Best Game Bundles Sites 2016
Game bundles are everywhere. Most PC gamers know of humble bundle, which was amongst the first to bundle up a few games to sell cheaply. In hindsight, it seems so obvious, after all, who doesn’t like cheap games? Since then a lot of competing sites have appeared, and some have disappeared in this highly competitive marketplace.
I’ll be looking at some of the bundle sites out there, what they offer, whether they are worth your time and what sort of value for money they offer, just as the way online casino players’ get acquainted with games via UK casino reviews. So let us take a look at the cheapest side of PC gaming.
HUMBLE BUNDLE
The grandfather of the modern game bundle. Humble Bundle started out with exclusively DRM-free indie games on steam and gradually morphed into the behemoth it is today. The DRM-free requirement is long dead, but most of its other ideas remain. There’s always a bundle running, and they vary from games to books, comics and audio. On very rare occasions there are console or AAA games, which are also locked into the tiered price method.
Humble are the ones that everyone thinks of first, but they don’t always offer the best deal. Sometimes setting tiers too high, or quality too low for the higher tiers. More often than not, you can’t go wrong with a humble bundle. What makes them unique is the price distribution system, if you want to give it all to charity then you can, and still get the bundle.
The quality is the highest of all the bundle sites listed, but the price does match that. Bundles rotate every fortnight, so it’s worth checking back every week in case something that interests you appears.
Bundle Stars
The 2nd bundle site I visited. Bundle Stars offer the mid-tier games, indies trying to go bigger and AAA games that failed for whatever reason (Arkham Knight PC, MK X, etc).
They don’t change bundles very often and it’s not uncommon to see the same ones listed for months at a time. Sadly they seem to have lost that cheap edge they used to have. While there are deals for as little as a £1, there are also bundles starting at £11.89, with higher tiers jumping up rapidly.
Checking bundle stars once a year seems to cover most of the bundle changes. But they are usually the last place you should be looking for deals now.
Indie Gala
Nearly as old as Humble, and still going strong. Indie Gala usually has numerous bundles at all times, they are usually themed and always cheap. They are quite predictable in their offerings too.
The three main bundles are Monday, Hump Day and Friday. Generally, there will be a VR game in each one, so it’s a cheap way to bulk out a VR library after spending all your money on the headset. There will be one higher quality game too, though with most of these titles that’s subjective.
There are also happy hour deals, at some point during every bundle’s life it will go on to happy hour, if you buy it as a gift you get multiple copies of the bundle. The amount depends on whether you have already bought the bundle or not, but it’s possible to get 5 sets of a bundle for the price of 2. Why? Well we all know that one person that struggles to make ends meet, you just became their gaming saviour.
Indie Gala are worth visiting every couple of days to see what’s new. Whether it’s a new bundle or just a deal on an existing one.
Groupees
The name that makes people go ‘Who?’ Groupees feel the most indie of the lot, everything can be bundled with everything else. It’s very eclectic and every bundle is unique.
Don’t expect steam keys or even games. Groupees is about the music first. However, a typical game bundle will have a few steam keys, maybe an itch game and an album or two. Currently there is a bundle with an Amiga Emulator.
Bundles work differently to most others too. There are tiers with minimum and beat the average and also community goals for the bundle. If enough bundles are sold then everyone that buys the bundle, even at minimum, gets the community ones.
I like them, they seem less like a company and more like a group of people just trying to see what works. They once offered the best bundle of all time 48 games for £6. It’s worth checking them for the next deal like that.
Game Bundle
One of the newer names in game bundles. I’ve only had a brief experience with a single bundle. So there isn’t much I can say really. I’m not a fan of their push to get people signing in every day for virtual currency to spend on virtual raffles. It feels like the sleazy side of mobile gaming. Throw in the name that’s designed to get SEO attention and I’m wary.
The game bundles that they do are the usual mix of indie games on steam. Most have been in other bundles, but there is always a new “never bundled before” game. With the constant please comebacks I’d recommend redeeming any keys ASAP.
Final thoughts
I like game bundles because I like trying games outside my comfort zone, also for a small amount it’s possible to build a huge library covering many different aspects of gaming. But the quality and price of bundle sites vary hugely.
Whatever reason you have or site you use, after the fall of Indie Royale the most important rule is:- If you think that a site may disappear, activate or gift your keys quickly. Because while even the worst site has okay deals, you can’t activate after they’ve closed down.
While you can just buy everything that comes out on every site for the same cost as an AAA game it’s worth weighing up what you want and what’s offered. For that reason, there are a few different winners:-
Best for bigger names – Humble Bundle
Best for VR titles – Indie Gala
Best for variety – Groupees
If I could only ever use one site again, it’d be Indie Gala. The quality is lower on average but there are enough new bundles to keep me checking every couple of days, and I’ve found some hidden gems in there.
