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The Cheapskate's Corner 13 (Aug 9th-15th)

By - | Views: 15,941
Hello fellow cheapskates and welcome to your favourite corner, The Cheapskate's Corner. After last week's unexpected lull, frantic activity is back with many new bundles and sales for you to browse. We'll see them in a minute, but first let's recap the terminated and the ongoing deals:





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· The Adventure - Role Playing Groupee ended some days ago, officially a bundle containing no Linux titles although one of its games -Ben There, Dan That!- could be played natively using the AGS Linux port. Additionally, some of the other featured games could eventually come to Linux: Aztaka, Vox, and They Breathe.


· As last week ended, so did FireFlower Games', Gameolith's, and ShinyLoot's Cross-Store Summer Sale in which you could buy almost any game from these stores at 25% off and also earn credit to spend in the other two. Certainly a good idea to enlarge their respective customer pools.


· The efimerous Green Light Bundle #4 expired recently after giving you the chance to get 3 games already available for Linux plus another one which should be coming soon: 8-bit Commando, Escape Goat, KRUNCH, and Constant C as the incoming title.


· Our customary review of IndieGameStand's Linux deals is reduced to only one this time around, as last week they featured a Windows-only title for the first time in a while. Nonetheless they also offered Sentinel, a game that became featured on Indie Royale shortly after -- and it's still available there, by the way.


· Talking about Indie Royale, we'll finish this recap with their expired The Indie Gamer Chick Bundle. It didn't contain any Linux game, but a couple of them may have Linux versions in the future: Antipole, Little Racers STREET, and SpyLeaks.













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As usual, Charlie's Games' Mega Bundle Pack is still available. Pay what you want from $1 upwards and get Irukandji, Bullet Candy 2013 Edition, and Bullet Candy Perfect. Paying $5 or more will also grant you a DRM-free copy and a Steam key for Scoregasm. Additional Steam and/or Desura keys must be requested to Charlie himself via email.

WARNING: Depending on which particular games you're interested, or on your level of cheapskateness, you may prefer another current deal with Charlie's games in it. Keep reading to find out what we're talking about.









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The number of Indiebundle.org's bundles with either confirmed or potential Linux games in them has grown again. We'll talk about the new one in the next section, but for now let's just review the two ongoing ones:


· The Rugged Rogues Bundle include Tales of Maj'Eyal and Voyage to Farland at the $5 level, and Dungeon Prospector at the bonus $7 level. All the games come with Desura keys.


· The Kids & Charity Bundle doesn't include anything playable on Linux right now, but many of its games could be ported someday. In the $1-$4 level you can find 3 Teddy Floppy Ear games made with Unity: The Race, Mountain Adventure and Kayaking. The $5-$7 level offers Wimp: Who Stole My Pants? (allegedly being ported to Linux) and Woodle Tree (Linux version coming in a future release). Bold type with capital letters disclaimer: get this bundle only if you like to gamble, as you can end up empty-handed.









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GamesRage's debut bundle Polandball Can Into Games is almost over but still available. Two more Polish games were recently added to the roster but unfortunately none of them has a Linux version, so King Arthur's Gold remains as the only interesting title in this bundle:


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You must pay at least $1 to get it both DRM-free and as a Desura key.









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As we warned you last week, this is the last time we talk about the DinoRubbish MegaBundle. Anyone interested in Pixeljam's Dino Run SE and Slakinov's Super Space Rubbish can get them for $5, along with their OSTs:


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As we also explained in the previous article this deal has been available since 2011, so we don't expect it to be ending anytime soon. Go get it now before you forget it exists, although you'll be able to find it in our sales page whenever you check for the Direct sales.









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The Indie Gala Summertide Bundle was supposed to be ending anytime soon but it looks like it's been prolonged 9 more days. In the meantime the third and last bonus game was unlocked, but it turned out another Windows-only game. So all in all this bundle offers us Linux gamers exactly the same as last week, i.e. the Wine-wrapped Oniken and Space Pirates and Zombies:


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The first game can be obtained for at least $1 and the second one if paying more than $3.48. Additionally, two more titles at the $1 tier will be coming to Linux according to its developer Heart Bit Interactive, albeit not in the immediate future. They are Miner Warfare and Doom & Destiny.









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Just as The Indie Gamer Chick Bundle ended, the new Starry Nights Bundle occupied its place. Among the 5 disclosed games only one has been released for Linux, Sentinel:


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To get it DRM-free you must beat the approximate £3.50/$5.25/4€ average. Regarding the other titles in the bundle we contacted their respective developers to gauge the chances of any of them eventually getting a Linux port, but the results have been a little dismaying: only two of them replied to us, to say that they don't have any plans at the moment (Bientôt l'été, even though it's a Unity sort-of-game) and that there's not a chance of that happening as they are working on new stuff at the moment (QRTH-PHYL). So there you have it, buying this bundle will most probably only get you Sentinel. It's not a bad deal nonetheless as the retail price is $10, but considering it was included in this bundle just after being featured at IndieGameStand chances are you'll be able to get it sooner or later in a more favorable deal.












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So we've finally come to the most anticipated part of this column: the new deals! What cheap wonders may await us among them? Let's find out:







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The Humble Weekly Sales are back! Well, they technically never went away, you know what we mean... After a couple of weeks in which the Linux presence was barely marginal and the last one where it was outright absent, the new weekly sale is a fully DRM-free, fully cross-platform -except for a pair of Windows-only tech demos- deal! This week is Introversion Software's turn to offer us their full cast of games. So pay what you want -$1 or more to get Steam keys as usual- for Uplink, Darwinia, DEFCON, and Multiwinia:


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The games come with their respective soundtracks and source code. Additionally, as a means to promote their latest game, they offer us the opportunity to obtain a discounted early access copy of Prison Architect:


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You can get it by paying $24.99 or more. This constitutes a 17% discount over the retail price, with the previous 4 games thrown in as a free bonus. Perhaps we're arriving a little too late since during the first day of the sale you could get all the games at a lower price -$19.99 only- but we're sure the true cheapskates among you already found out about this promotion in time. :P








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Here's a bundle that's been around for some time but we didn't bother to talk about until now. Why? Because until a couple of days ago we didn't know that it included more than one Linux game. Let us explain. The deal in question is Bundle Stars' bundle #10 Superfly Indie and it includes The Journey Down: Chapter One, a game that's been bundled many times before and that you can ever find cheaper elsewhere -- more details in another Brand New Deal below:


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But only after VelhoP mentioned it we realized the coming-soon-to-Linux Air Conflicts: Pacific Carriers was also included in this bundle:


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Both games come only in the form of Steam keys and can be yours for about $5/4.50€, which represents around an 85% discount over the Steam prices. Little over 5 days remain until the deal expires so don't let it pass, particularly if you're into air combat simulators.








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After the mildly disappointing Adventure Role Playing bundle Groupees strikes back with another deal, the Let's Build a Doujin Bundle!. This one is significantly more rich in penguin meat. It's another build-a-bundle kind of deal, so you know the drill: pick at least 2 games and pay at least $0.75 for each one, i.e. the minimum acceptable price for this bundle is $1.50. There's not much choice available for us actually, as only two out of the 7 eligible games in this bundle have Linux versions. They are Yousei (DRM-free) and CAFÉ 0 ~The Drowned Mermaid~ (DRM-free + Desura key):


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But that's not all. Two of the unlocked bonus games are also available DRM-free on Linux and you'll get them whatever game you choose. They are Jisei and Kansei:


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We've also tried to contact the other games' developers/publishers to inquire about possible future Linux ports of their games with roughly the same outcome than before: only Nyu-Media (the publisher for Cherry Tree High Comedy Club, Ether Vapor Remaster, War of the Human Tanks, and Croixleur) replied to say they've got no plans for porting those games and to recommend using Wine to play them. :(

But despite the poor prospects for getting more Linux ports, this bundle is quite interesting as it is and it's certainly a must for Dōjin fans.








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ShinyLoot doesn't take a break and just after the Cross-Store Summer Sale it's launched the Point and Click Week. As the name suggests it's a point & click adventure games sale, 50% off and during all this week. Unfortunately out of the more than 30 eligible DRM-free titles only two can be played natively on Linux, The Journey Down: Chapter One and The Cat Lady:


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The Journey Down comes with a Desura and a Steam key, while The Cat Lady comes with a Desura key although it won't be of much use to us since the AGS Linux port must be used to play this game natively on Linux.

As we said this sale will end at the end of the week, so that means there's little over 48 hours left to get any of those two games.








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Time has come to tell you about the new IndieBundle.org bundle. It's called SciFi Bundle and it obviously features games with a science-fiction theme. The regular $5 tier includes a Desura key for the soon-to-be-available-for-Linux Constant C:

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The $7 Bundle+ level includes a Desura key for the Exodus Wars: Fractured Empire alpha:


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We've contacted the developers of the other games as well and in this case we've obtained an optimistic reply: Beyond Beyaan's creator is planning to port the game to Linux. He even decided to post an announcement in his blog explaining the situation. Yay for developers who listen to the community! :)








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And last but not least, let's review the current IndieGameStand deal. Right now it's Scoregasm:


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Pay what you want to obtain it -- more than a dolly if you want a Steam key. If you also beat the average -currently around $1.50- you'll get Irukandji (apparently DRM-free only):


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That's why we said you might prefer this deal over the Charlie's Games Mega Bundle Pack, depending on the exact games you're interested in or how cheapskate you are. Anyhow, the deal will be available for two more days only so be quick in deciding which one do you prefer!










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As usual we cannot think in any potential new deal other than the next IndieGameStand's. Having removed Scoregasm from the list, the pool of candidates has been reduced to DROD RPG: Tendry's Tale, Pandora: Purge of Pride, SickBrick, and Party of Sin -- although the last one is only allegedly coming to Linux.




That was all for today! As we usually say, keep an eye on this column for any update whenever another deal pops up. And as always we recommend you to regularly check our sales page to be the first to know about the newest Linux games sales -- or to notify us if we failed to spot one! See you next week, then! ;)


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Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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About the author -
A Linux user for more than 15 years, I've just recently rediscovered the passion for gaming. Couldn't have chosen a better time than now: the [second](http://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/linux-techdemo-available-for-race-the-sun-.1752#4850) Golden Age of Linux gaming.
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12 comments
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DrMcCoy Aug 9, 2013
Well, the interesting thing about the Introversion Humble Bundle is that it comes with the sources for their games.
Theoretically, anyway. To register for SVN access, I need an account on their forums (WTF!). Their forums sends out an activation email, which I'm not getting (at least not after now 15 minutes; maybe caught up in the greylisting?). I did get a mail badgering me into subscribing to their mailing list, though...
DrMcCoy Aug 9, 2013
Now I got the forum activation mail. And it sends me back my password in plaintext *barf*.
muntdefems Aug 9, 2013
D'oh! I forgot to mention the Introversion games source code! :S: Thanks for pointing it out.
DrMcCoy Aug 9, 2013
Unfortunately, the licenses are very unfree.

Even porting Darwinia is not allowed: "For the avoidance of doubt you may not develop a version of the program for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Apple iPhone, Apple iPad or any other platform other than those specifically stated above [MacOS, Microsoft Windows (for the PC) or Linux]".
Neither are translations allowed ("you will not distribute in any format any non-English version" ).

Not that I expected anything else, but it's still a bummer.
Speedster Aug 9, 2013
Hey at least you can keep it running on future Linux versions! So it's not totally worthless.
s_d Aug 9, 2013
Sad about the Shinyloot deal, as there are games in that collection that have native ports being sold right now on other sites!  Jack Keane is up on Desura for Linux, and BoUT/BoUT:CC are both being sold on Steam for Linux.

Though, now that I think of it, RuneSoft probably can't sell the Linux/Mac versions on Shinyloot while Nordic is selling the Windows versions.  Maybe that would be too complicated for Shinyloot to divide up the money?  Has anyone here bought games from Shinyloot?  Is it like GOG/Desura/Humble where you can download all versions?  If so, then the ports would have to occupy a separate "SKU" in their store.
s_d Aug 9, 2013
Quoting: SpeedsterHey at least you can keep it running on future Linux versions! So it's not totally worthless.
Yeah, and you can read and learn from the sources, which is great for those of us dipping our toes into game engine sources... and finding it a vastly different world from embedded & device drivers! 
DrMcCoy Aug 9, 2013
Well, it certainly isn't a guide in good style. At first glance, I see them being inconsistent in whether tabs or spaces are used for indenting...
Speedster Aug 9, 2013
That's kinda typical for teams that don't have a stickler for style who has authority to force everybody to use the same -- just officially having a style guide isn't enough
Mike Frett Aug 10, 2013
Quoting: DrMcCoyWell, it certainly isn't a guide in good style. At first glance, I see them being inconsistent in whether tabs or spaces are used for indenting...
Damn it Jim! He's not a writer! :P Dr. McCoy was my favorite Star Trek character. Things seem to be picking up again at the Humble Bundle eh, perhaps they're listening to us.
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