Score Six Soviet Freebies In the Russian Indie Bundle

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Score Six Soviet Freebies In the Russian Indie Bundle


The first-ever Russian Indie Bundle aims to shine a spotlight on indie game developers in the Motherland.

The indie game bundle scene is pretty crowded these days but (and this will probably come as no surprise to some of you) I couldn't resist giving this one a little love. The Russian Indie Bundle is a collection of six games from - you guessed it - Russia, a nation still committed to the PC as a gaming platform and, more importantly, with a decidedly non-Western attitude about what constitutes a good time.

Here's what you get: Flyborg, in which you use a laser-armed robot to kill spiders and save flies from their webs; The Light, a post-apocalyptic "Last Man On Earth" journey that the developers say is not a game but an "experience"; The Kite, a point-and-click adventure about the post-Soviet experiences of a woman with an abusive, alcoholic husband and a missing child; Dungelot, a casual dungeon romp that I think is actually fairly well-known to Western gamers; Astrodude, a fairly straightforward platformer; and Transition, a sci-fi adventure of some sort, although it's trickier than the rest to nail down since it's the only one that's not available in English.

In fact, neither is the Russian Indie Bundle website at the moment. The Twitter account says that the English site will be online "within the next days" but in the meantime, if you want these games now you're going to have to wrestle with a little Cyrillic. The links are clear enough, though, so it's not too much of a challenge, and if you're really a fan of Russian videogames then you won't be happy unless you're struggling with it anyway.

The Russian Indie Bundle is apparently going to run for 30 days so you've got lots of time to grab whatever interests you, and since it's all free there's no reason not to snag everything. All of the games can be downloaded directly, Flyborg and The Kite can also be had through Desura and Dungelot is available for Mac, Android and iOS devices as well as the PC.

Source: Indie Statik [http://russianbundle.ru/]


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Zombie_Moogle

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Is it just me, or is all Russian art incredibly dreary?

No disrespect; I actually enjoy the style a lot, but I can't say I've seen much from Eastern Europe that doesn't share that trait

Is that just Russian art's typical style or am I missing something here?
 

Karoshi

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Zombie_Moogle said:
Is it just me, or is all Russian art incredibly dreary?

No disrespect; I actually enjoy the style a lot, but I can't say I've seen much from Eastern Europe that doesn't share that trait

Is that just Russian art's typical style or am I missing something here?
Not all Russian artist draw like that (lots of great sci-fi and fantasy artists which use vibrant colour), but the pop-culture style is dominated by dreary tones. It's grey and pessimistic, but at the same time it helps to highlight the good parts about life.

This bundle makes me foam at mouth and I positively can't wait to play it.
 

Voren

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As a Russian I highly appreciate this article! WOOOOO more games to the always increasing piles of games to play and beat!
 

JamesBr

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Nov 4, 2010
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Russia has such an interesting sense of style. I can't wait to pick up this bundle.
 

lacktheknack

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Holy crap, right when I start to gear up to learn Russian.

Talk about a sign!
 

The

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lacktheknack said:
Holy crap, right when I start to gear up to learn Russian.

Talk about a sign!
Is sign from Motherland. You learn Russian. They have chosen you, Knackski/ov/in.
 

Dalisclock

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Zombie_Moogle said:
Is it just me, or is all Russian art incredibly dreary?

No disrespect; I actually enjoy the style a lot, but I can't say I've seen much from Eastern Europe that doesn't share that trait

Is that just Russian art's typical style or am I missing something here?
I suspect a good 70 years of soviet oppression probably has a bit to do with that. Yeah, I know, the cold war ended 20 years ago but you don't just shake off nearly a century of dytopian police state horror overnight.
 

FredTheUndead

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Dalisclock said:
Zombie_Moogle said:
Is it just me, or is all Russian art incredibly dreary?

No disrespect; I actually enjoy the style a lot, but I can't say I've seen much from Eastern Europe that doesn't share that trait

Is that just Russian art's typical style or am I missing something here?
I suspect a good 70 years of soviet oppression probably has a bit to do with that. Yeah, I know, the cold war ended 20 years ago but you don't just shake off nearly a century of dytopian police state horror overnight.
It's not just the Soviets though, Russia has been a traditionally cynical state. Indeed many people in Russia look back on those days with fondness, and not without reason (this is obviously not a black and white issue).

That said, there is a distinctly Communist reason this opened today: it's May Day [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCFibtD3H_k].
 

BlackStar42

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Zombie_Moogle said:
Is it just me, or is all Russian art incredibly dreary?

No disrespect; I actually enjoy the style a lot, but I can't say I've seen much from Eastern Europe that doesn't share that trait

Is that just Russian art's typical style or am I missing something here?
The Russians live in a frozen version of Mordor, they're not known to be the cheeriest bunch. Recently they've also had to put up with Depardieu, a fate I wouldn't wish an anyone. Even the French.
 

T3hSource

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Zombie_Moogle said:
Is it just me, or is all Russian art incredibly dreary?

No disrespect; I actually enjoy the style a lot, but I can't say I've seen much from Eastern Europe that doesn't share that trait
Well, what do you expect from the 'European ghetto'? All Slavic countries share this dreary tone.
Even if it's scorching hot summer and nature is lively, everyone here in Bulgaria is still struggling to pay their taxes and needs, falling into debt is incredibly easy if you're not financially savvy.

The only good thing about summer is that you don't have to pay for heating, but a good 6 month Russian winter in the north changes that completely.
 

Bug MuIdoon

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Nice! Looking forward to playing The Light and The Kite. I'll give Transition a go too. It's a good job I can read a little русский язык
 

Prince Regent

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Sounds fun though I think ill wait until the English release.
Anyway to get everyone started on some Russian craziness, here's a late soviet era animation for you all to enjoy.

Oh and its called: "His wife is a hen"