13
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Humble Choice - December 2024
December 2024's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight nine(!) Steam games.
| Steam Page | Opencritic | Steam Recent/All | Operating Systems | Steam Deck | ProtonDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bomb Rush Cyberfunk | 78 | 99 / 98 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🎖️ Platinum |
| Old World | 78 | 81 / 81 | Win, Mac, Linux | 🟨 Playable | ✅ Native |
| Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand | 68 | 76 / 71 | Win | 🟨 Playable | 🟨 Gold |
| Crime Boss: Rockay City | 54 | 87 / 72 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🟨 Gold |
| The Invincible | 74 | 86 / 88 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🟨 Gold |
| Moonstone Island | 81 | 84 / 85 | Win, Mac, Linux | ✅ Verified | ✅ Native |
| Inkulinati | 79 | 98 / 88 | Win, Mac | ✅ Verified | 🎖️ Platinum |
| Venba | 81 | 86 / 93 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🟨 Gold |
| Monster Prom 3: Monster Roadtrip | N/A | -- / 98 | Win, Mac, Linux | ✅ Verified | ✅ Native |
Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?
I really enjoyed Moonstone Island. It has the sim elements of Stardew Valley, the creature capture of Pokemon, and the deck building combat of Slay the Spire. There are seasonal crops to rotate and potions to brew, plus (adult) villagers to romance. I found the array of creatures pretty cute. The combat is unique and fun, the creatures have their own deck that you improve as you level them and their decks combine for your full deck in battle. I didn't finish the first year, only because I burnt myself out on cozy chore games. Last I checked, the DLC was all cosmetic stuff that can be passed on unless you want a specific home vibe.
My friends and I have done plays of the earlier Monster Prom games together taking turns voice acting, it's been a great time. I remember us liking the characters and feeling they were well done.
My friend recommended Bomb Rush Cyberfunk so I'm looking forward to that one!
I've seen Inkulanti in fanatical bundles but keep passing on it for whatever reason, seems unique though and I'll be giving it a try.
I'm also looking forward to trying The Invincible, I've seen it on sale on Fanatical but passed due to the price point.
That's a hell of a sales pitch right there. Will check it out, thanks!
It’s cool to see Bomb Rush Cyberfunk as the headliner. I legitimately didn’t know the game had that sort of cultural “weight” to it.
For those that haven’t played it, it’s great. Even if you’re not a Jet Set Radio (Future) fan, it’s got a lot to offer as a general modernized old-school throwback game. If you are a fan of the series, then you’ll feel right at home. It’s mechanically a bit different than the JSR games, but I think that’s for the best.
I’m most excited about Venba personally. I’ve heard nothing but good things about it; the artwork looks great; and I love short resonant narrative games.
The Invincible has also been on my list ever since @apolz mentioned it here. I love the idea of reading the book and playing the game concurrently.
Crime Boss might be something my friend group and I try. We attempted Payday 2 a long time ago and tried to love it but didn’t. This looks like it might be more fun.
Overall I think this is a solid bundle. Getting 9 games was an unexpected surprise too.
Also I always used to spam my friends with key offers after Choice came out each month, trying to give away the games I wasn’t interested in. Now I just pop them on my account since we’re all in a library share. So much easier!
Does anyone have any insight into Old World? I remember it being billed as a sort of Civilization-meets-Crusader-Kings which sounded great, but I think I tried the demo when it was first released (or shortly before, can't remember exactly), and it felt a bit underwhelming back then. Could have just been me though since I was comparing it to those two other series which I already knew and loved.
What about Inkulinati? I've seen conflicting reviews. Some love the combat while others think it's a bit too repetitive or tedious. It could just be that things have changed a lot through updates, and the complaints might have come from earlier in the development. But curious if anyone here has some experience with it, since the art style looks wonderful.
I didn't play myself but a friend I have who is more into strategy games (I don't play them as much as I used to) really enjoyed old world. If anything I am a big supporter of Soren Johnson and love his podcast where he talks with other game designers (designer notes). Given his work on civ 3, off world trading companyc etc, I'd say it's pretty safe to assume the game will play well and be an interesting take on the civ formula. I know they have kept working and adding more content so hopefully it would be in a more farther along than when you last tried it.
That's good to hear, guess it's time to give it another shot. I'll check out that podcast too, thanks!
I'm wondering if Atlas Fallen is any good--on one hand, it just looks like another soulslike, on the other, it's made by Deck13 who made Lords of the Fallen and The Surge 1+2, which are actually enjoyable soulslikes. Not amazing, but I don't regret my time with any of them. AF looks promising, like maybe the pinnacle of Deck13's approach of "yes yes it's another From clone but don't worry, you'll dig it"?