My thoughts on Indiegala bundles and why they are popular
Different than Humble Bundle, which most of the time offer big titles especially in its monthly packs. Indiegala focuses on Games by smaller teams. Indiegala bundles are cheaper but not always worth the price. Looking at them as a whole they're kind of a mixed bag.
Gone are the days when Steam was the platform of quality. Years ago Valve had ensured every game on its platform has a good value, but as the years gone by, that proved hard to handle. Even the community-based Steam Greenlight got abused until it caused the project to lose its purpose, ultimately replaced by another system. Valve allowed increasingly weaker games on the platform. Nowadays most Steam games are projects made by small budget teams, being a platform of quantity instead.
in 2017 alone, 20 games are released on Steam almost every single day.
Some consider that a good thing. Sometimes I too think so. As itch.io proved, even totally unappealing games have their own audience. That however, flooded Steam with low-quality Games. The competition there made small budget Game Development less of career and more of a gamble.
Indiegala supports these small games and while it doesn't seem so. Bundles by Indiegala usually contain some hidden gems. I was excited to know "We are the Dwarves" was in Indiegala bundle, even if it's not my type of a game. It deserves its $24.9 Steam price tag for its audience, and I got "Majesco Throwback" the moment I heard Double Dragon Neon is in it.
Indiegala Home Page (September first Week.)
So, I consider Indiegala bundles a good thing.
But who gets the most enjoyment of bundles provided there?
Who would love Indiegala bundles?
I thought about it and I think these kinds of people would enjoy getting almost every Indiegala bundle. (Almost, because Indiegala sometimes does re-bundles, and sometimes have bundles for certain gamers that even those won't buy everything.) So in no particular order:
- Game Collectors
There are Collectors for many things. Some want to reach the maximum level in their games. Some love collect game items, other strive for achievements/Trophies. Indiegala game collectors just want more games in their Steam account. If you're a trader you'll have more trust from people who don't know you when they see your game count. (Of course, you can make that private in the settings.)
- Card/Badge Collectors
Some players like to have badges and that means they need to collect & trade cards to complete the sets an earn badges. It's the only way to raise your Steam level and while being level 50 or above requires too much dedication & being under that level isn't much useful. For those people, it's a challenge! Gamers love the challenge.
There's also the idlers who get games just to open them to get their Steam cards and sell them to Card Collectors on Steam Market. Maybe sell them on Steamlvup for CSGO keys that they can trade for games later.
- VR (Virtual Reality) Game Collectors
I don't know much about the VR scene to talk about this. Indiegala occasionally offers bundles for VR players and some of these players only buy these bundles from Indiegala. Most of those guys, however, are also categorized as the next type of Indiegala lovers:
- Gems Seekers
Sometimes a good game can have a bad presentation! Budget goes on level design instead of trailers and interesting features. These hidden gems are usually chosen to be bundled on Indiegala and for Gem Seekers its worth to buy each bundle just for the feeling of the hidden gem discovery!
I consider "One Last Chance" one of these,
and I got it from a bundle by Indiegala.
For developers, putting that Gem in Indiegala helps spread of through the Gem Seekers the word of mouth. If they're popular gamers, YouTubers or on @dLive. The game will sell more.
- Resellers
Some buy Indiegala bundles just to sell them on third-party sites. Buying games for this purpose is grey-area. More than one bundle sites disallow it in their TOS. Arguments about how legal or moral reselling is are various, and I see where they are coming from. Because resellers hurt publishers & developers most of the time.
Indiegala strategy supports resellers, to be honest, you get each bundle for less if you bought more of it. A reseller can then sell it at the same price as Indiegala and still profit.
As a reseller myself I don't see that I'm completely justified. But I don't have many other options so I try to be fair about it. I love games & want to support the developers. Games are made to be played and I want unbanked gamers to have a chance to buy. That's my motivation. Sorry for ranting.
- Bundle Reviewers
Those get every bundle and try every game as part of their job. They play the game and find its strong & weak points. Deciding the best type of gamers for the game and promote it for them.
Reviewing games is a respectable job!
While I do it for fun, I respect those who do it as an actual job with a set deadline.
- Legitimate People Who like a Certain Bundle.
The final type is the one that maybe buys a bundle or two from Indiegala. If they only want one game they might get it cheaper from resellers. But Indiegala is a trusted website with a reception and you can trade games you don't need without leaving the website. Indiegala at times gives bundles with "quality" you expect from HumbleBundle so keep your eyes for the next big Game they have.
Conclusion
Collectors, Gem Seekers, and Resellers
are the ones who'll enjoy Indiegala bundles the most in my opinion.
This is my answer to why Indiegala is so loved despite offering bad games (even unfinished ones) most of the time. The rare hidden gems, the cheapness and the quantity is so appealing to a huge number of people.
Indiegala already accepts some Cryptocurrencies and they do crypto only sales from time to time. That's attractive to people like me. Finally, Indiegala customer service is good too. Whenever I have a problem, they reply to my Emails usually in less than a day.
So what are your thoughts?
What's your opinion on Indiegala? Do you think I missed anything?
If you have something on your mind, just comment it. I love reading what people think about my posts even if they don't like it.
I also have a store I want to update. Started a contest for suggestions on improving it.