May 23, 2012

It's Alive! Bundle In A Box - Adventure Bundle is alive!

Yes, it is true. Bundle In A Box - Adventure Bundle, the indie gaming bundle I and Kyttaro Games have been working on since, well, December is finally live! And it comes with its Indie Dev Grant, its important charity, its unique twist on the pay-what-you-want model, its DRM-free downloads and, well, all sorts of bells and whistles you can discover over at the bundle site itself.

What I'd rather talk about here though are the games we've managed to secure (for your eyes only). Let me present them, starting off with a title that's making its exclusive world-wide debut via Bundle In A Box

The Sea Will Claim Everything by Jonas Kyratzes. A huge, stunning, brilliantly written foray into the debt-stricken Lands of Dream and Jonas' magnum opus. Also a game sporting wonderful hand-drawn graphics, a fantastic soundtrack, a huge and incredibly detailed world, demented characters, and, yes, great puzzles!

Gemini Rue by Joshua Nuernberger and Wadjet Eye Games. The indie neo-noir masterpiece that has won a ton of awards and I reviewed (and loved) not that long ago. 

Metal Dead by Walk Thru Wall Studios. Games with zombies are common. Games with a heavy metal theme are too rare. Metal Dead is unique, funny and brilliant. Remember my review? Good.

Ben There, Dan That! (Special Edition) by Size Five Games. A surreal love letter to the Lucasarts adventure and a surprise indie hit I've actually complete three times. The Special Edition comes with all sorts of extras. Oh, and here's an interview with Dan Marshall; the heart of Size Five Games.

Time Gentlemen, Please! by Size Five Games. BTDT's direct sequel and an even better game with extremely stylish graphics and Nazi dinosaurs.  

1893: A World's Fair Mystery by The Illuminated Lantern. Text-adventures (or is that interactive fiction?) are far from dead and Bundle In A Box is doing its very best to bring them back into the hearts of the masses. 1893, one of the last commercial offerings of the genre and a huge and lavishly illustrated mystery, is finally available as a DRM-fee download. 

The Shivah by Wadjet Eye Games. The historically important point-and-click adventure that kickstarted Wadjet Eye Games and a most excellent and at times taxing game with atmospheric graphics and some innovative puzzles.

As for the extras that will unlock as the bundle reaches wider audiences, they are pretty exciting themselves. We've managed to box (heh) the never-before-seen Making Of Metal Dead booklet, and the original soundtracks of both Gemini Rue and The Shivah into a lovely digital present any adventurer should enjoy.

And, that's that. Better head over to Bundle In A Box methinks...

Oh, and please do help spread the word by writing, blogging, twitting, facebooking (?), redditing and googleplusing about it. Thanks!

14 comments:

  1. and placards!!! dont' forget the placards

    Get your placards here!!!
    Fresh placards....!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. (ponders...)

    Yes! certainly.... once the paint dries

    :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooops. Off to bathe in gasoline mixed with paint remover then.

      Delete
    2. damn it sorry about that :(

      Here take this freshly lit Cuban Cigar with you, it'll help you relax.... :)

      Delete
    3. Surely a brilliant idea! Should I invite this kitten to bathe and smoke with me too?

      Delete
    4. erm... let me see

      (cross correlates WHO data on feline skin irritation, bituminous smoke and ehtyhanol polymers...)

      No .. not advised until the Moon's orbit is in Mercury....

      I'll give him a little tumble in the dish washer..

      :)

      Delete
    5. OK then. I'll smoke alone.

      FWOOOSH

      ~the end~

      Delete
  3. Well, I already had 5 of the included games from previous indie bundle, leaving 1983 and TSWCE. I figured that since I knew from experience that the rest of the bundle was so great, I'd give it a try just for these two.

    I am curious though - why were so many games chosen even though they'd already been in other "PWYW" indie bundles? Even accounting for the fact that almost nobody had heard of Bundle4Dead, that still leaves 4 repeats the high profile Indie Royale.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I must admit I was pretty sure Gemini Rue hadn't appeared in any other bundle and we did have an exclusivity thing on The Shivah, but, well these things do sadly happen.

      Mind you, we actually cared more about the quality of the games and sticking to the genre than coming up with brand new games.

      And was Metal Dead in another bundle? Missed that one too...

      Anyway, thanks a ton for grabbing the bundle. Hope Jonas' game and 1893 made it worth your while :)

      Delete
    2. Yes, I realized after I posted that The Shivah appearing in Indie Royale must have blindsided you. You should tell Dave to throw Puzzle Bots into the bundle as an apology, or maybe Emerald City Confidential if he can do that without PlayFirst's permission :)

      Metal Dead was in Indievania's "Bundle4Dead" a few months ago - but that one went by largely ignored, likely because of the lack of Steam keys >_>.

      Come to think of it, I'm actually having a hard time thinking of truly great commercial indie adventure games which have never been in a PWYW bundle. I'm sure there are some hidden gems I've never heard of though.

      Delete
    3. Mind you, I did look around quite a bit. Some developers weren't interested, other must have gone out of business.

      Nah... can't really tell Dave anything. He's been wonderful and supportive and the bundle did take longer to launch than planned...

      Delete
  4. Bought! Oh GOD thanks for this!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's lovely! Thank you so very much :)

      Delete