As the holiday season is already in full swing and Christmas is right around the corner, I have been in a spirited mood as of late. No doubt many people like the holidays because of the gifts they’ll receive (I know love it for that reason), but an equal or greater number of people like to give more than receive. As 2011 comes to an end, we as gamers can help out those that really need it this holiday season, and we can score some truly amazing games in the process.

So What is the Humble Indie Bundle?

The Humble Indie Bundle is a collection of indie video games that are grouped together to purchase. Buyers can pay any amount they want for these PC/Mac games, with up to 100% of the proceeds going to charities like Child’s Play or The American Red Cross. And if you so choose, you can give some of that cash to the developers of the game’s themselves.

So you can pay one penny for a group of games if you want? Yeah, that’s right. You can also pay $10, or $100, or $6,500 which is the current highest amount paid at the time of this writing. So how much money have gamers brought in by purchasing the Humble Indie Bundle for charity? Well, as of now, there have been over 350,400 bundles sold. And with 6 days left, that number’s only going to rise.

What Games Do I get?

As the name implies, the Humble Indie Bundle is a collection of indie games. These games are actually still quite good, though they aren’t as highly marketed or budgeted as your Call of Dutys or Skyrims. Here’s the complete list of games in the Humble Indie Bundle 4:

If you’re feeling especially generous, which you should because this makes the deal even sweeter, you can get two extra games! If you donate more than the average dollar amount (which hovers around $5.15) you get two extra games with the above mentioned titles:

And if THAT wasn’t a sweet enough deal, the bundle creators have tacked on EVEN MORE GAMES if you again donate more than the average amount:

Holy crap that’s a lot of games! And all of it for whatever YOU want to pay! I really can’t stress enough how great of a deal this is. Not only are these games some of the best games you’ve probably never played, but most all of the proceeds are going to charity. You really can’t pass this up!

Still Not Convinced?

If that isn’t enough for you then your Grinch-like heart may need to grow three sizes this season. I’m kidding of course, but believe it or not there’s even MORE to the package! Perhaps the best part about these titles is that you’re given a code to download them all through Steam. All the games can be downloaded directly as well, and for the PC, Mac, or Linux, and they can all be downloaded on any number of machines any number of times.The Humble Indie Bundle team has even included links to download the soundtrack of every game for free as well.

Well, I hope you’ve learned a little something about the greatness that is the fourth Humble Indie Bundle. As a gamer myself, I think this is such a fantastic idea because it not only gives gamers the chance to play some great games, but it also gives back tons of money to those in need. And really that’s the best feeling you can get during this time of year. So get in the holiday spirit and the mood of giving and donate whatever you can to the Humble Indie Bundle group, and reward yourself with plenty of games to keep you and your loved ones warm this holiday season.

Game On,
Jsick