, the site’s getting battered at the moment. I’ll come back later and get it then.
I already own BTDT and TGP from this bundle, both of which are hilariously good, but NightSky looks like my sort of thing so I’m getting it for that.
10/11/2011 at 17:09 Vaughn says:
Looks like somebody needs Amazon Cloud hosting :)
10/11/2011 at 17:12 Archonsod says:
Already got Fate of the World, and that’s the only one I’m remotely interested in.
10/11/2011 at 17:27 Just Endless says:
Well, there’s nothing in this one that makes it an instant-buy for me (Both of Gemini Rue, and Sanctum were in the first). Comments on the quality of these games, anyone who’s played them? Nightsky looks like something I might like, and maybe Scoregasm. I haven’t the time currently for point and click adventures (though I don’t know how long they are), and Fate of the World I don’t particularly expect to love, strategy games aren’t really my thing.
That said, I still bought it at 9:05
10/11/2011 at 20:27 Waltorious says:
NightSky is fantastic, but I found that replaying it in “hard mode” was a bit too frustrating. Just stick to the normal mode, which is great.
Both Ben There, Dan That and Time, Gentlemen, Please are very well done and hilarious.
I haven’t played the other two, but of course RPS really liked Fate of the World.
10/11/2011 at 17:35 unless says:
BTDT and TGP are probably the funniest video games I’ve ever played. A few hours apiece, as I recall, and the puzzle solutions are well telegraphed.
edit: Gah, this was meant to be in reply to Just Endless, above.
10/11/2011 at 17:37 Maldomel says:
I’ll buy it for Fate of the world, once the site will actually work. Their countdown policy sure has it’s drawbacks. On the other hands, it means the initiative is still a success.
10/11/2011 at 17:37 Carra says:
Load damn it, load.
10/11/2011 at 17:40 mongpong says:
Managed to get in and buy. Woop. However, now I can’t download them as site is down again, Oh well, will download later and go and play some BF3 for a while :)
10/11/2011 at 17:47 diamondmx says:
Got in and they now appear to be advertising as releasing the 2nd bundle in 3 hours?
10/11/2011 at 17:58 applecup says:
Yeah, the servers melted under the strain. They posted on their twitter they’re re-releasing the bundle later, and resetting the price.
10/11/2011 at 18:04 Maldomel says:
This explains that then. I thought the site got so much plundered with refreshes and buy that it went back in time or something.
10/11/2011 at 18:08 Dominic White says:
The entire Indie Royale/Desura/ModDB/IndieDB network is down – they’ve just collapsed entirely under a tsunami of attention. Fortunately, the bundle is rebooting soon.
10/11/2011 at 18:11 Dr I am a Doctor says:
All the games look just horrible
10/11/2011 at 18:31 ThinkAndGrowWitcher says:
What an incredibly measured and insightful review. Thank you!
10/11/2011 at 19:47 Dr I am a Doctor says:
8/10
10/11/2011 at 19:55 Stephen Roberts says:
The games look just horrible, but do they really look horrible?
Yes.
But do they really look horrible?
Well… yeah I mean-
But do they really look horrible?
Yeah, they do. What’s your point?
Never stop questioning the nature of reality.
I know you’re questioning the nature of reality, but are you really questioning it?
Now you’re getting it.
I am getting it … but am I really getting it?
That’s enough now.
It is enough, but is it really enough?
11/11/2011 at 05:58 Thants says:
Either I’m crazy, or we both just watched the same episode of The Mighty Boosh.
10/11/2011 at 19:13 Tams80 says:
At last I get bitten by “I’ve already bought one (or more) of the games in the bundle” bug. Admittedly it was already in a sale and it was cheap then so I can’t really complain.
10/11/2011 at 20:09 Vexing Vision says:
I bought the bundle to get Fate of the World. Again. Because I’m too lazy to look up my alpha-preorder-key-thing.
10/11/2011 at 20:25 Thiefsie says:
This is Eurogamer…
10/11/2011 at 20:46 Ice-Fyre says:
Got it just for Fate of the World, seems great so far…
10/11/2011 at 20:51 protospork says:
I’d had Fate of the World on my wish list for a couple months, knowing it’d probably end up in a bundle sometime. As for these other games, well… I own them now so I suppose I’ll give them a shot.
Edit: Oh wow, NightSky is fantastic. Shame about the lack of window size options though, because it’s also tiny.
10/11/2011 at 23:09 Carra says:
Yeah, been wanting to buy fate of the world for months now. Finally got it.
10/11/2011 at 21:26 Saarlaender39 says:
Hmm, I won`t buy this one.
From the five Games included, I already own four and the fifth is not my cup of tea.
Maybe the next one again.
10/11/2011 at 22:13 Gotem says:
Is that Horace the Endless Bear holding the tray?
10/11/2011 at 23:00 MD says:
Already own (and enjoyed greatly) the Zombie Cow games, so I’m treating this as a cheap copy of NightSky + a couple of bonus games. I’m a bit of a Nifflas fan, and I’ve been meaning to pick up NightSky one of these days, but I guess I wasn’t motivated enough to pay $10 or whatever the regular price is.
10/11/2011 at 23:28 Skull says:
Scoregasm may be a generic arcade thing, but its an immensely fun generic arcade thing.
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11/11/2011 at 01:02 malkav11 says:
The first bundle was one game I had (with the promise of DLC for it that I didn’t have), one I really wanted (for more than the entire bundle would cost) and two I was mildly interested in. A no brainer for the one game alone, much less the rest.
This one is two games I already own, one game I don’t care about in the least, and one game I’m only vaguely interested in and can probably expect a $2.50 or so Steam sale on. Still, not every bundle’s a winner.
11/11/2011 at 09:14 sonofsanta says:
I really think they should be kicking these off at at least £3, if not £4 – Fate of the World is not a cheap indie game (in any sense of the word), and nor was Sanctum, and it feels kinda wrong that so many people are getting them at such a steal, even if my guilt forces me to pay more (although the level of the stars is a bit silly, no?)
Saying that, there’s a wealth of contemporary evidence that low price high volume is much the better way to go at the moment, so what do I know.
<3 all these indie bundles though.
11/11/2011 at 10:28 Zulthar says:
This will be the very first indie bundle I won’t buy. None of these games look very fun and I already own Time gentlemen, please!
11/11/2011 at 12:58 Dawngreeter says:
Of the four games I’m only really interested in Fate of the World. Been interested for a while now and here the price is, obviously, right. Although Ben/Dan and Night Sky do look interesting.
13/11/2011 at 06:11 elyaani says:
Fate of the World is fantastic, way better than it looks from screenshots and such. And Nightsky is brilliant as well.