The Humble Bundle with Android #7 is currently on sale. For those of you who don’t know what this is, the Humble Bundle is a sale in which a set of games are available for whatever price you choose. It started off as an indie game only bundle, but since then it has expanded and even THQ has gotten in on it (though they placed more limitations than other groups have previously done).

Anodyne

In Anodyne, you play as Young. Young’s quest is to ‘protect the Briar from the Darkness’ – this wasn’t explained any further from what I have played. You are teleported to some strange place where you find your weapon – a broom. It can pick up dust and put it down in other places. The art style is quite cool, the music is very well done, but overall this game didn’t really grab me. The premise is not that interesting, though the puzzles can be. If you enjoy this sort of game it might keep you entertained for a few hours, but the half hour I’ve put into it is enough to tell me that it’s just not that interesting.

Greed Corp

Greed Corp is one of the most interesting strategy games I’ve come across. Unlike most strategy games, where you get stronger as time goes on, in Greed Corp your position becomes more precarious as time goes on. The entire game is based around a unit called a harvester, which is the main way to earn money to buy units with. The other methods are the beginning of turn and knockout bonuses. The problem is, the harvesters destroy the land (literally!) in order to earn you that money, so it doesn’t take too long before there’s barely any land left on the map. The rest is just empty space. Unfortunately, most games end up with a race to get enough money to buy a flyer (the only way to cross the void), with the winner being decided by the first person to fly over to their opponents territory. So late strategy is slim in this game, but the early strategy, music and graphics make this a winner. Even if you’re not a massive fan of turn based strategy games, this is worth a few plays – especially with friends.

Incredipede

Quozzle is an incredipede – a strange creature with the ability to change shapes. Her sisters were kidnapped and she wants to save them, or something. The story of Incredipede is fairly boring and standard. The real fun in Incredipede comes in building your own creature and then unleashing her on the platformer-style levels to try and collect all the fruits (why she needs fruits, I don’t know). In easy mode, all of the creatures are pre-built and you only need to use them correctly. However in hard mode, nearly all levels require you to build bits of Quozzle for yourself, which is very difficult to do correctly! You can add ‘legs’ and muscles to Quozzle, and that’s about it. It can be incredibly difficult to predict how the legs will move due to the way the muscles work – you really need to see this to understand. The interesting mechanics combined with the fitting music and charming graphics (though the exposed bones and muscles are rather creepy) make this a great game for any puzzle lovers.

Ticket to Ride Online

If you’ve ever played the Ticket to Ride board game, you already know whether or not this is worth it for you. See the end of the review for details of what this includes. For those who have not played before, Ticket to Ride is a very popular board game which was originally made in 2004 by Days of Wonder. Ticket to Ride is a simple game to play – each turn you can collect cards, take new tickets, or build train routes. You need cards to build routes, and tickets give you points for connecting certain cities, or take them away if you fail to connect those cities. It is a game of ruthless expansion and blocking others to help you achieve your own goals. The original USA map awards a bonus for the longest connected route and whilst this is the standard, other maps sometimes change this bonus. The art is perfect, reflecting the board game very well, though the music takes a little getting used to. I didn’t enjoy the music at all to begin with, but having played for a week I now adore it. Online play is very easy, which is important as the AI is not particularly good! This version of the game comes with the USA map and the 1910 expansion (which adds a bonus for most completed tickets, and a new set of tickets). The other maps available (Switzerland, Asia, Europe) can be bought for between £2.50 and £3.10. Whether you are the head of board games at Imperial (totally not me), an aficionado, someone who plays from time to time, or have never played board games beyond the dreaded Monopoly, this is a great game to pick up.