Humble Android Bundle 3: pay what you want for games that run on your phone

Well, it's that time again. The Humble Bundle folks are offering another batch of indie games on a "pay what you want to" model. The twist this time is that in addition to running on Windows, Mac and Linux, these ones are all available for Android as well. Get em here:

The Humble Bundle for Android 3 (pay what you want and help charity)

The timing on this one was serendipitous for me, since the UPS man just delivered my new Android tablet today. It's worth noting that a couple of these games are best enjoyed on a tablet; nothing will stop you from installing them on your Android phone, but the UIs might be difficult to manage on a small screen. Of course,even if you don't have an Android device at all there's nothing stopping you from enjoying them on a Windows, Mac or Linux PC, and as per usual the Humble Bundle folks are providing Steam keys for anyone who pays more than a dollar.

The games are:

SpaceChem: In my opinion, he standout game of the bundle, SpaceChem is a neat little puzzler that has you combining atoms into complex molecules. Be forewarned that the learning curve is a bit steep, and the puzzles can be a bit vexing. Of course he flip side is that there's a real sense of accomplishment when you figure them out. The Humble crew recommend at least a 5" tablet for this one. I found it playable on my Galaxy Nexus, but the tiny buttons were a bit unwieldy. It would be a challenge on anything much smaller.

Field Runners: This one is a straightforward tower defence game. If you've played Desktop Tower Defence or any of it's many bastard children you'll find nothing new here. It does what it does well enough, and during my initial run with it the game seemed polished and well balanced. Could be a good way to kill time during your commute or in a waiting room.

Bit.Trip Beat: Best described as a cross between a rhythm game and pong, the game involves using a paddle to bounce back blocks, with each one corresponding to a note in the melody of the game. The Android version uses the accelerometer for motion controls, and I honestly found it a bit frustrating on my tablet. Might be better on a phone. It's worth noting that it's only somewhat less frustrating with a mouse; quick reflexes are the order of the day here.

Uplink: A "Hollywood hacking simulator." You take jobs to break into computers, and use the money you make to upgrade your hardware or buy new software to allow you to pull off ever more complex and impressive hacks. Be sure to cover your tracks or the government might come nocking on your door. Humble recommends at least a 7" tablet for this one; it plays well on my Nexus 7 but i haven't tried it on the Galaxy Nexus yet. The interface seems as though it would be very difficult to navigate on a smaller screen, so if you don't have a tablet this one is probably best saved for the PC.

Spirits: I honestly don't know anything about this game at this point, so no comment from me.

What say you folks? Good set, bad set? I bought it for $10 to fill out then collection of games available for my new tablet, and I feel like it was a good buy at that price, though I don't know I I would go much higher.

Aside: it's common practice for the Humble Bundle team to add one or two more games as the sale progresses, available to those who beat the average purchase price. If you beat the average at the time you purchased the collection, the games will be retroactively added to your bundle. If you feel like gambling on the chance of another game or two as things progress it's therefore a good idea to make sure you're above the average purchase price when you buy it. When I last looked, the average on this one was around $6, so it's not a big ask.

 

Not a lot of interest in this one, I guess.

As expected, the Humble Bundle folks have added some more games to sweeten the pot. In this case they added the entire first Humble Bundle for Android, which means in addition to the five games above you'll get World of Goo, Anomaly: Warzone Earth, Osmos and Edge.

I should also report that I've given a couple hours of my time to Spirits at this point, and it's quite good. A sort of lemmings-esque puzzler that has you leading the spirits of fallen leaves away in autumn. The artwork is beautiful, and the whole thing has an almost trance-like quality to it.

The current average is $6.62, so you can have all nine games for under $7. That's pretty tough to beat, in my opinion.