Update 3: Now Humble Bundle #3 has hit 1.5 millions dollars and there are over 1/4 of a million purchases.  Also given for free is Atom Zombie Smasher.  If you pay more than the average of $US5.45 you also get all the games in Humble Bundle #2.  That’s a lot of games altogether.  There’s 4 days left.

Update 2: Not only has humble bundle hit 1 million bucks it has added another game Steel Storm Burning Retribution!  Those who bought the bundle get the game automatically.

Update: The humble bundle 3 also allows access to play Minecraft for free until August the 14th 2011.

Humble Indie Bundle 3 is out.

Humble Bundle is where you pay what you like for a bundle of games and charities. This time we have platform-puzzle games.  There’s 13 days left.

Crayon Physics Deluxe – Imaginative puzzle game based around drawing your solutions
COGS – Nifty 3D slider puzzle game based around things like gears and pipes
VVVVVV – Platform game based around the ability to change gravity but not jump
Hammerfight – Physics-based platform game centred around swinging a flying hammer
And Yet it Moves – Physics-based platform game with titling of the world.

The charities are EFF and Child’s Play.

All games are cross platform working natively on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. All are DRM free and can be redeemed on Steam and Desura. Several of these games are having their Mac and/or Linux debut.

I’m hardly one for donation mania but this project is known to me. It not only spends the money wisely, it does so on the target and is also effective.

Your money is well spent on providing US soldiers seriously injured in the course of their duties with supportive equipment like laptops with voice recognition software in order to improve their functionality and recovery.

Donate to Project Valour-IT here via Team Army.

If you’re on the fence or not quite sure what help is provided this account by a recipient puts things quite clearly.

To my delight I have experienced two wonderful websites which are interesting social innovations. I’ll talk about the other one next post.

The first site is Kickstarter, a crowdfunding site. Kickstarter allows for public funding via rewarded donations for creative projects. This means games, movies, business expansions, any creative project at all. It is a boon for those who lack capital to get their project off the ground.

The project is launched with a set date to obtain and particular amount of funding. Most goals are in the hundreds to thousands of dollars. Some projects look for quick funding but most give it a month or three. People pledge their money depending on how they feel about the project. Failure to reach the goal amount in time results in none of the pledged amounts being processed and therefore the project is not funded via Kickstarter.

Pledges are a special kind of donation or payment promise. Pledges can be as low as $US1 and as high as $US10,000. When a project supporter plonks down their pledge they arrange for Amazon to deduct their account by the specified amount on the project due date if the project is successful.

To encourage pledges small incentives are offered and the more money offered the greater the incentive. It could be a copy of the game or film, a thank you in the credits or anything else the project planners think of.

It’s pretty clear that projects with good incentives, a good presentation of their idea and popular ideas do better. There’s a lot of project hopefuls out there. Just trawling through some of them is a pleasant experience indeed.

Not that Kickstarter is without problems.

• 5% of the money pledged goes to Kickstarter if the project succeeds.
• Amazon charges hefty fees for payment processing and is the only method of payment.
• Projects can only be created in the USA, they can be supported worldwide though.
• There’s a point where it’s obvious a project is unlikely to make it. The pledges are too low and time is running out.

Putting all that aside the reality is Kickstarter is getting funding to projects which might otherwise not get off the ground. So Kickstarter helps bring dreams to life. That is a darned good thing.

Spending is a lot more fun when you have the money

Release Date: 8^h February 2011

Developer: McKinney

Genre: RPG, Educational, Simulation

Mode: Single Player

Spent is a game where you place yourself in the shoes of the marginally employed for a month. Your goal is to simply survive financially. In a sense it is an educational game because it highlights difficult choices which face people in that situation and shows why it is difficult to move beyond poverty. Pretty relevant given the hard times the US is facing right now.

You begin by getting a job then live from day to day hoping to make it all the way through the month. Some may feel the choices are a bit vicious but really that is the whole point and the reality of the situation. It would however, be fair to say, some of the difficult situations aren’t quite so frequent as all that. That higher frequency is balanced out by the game ignoring the small-time expenses of life, such as more shopping and petrol.

I should warn that this game is a lead in to a charity; ‘Urban Ministries of Durham’. I briefly checked it out and it seemed clean enough though I felt it’s claim to not be church based misleading. If donating, consider other worthwhile charities for people in this situation.

Spent offers positive entertainment because it allows people to experience things which they may never have experienced, and likely never would want to. It is innovative, conveys the situation very well and helps to improve the awareness of a problem many like to ignore.

The flash graphics look good and convey the message and challenge well. Sounds effects and music in Spent are light but aid the sense of immersion adequately.

Spent’s Difficulty is fairly high. I won 2 out of 3 games so it is quite possible to survive. It all depends on what you are willing to sacrifice.

Spent runs in browser and is flash based so most modern browsers will be able to handle this. It is the full game and is free to play.

Game: 3½/5      Positive:

As Kotaku says; “raising money the awesome way”.  A great idea which is fun based.  Play for Japan is about gamers and the games industry helping out Japan from it’s latest problems with the earthquake and tsunami.  There’s autographed games, donation updates and more.  Check it out.

or via:

Twitter: @PlayForJPN / #playforjapan

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/playforjapan

Tumblr: http://playforjapan.tumblr.com

h/t Kotaku