12
votes
Humble Choice - October 2025
October 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.
| Steam Page | OpenCritic | Steam Recent/All | Operating Systems | Steam Deck | ProtonDB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic Heart | 74 | 72 / 78 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🎖️ Platinum |
| V Rising | 83 | 85 / 89 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🟨 Gold |
| System Shock | 77 | 80 / 91 | Win | 🟨 Playable | 🎖️ Platinum |
| STORY OF SEASONS: Pioneers of Olive Town | 71 | 63 / 83 | Win | ❌ Unsupported | 🟨 Gold |
| Cryptmaster | 76 | 93 / 95 | Win | 🟨 Playable | 🎖️ Platinum |
| Shogun Showdown | 87 | 97 / 97 | Win | ✅ Verified | ✅ Native |
| Hotel Renovator | 70 | 82 / 77 | Win | 🟨 Playable | 🟫 Bronze |
| Caravan SandWitch | 72 | 67 / 89 | Win | ✅ Verified | 🟨 Gold |
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?
You: "Hmm, something is different about the table this month."
Me: "Yes, it has an new, inescapably more positive aura."
You: "But isn't it the same regular table it always is?"
Me: "Yes, but also no."
You: "That's a contradiction."
Me: "Yes, but also no."
You: "Please stop."
Me: "Okay okay, I'll let you in on the secret. This table didn't take me a painstaking half hour to assemble by hand."
You: "Oh, of course! You probably used @talklittle's amazing new browser extension to build it!"
Me: "Naturally. It's too good not to use! It saved me so much time. That's why the table seems so light; so fresh; so carefree."
You: "I really can feel it! What are you going to do with all your extra time?"
Me: "This will give me even MORE time to praise Proton this month. In fact, I've written a one-man play about it."
You: "Errr, I, uh, really have to be going."
Me: "NO! Don't leave! It's really good, I promise!"
You: "I have to take this phone call. It's an emergency."
Me: "Your phone's not even ringing. The scene opens on a room full of windows. In the middle, the model of an atom sits on a pedestal under a spotlight."
You: "NOPE. Not a chance. I’m gone."
Me: ”Enter: Proteus Tonnerby -- a GNOME."
You:Me: "WAIT! Come back! Proteus is about to sing his first song!”
Oh boy. Didn't realize that extra free time would lead to one-man plays being written. Now I'm having some regrets about the extension.
I remember deeply concentrating for thirty minutes every month editing a markdown table and cycling through browser tabs checking all of the source websites.
In case @kfwyre hasn't said it to you enough: @talklittle this browser extension is so, so brilliant!
V Rising - Fun game, highly recommend. Even if you don't co-op I think it's a wonderful combat system (even if i'm sad it's what became of battlerite). NOT the kind of game where you can just gear up past the bosses if you're struggling. You do need to learn how to use the base movement and skills to avoid things.
System Shock - If you like system shock, or have ever wanted to try system shock, it's a fine way to do it.
Shogun Showdown - I kinda bounced off it. Seems fun enough but it didn't hold my attention. There weren't any problems though. Felt well made and had a decent amount of variety, but the actual gameplay loop wasn't quite what I was looking for. I do plan to try again.
I have no experience with any of these games. But after the bundle was unveiled I watched trailers and gameplay videos for every single game here. Wow - what a great looking selection this month. I'm usually either indecisive or quick to skip a month but this is month a clear yes from me.
Based on Steam reviews the only game that I'd give a clear miss to trying out is Hotel Renovator because of the number of game-breaking bugs reported. I note that Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town isn't playable for the Linux gamers but I doubt that it comes close to Stardew Valley anyway.
No personal experience, but everything I've heard about Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town makes it feel underwhelming to me. I was a fan of the franchise since GameCube, starting back when it was still called Harvest Moon. And yes, there are also still games with that name. They split and the new HM games are made made by the team that localized the original games, but Story of Seasons is the original franchise. Starting around the time they split though, it felt like the newer games just... Lost a lot of the franchise's charm.
With Pioneers of Olive Town, the trailers just didn't interest me at all. It just seemed bland, and the overall sentiment from people who've played it seems to agree with that. The main complaints I hear are how shallow the characters are, the setting is empty, the story is short, farming is repetitive, there are too many makers... It's not necessarily bad but it's not particularly good, especially for a game from the original farming sim franchise.
Side-note: their remakes of older titles seem to be their best-received games recently. They just released a remake of Grand Bazaar which is getting rave reviews. I suspect they added this one to Humble Bundle to try to introduce new players to the franchise so they might check that out, in which case... This was probably a bad choice, since it's the most poorly received of their recent titles.
So if you're curious and want to try the franchise, I suggest getting Grand Bazaar or one of the other remakes. While I haven't played this version yet, the original on DS probably had one of the most engaging gameplay loops in the franchise with the weekly bazaar system. So between that and the general positive reviews, I can recommend it more than Olive Town. (Also, it's rated as Playable on Steam Deck!)
On an unrelated note, I haven't played it yet but I ended up snagging a Cryptmaster key in a recent Fanatical bundle on a whim, so I'm looking forward to if anyone has thoughts or experience with it. Maybe I'll redeem it and give it a quick try to share my thoughts on it.
I actually own Pioneers of Olive Town (sent as a gift during COVID years ago) and I adore this game. I've played some of the Harvest Moon handheld titles primarily, so I've played other titles before, and I vastly prefer Olive Town to Stardew.
I can't speak to what people like about the older Harvest Moon games - I have no idea, and I don't totally understand their criticisms. But I can tell you that what I like about Olive Town is that there are a lot of different farming mechanics I like (regular crops, orchards, flowers and honey, mushrooms), you can unlock permanent "season" areas where you can grow crops in that particular season, there are various unlockable animals, and there are a lot of "secondary" products you can make via makers (or just through your inventory). You gain access to more options as you skills level up. I personally find the farming, processing, and gathering mechanics to be a lot more satisfying than Stardew. Cooking is also a million times better in Olive Town, and the mission-based quest lines, too. Both games have a fishing mechanic, and I think they're roughly equal (and frustrating in their own way).
I can't say I totally understand why people love Stardew Valley so much (it seems like a NA Harvest Moon clone with pixel graphics), but relationships and storylines are probably better in Stardew. Stardew's dungeoning is definitely more complex, although there are a few in Olive Town and they're implemented well. Clemens also doesn't steal your gear for days when he's upgrading it! I have found that when using makers for processing, they can take up a lot of space, but I think the options for what you can make are a lot deeper in Olive Town. I personally prefer the cartoony graphics in Olive Town. There is a deeper modding base for Stardew, but the only mod I've really wanted lately is a time manipulator, so I can actually do all the things I want during the day! (The shipping box in Olive Town is also comically small.)
Basically, I never play Stardew anymore, but I play Olive Town regularly. It is my happy zen place. I may be the odd one out, but I want to push back on the disdain I see for modern Harvest Moon - I think the games are pretty complex and intricate, and while I have no idea what nostalgia people are chasing that causes them such unhappiness, Olive Town is one of my favourite games currently, even years after getting it. As part of the bundle, it's a great deal!
Thanks for giving your own feelings and experiences with it! I'm genuinely glad to hear you enjoy it.
For me and a lot of other longtime fans, Olive Town just feels/looks empty compared to older games. Part of it is nostalgia, but those games felt like they could be actual places with real people to me. Like I said, I don't think Pioneers of Olive Town is necessarily bad, but it has a lot to live up to. I don't even compare it to Stardew Valley personally (actually I get kinda annoyed by the constant comparisons), I compare it to other 3D Harvest Moon games I've played over the years. Particularly the console ones like Animal Parade or A Wonderful Life.
Honestly, most of my personal misgivings aren't the mechanics, but the bland setting and characters. Those were the things that got me into HM in the first place, and NPCs are my top priority when considering games. Nowadays there are plenty of simulator games that focus on farming or other gameplay, and they can get really detailed, but I like the feeling that I live in actual place and building relationships. Olive Town just seems lacking in that aspect compared to a lot of the other games in the franchise.
That said, that's just my personal tastes and is admittedly based on expectations from previous games. You raise a good point about farming mechanics. That is the core of the gameplay after all. Some games (both from SoS/HM and others) can make it too shallow or too complicated, but it sounds like Olive Town does manage to strike a good balance. The main complaint I see are the number of makers involved. I do like seeing the products you can make, but having so many can feel more like a factory than a farm.
All that aside, I think getting it through Humble Choice or another bundle is probably one of the best deals if anyone wants to play it. I actually was tempted by it since I wouldn't pay full price for it, but none of the other games interest me. I'll still recommend looking at the other remakes though if someone's new to the franchise. Grand Bazaar and A Wonderful Life have some particularly unique mechanics, with the bazaar in GB and hybrid crops in AWL.
That's interesting, thanks for sharing. I have always found the NPCs to be pretty hit or miss in all farming sim games, and for reasons I can't quite pinpoint, I don't like the NPCs in Stardew Valley at all, they feel almost oppressive to me. Harvest Moon always seems to have a variety of quirky and tropey characters, and I didn't find this entry much different from others I've played (aside maybe from the really out there characters - there isn't anyone too odd). That probably explains a lot of the differences between your expectations and mine.
I never played the old console games, but my SIL has, and I don't think I could ever get into them myself. The mechanics look so clunky and it took her forever to do anything, and the graphics really sucked (and I still play PS1 games from the original disc - I'm not typically a graphics snob). I imagine a lot of her attachment to the games is nostalgia and comfort with the characters and setting, much like you describe, but as an outsider it is pretty baffling! I play on an older but still serviceable PC, and I appreciate the mechanics in Olive Town that let me get around quickly (moped) and visit whomever. I'll note too that in some version of the DLC (my version came with this), there are islands with villagers from other games, none of whom I know personally, but my SIL got excited about them. So that may be one bone for the nostalgia folks, though I don't know if that's a good or bad thing based on execution! Overall I found Olive Town very satisfying as a farming sim, especially because I like being the anti-social curmudgeon outside town obsessively micromanaging their turnip harvest...
For the first time in a while, I can justify $15 for the pack. My friend wants us to get into V Rising as a sort of group play with larger objectives. I was interested in and recommended Caravan SandWitch, seems like a chill, cruise around type game. Strange it was 89% rating and dropped to 67% recent. I can only assume folks got it in the bundle, not directly interested in the premise but still tried it, then didn't like it?
Can't say I'm interested in the others though.
Caravan SandWitch got review bombed because the developer said something anti-Charlie Kirk after he was killed, I believe (I have not looked up the post myself).
Thank you for the clarification! A targeted attack makes way more sense than that many dissatisfied new players.
I really enjoyed Caravan Sandwitch on the PS5 when it first came out. Im always looking for games that utilize cars in some way. The physics arent great, youre not gonna be overlanding like in snowrunner but its still all very cozy and enjoyable and tells a cute little story.
Ive heard lots of good stuff about Cryptmaster and V Rising and have wanted to play the System Shock remake for a while so i might finally resub to choice for this month...
Thank you for the sweet graph/guide!
Quick grab for everything for me this month, and have already spent some time playing Cryptmaster after hearing good things about it.
Enjoying it so far, the sense of humor in responses to what you input appeals to my taste.
I played V Rising 1.0 in coop (custom server). I'm surprised that I really like it - I don't like survival games (like Minecraft or Valheim) in general.