I don't know how many of my readers are gamers, and of those how many of you like indie puzzle-type games and donating to charity. As you may know, I like both of those things, so I can give my highest kudos to this year's Humble Indie Bundle. It's a super-cool idea--you set your price and give a portion of the purchase price to charity. You can even give all of it to charity if you want.
This year's pack includes Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans. I can testify that Braid and Machinarium are worth your time (though I suspect you will enjoy Braid more if you try to ignore the text and focus on the puzzles, because hoo boy, there are some attitudes evident in that game that make me want to punch people's teeth out of their heads). I'm not familiar with the other titles, but if you buy the pack, let me know if they're any good!
Even if you don't want video games, you should donate to charity now anyway. Donating to charity is awesome.
On a somewhat related note, check out my friend Sardius's post about Braid's international box art. It includes a special surprise!
I picked it up yesterday!
I played a bit of Osmos, which I think could get really fun, but is not very compelling as of writing. Maybe once the levels get trickier, I don't know.
Revenge of the Titans has a really cool look to it, and is basically a turret defense game. However, it doesn't function like a normal TD game because it lacks set paths for the enemy to follow. It also is kind of a frantic exercise in logistics early game, which is not really enhancing my enjoyment. I see a lot of potential, though.
I haven't played Cortex Command yet, but the art for it looks really cool. I've seen it floating around the internet for a while, and am stoked to actually play it.
This is all assuming, of course, that I get a job so I can play games without guilt. Or manage to tear myself away from Minecraft in order to do anything. Like eat.