Guide to November's Humble Choice Part Two

As we all know, Humble Choice is a bundle that releases every month offering the buyer a choice between 10+ games. Those that were not fortunate enough to be subscribed to Humble Bundle before the Choice update are now limited to either three or nine of the games, with the basic plan costing £10.99/$14.99 and the Premium £14.65/$19.99.

My wife and I thankfully are blessed to have been active subscribers for years and own the classic plan, allowing us to choose all of the games. We are here to assist you with which ones you might want to pick up. Here is part two for the month of November! (You can read part one here.)

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Steam price: £11.39/$14.99
Very Positive (2,828; 94%)
Average Playtime: ~2 hours

Turnip Boy is a 2D adventure game with pixel graphics that plays similarly to the old The Legend of Zelda games.

In Turnip Boy you play as the antichrist himself.

Okay, that's an exaggeration, but it might as well not be for the kid is an absolute demon. The story setting has you ripping up a tax claim, to which the mayor just nags you and says you're now his assistant. You are sent on quests for him and you are allowed to wreak havoc, ranging from stealing a watering can from an elder to just ripping up any piece of paper that crosses your path.

The game was surprisingly comical—something I wasn’t expecting. Turnip Boy runs rampant doing as he pleases, killing snails and farm animals (which are somehow the same size) and then when you eat a heart? He burps.

The gameplay works smoothly, with some interesting choices in the enemies that you fight.

Should you claim it?: Turnip Boy is a very short game, and if it's something you're interested in, the best way to get it without having to fork over too much money for roughly a two hour campaign would be to get it through Humble Choice if there is anything else in the assortment you want. The gameplay is fun enough, however the short playtime had me struggling to recommend it.

SimpleRockets 2

Steam price: £11.39/$14.99
Very Positive (1,285; 92%)
Average Playtime: N/A

SimpleRockets 2 is a simulation sandbox game that lets you build rockets and fly them out into space.

Okay, remember how in the first part I said I didn't care for planes? That's even more true for rockets. I like astronauts; I think they're cool and I don't believe anyone that tells me they didn't want to be an astronaut at least once in their life. But rockets? I really couldn't care less about them.

That being said, I booted up SimpleRockets 2, and I decided to delve into the art of creating my own rocket and flying it out into orbit. Let me tell you, the game lied to me; the rockets aren't simple at all.

I messed around with them, fixed up my own rocket (or rather, the tutorial one) and then I flew up into space following the instructions which just... led me to outer space. And from there? I just stared at the screen trying to remember what I was taught at all. If I thought Wingspan's tutorial was complicated, oh boy did I underestimate "Simple"Rockets 2.

Rage-filled joking aside, SimpleRockets 2 has a wonderful array of customisation that is astounding. I really wish I cared for this game; it would offer tons of customisations to spend several hundred hours on, and I think the game deserves credit for that—even if I didn't take full advantage of it.

Should you claim it?: I know there is definitely going to be an audience for the game, don't get me wrong. It just simply isn't for me. The prospect of building rockets and flying them into outer space didn't spark joy in me. That being said, if you are a rocket enthusiast, care at all for them, and want to learn about these sorts of things, this game is worth a shot!

Timelie

Steam price: £13.99/$17.99
Overwhelmingly Positive (1,233; 96%)
Average Playtime: ~6 hours

Timelie is a puzzle strategy game where you play as both a girl and her cat.

Okay, Timelie is difficult to explain, but bear with me: You play as a girl that can sort of control time once after picking up a floating, glowing cube that you can then use to repair anything that is damaged. This is used as an obstacle to force you to manoeuvre around the robotic guards to get to the cube, rewind time to fix the bridge, and then reach the ending of the puzzle.

After a couple of levels, you are introduced to your second playable character, Mr. Mittens (That's not his official name, but in my heart, it is) who has the special power of.. meowing—and it's surprisingly useful.

The puzzles grow ever more complicated as you must use the cat to lure the guards into positions to allow the girl to get from point A to point B, and both characters have to make it safely to the end of the level for it to finish.

It's honestly easier than it sounds, but definitely can be challenging when missing one or two things. And although I am rather indifferent to puzzle games, this one has thus far been wonderful; I just wish it had more of a story to make the game feel better rounded out.

Should you claim it?: Yes! If you like puzzle games and the lack of story (or rather, aggressively cryptic one) doesn't deter you, this game had some very unique puzzles that had me scratching my head, and the capability to play as two characters at once was a welcome and unique mechanic. I really loved it!

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin

Steam price: £13.99/$17.99
Very Positive (1,047; 86%)
Average Playtime: ~4 hours

WRATH: Aeon of Ruin (WRATH henceforth) is a retro FPS that is very reminiscent of old-school Doom and Quake.

I checked the Steam page for WRATH and the first thing I see? The final line: “You will not survive…”

"You dare blaspheme against me?" I spat back at the Steam page, as I aggressively launched the game, proceeded to start it in the hardest difficulty, enter an area I'm not supposed to enter because the Hub world lets you enter whichever portal you want in whatever order, and then —of course—died. Defeated, I raised my white flag in surrender to KillPixel—for now.

WRATH is a hard game that lets you enter whichever world you want at the Hub called Mourningvale (Not to be confused with Morningvale, the happier version), and that can be a good thing for those that are daring and want to just jump into the action wherever. However, as a five-year-old child that needs guidance at every corner, I entered the world I thought looked the prettiest, Spoopy Deku Tree, and proceeded to die. I reduced the difficulty to Normal, actually went to the first level of the game (or the one I presume is) and got to playing.

I'm not going to lie, WRATH quickly earned my heart and love. I played through the first world, I got lost a lot because... well, read the above five-year-old comment, and had a blast.

Should you claim it?: Without a doubt in my mind. If you like Doom, or retro shooters in general, WRATH: Aeon of Ruin does an outstanding job at being exactly that; fast-paced, gory fun. And with its latest update having been the 25th of October, I think it's safe to say it hasn't been abandoned yet.

Möbius Front '83

Steam price: £13.99/$17.99
Mostly Positive (222; 76%)
Average Playtime: Inconclusive (Steam hours range anywhere from 3-50, HLTB doesn't have data on the game)

Möbius Front '83 is a military turn-based tactics game set in the Cold War where you play as American soldiers fighting against a very unique enemy: America from an alternate universe.

If that sounds hilarious, it definitely is. I feel that reading that truly encompassed everything America is, and more!

Jokes aside, Möbius Front '83's turn-based tactics are from a top-down view with a hexagonal grid—and I hate hexagonal grids. It honestly didn't feel as clunky as in last month's John Wick Hex, but not being able to walk straight up still stands as a problem in this game.

One thing I do want to praise, however, is the game's AI. I entered all high and mighty, fighting aggressively on the first level only to get decimated. I swiftly learned that the AI doesn't make mistakes easily, and that's a great thing! Instead of feeling like I could just blindly run-and-gun the enemy, I actually put thought into my moves. The AI isn't flawless though, with several moves that would essentially kill their unit at no gain. Alas, it isn't quite perfect, but it was difficult enough for me to enjoy it.

The game also has a PvP mode that allows you to play against your Steam friends once you've finished the campaign—which is great because I can imagine the game might be very fun against people you know. One thing that I do think is important to say is that the main story feels very forced, with the Private and his cheesy dialogue lines such as "We're close, I can feel it, man. S#!%'s gonna hit the fan," to which the Private First Class answers "F$#%er comes back from 'Nam, now he's some mystical war prophet." So yeah, that was bad.

Aside from the story, however, the game plays well, with some nice eye-catching aesthetics that I felt really complemented the game.

Should you claim it?: I catch myself saying this a lot this month, but if you don't care for the story and are in it for the turn-based tactics, I think Möbius Front '83 is a good contender. That being said, since I don't have a lot of expertise in this area, I can't safely say how good or bad the game performs against others of the same genre.

November's assortment feels like a rather weak one. That isn't to say that all of the games in the bundle were atrocious, and it definitely caught me off-guard how many of these felt merely... okay.

That being said, House Flipper, Project Wingman, and WRATH: Aeon of Ruin did carry the bundle, and if any of those three games are something you're interested in, I certainly recommend picking up this month. If you do, please remember to use our affiliate link, it would mean the world to us!

What did you think of the list of games this month? Were you disappointed that there were only 10? Did you only pick up the bundle because of House Flipper, and gift the rest of the keys to your friends? Let us know in the comments below. And remember to stay awesome!