Bundle In A Box is back with another indie gaming bundle, but they’re switching things up a bit this time by teaming up with another indie resource. BIAB is partnering with indie review site Ordinary Gamer to bring gaming fans a collection of 11 different indie titles. The minimum price for the Indie Ordinary Gamer Bundle is sitting at just $1.99, and many of the included titles are available through multiple services and on different platforms.

Five games are included in the bundle for matching or beating that minimum price:

• One Finger Death Punch
• QbQbQb (which we’ve reviewed)
• Cognition Episode 1
• Saviors
• Slender 5 Pages

Those who donate more than the average price will net six additional games:

• Rooks Keep (which we’ve previewed)
• Hairy Tales
• Isaac The Adventurer
• Cognition Episode 2
• Along Came A Spider
• The Grave Digger

Bundle In A Box has long been associated with the Indie Dev Grant which helps a few lucky indie studios with the funding for their projects. For every 100 sales of this bundle, $15 goes towards that cause. This time around, BIAB is also working with the AbleGamers Charity, a group devoted to improving the quality of life for gamers with disabilities. They offer a community portal for discussing the issues surrounding the accessibility of all games, and they also provide free consultation to developers who want to make sure that everyone can play their titles. This charity will receive 30% of the net earnings from this sale.

As with all Bundle In A Box bundles, there are bonus rewards unlocked when certain sales milestones are reached.  The unlockables this time around include five soundtracks and a whole bunch of wallpapers and other artwork from the games in the bundle. Go out and help your fellow consumers earn these extras by picking up the bundle here. You can also check out trailers for each of the games included.

Try your hand at our giveaway for a chance to win a bundle, but please consider supporting the cause even if you don’t win. Spread the word using the social links on the left.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

 Made by Przemyslaw ‘rezoner’ Sikorski in HTML5, QbQbQb tasks the player with matching triplicates of differently coloured blocks around small planets with either the keyboard arrows or a gamepad. Each complete set adds points to the total score, and a new planet is unlocked once one thousand points are achieved. Gameplay starts out slow and fairly easy, matching the initially and similarly smooth, relaxing music. Inevitably as the player succeeds in completing sets and stacking combos, the music and rate of blocks increases. The size and length of the blocks also changes, leaving less space for other blocks. It’s a subtle change, almost unnoticeable until the player starts messing up. Similarly to Tetris Attack (and thusly, the Pokemon Puzzle games), unconnected blocks start adding up, penalizing the player when the stacks break through the planet’s atmosphere (the white halo surrounding the planet). Do this a certain number of times, and it’s game over.

QbQbQb Single-Player Mode

Like many of the games in the genre, QbQbQb is deceptively simple. It’s a pure challenge, addictive both due to its mechanics and aesthetic. I mean, oh boy, it’s a pretty game. The color palette is mild and unsaturated yet blooms and explodes across the screen. The more triplicates a player completes, the more starts happening, with butterflies and fireworks and flourishes like flowers in a strong breeze. The game accomplishes all this while still maintaining a relatively minimalistic art style. In conjunction with the game’s music which transitions from smooth to energetic beats, QbQbQb has simultaneously a calm and frenzied atmosphere. It’s very easy to fall into a trance-like state while playing, simply taking the opportunity to absorb the sights and sounds of it. That fact works great to transform game overs not into an irritation, but rather just another chance to enjoy the scenery all over again.

As a very neat addition, QbQbQb also has a two player mode that can be played with a single keyboard (one player using the WASD keys and the other using the arrow keys) or two gamepads. It’s pretty much the same game with two planets instead of one on the screen. It would be nice to have online play to compete against friends that don’t live locally, but that’s a rather minor complaint. The only other thing I can say disappointed me about the game is that it’s just too short! I would’ve loved even more planets with many more additions.

QbQbQb Two-Player Mode

For four dollars however, QbQbQb is a pretty great value, as the soundtrack containing all the wonderful upbeat electronic music is included with the purchase. The game is available for Windows, OSX, and Linux at rezoner’s website through a Humble Widget and will eventually arrive on Android and iOS. There’s also a playable in-browser demo available on the website.

Overall Rating: ★★★★☆ 

What does this score mean?

This game was reviewed using a copy provided by the developer for that purpose. The review was based on the Windows version.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.