If you’ve been on the hunt for some new games for your
Android device, but you’re worried that you’re just not donating enough money
to charity, you don’t have to make the tough choice about where your money
goes: just buy the Humble Bundle 2.
This is the second bundle available for Android – there have
been a few bundles like this for other platforms before, including the Mac –
and it follows the same basic principle as before. The Humble Bundle for
Android 2 is strictly a “pay what you can” affair, which means if you can’t
donate much, you can still participate. Either way, a portion of your donation
goes to charity (the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Child’s Play) and you
can use a slider to determine how large or small a portion that is. Both are
worthy causes, so it’s worth taking part even if you’re not a huge gamer.
There are five games available in the bundle, all making
their Android debut: Avadon (a fantasy-based RPG), Cogs (3D puzzle), Zen Bound 2
(spatial puzzle), Canabalt (arcade-style platformer), and Swords & Soldiers
(side-scrolling strategy).
An interesting twist: if you buy the bundle, you don’t just
get the games for your Android device…you can actually also play them on your
Linux box, your Windows machine, or even your Mac. You can download them
directly as DRM-free games, or unlock them using your Steam account. Plus, you
get soundtracks for all of them.
One interesting note is that the bottom of the Humble Bundle
page has a running tally of not only how many bundles have been sold, but the
average sale price, broken down by platform of the purchaser. As I write this,
the average price for all purchases is $6.12, and that total is being pulled
down substantially by the, uh…thrifty folks using Windows and, to a less
extent, Mac. (That sounds much better than cheapskates, no?) The folks on the
Linux platform, curiously the group that gets their operating system for free,
are spending far more generously. You gonna let this stand, Windows folks? There are thirteen days left to get humble and support a good cause.