If you loved Baldur

As Richard Nixon famously remarked, “We are all Dungeons and Dragons guys now.” The popularity of stuff like Critical Role and the fact the government mandates we all have, at minimum, one Baldur’s Gate 3 tattoo now means absolutely everyone is at least a little Faerûn-pilled these days. And if you’re desperately hungry for more D&D content, then, well, you should probably not actually pick up Humble’s latest bundle. Sorry.

Unless you’re cool, anyway. Look, I’ll level with you: the games Humble’s lined up for the Dungeons and Dragons: Classic Collection are the definition of crusty. We’re talking good old glory-days early ’90s RPGs, here, smothered in UI, often obtuse, and always clunky. If you loved BG3 so much you tried to play BG1 and 2 but bounced off, you ain’t seen nothing till you try these puppies.

Most of these aren’t RPGs in the sense you understand it now, mind. The majority of them are dungeon crawlers, with a kingdom management sim chucked in for good measure. Most of them have more in common with a Legend of Grimrock than a Baldur’s Gate.

But if you’re in the mood for some videogame archaeology? A trip to see the classics? You could do much worse. For $10 (£7.40), Humble will flog you 13 games that are, in reality, 30 games: many of them are bundles themselves, you see—multiple ancient games thrown together into singular collections.

Buying the lot will net you:

• Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection One
• Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Two
• Silver Box Classics
• Dungeons & Dragons: Krynn Series
• Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Sun Series
• Dungeons & Dragons: Ravenloft Series
• Fantasy Empires
• Spelljammer: Pirates of Realmspace
• Forgotten Realms: The Archives – Collection Three
• Al-Qadim: The Genie’s Curse
• Dungeons & Dragons – Stronghold: Kingdom Simulator
• DragonStrike
• DeathKeep

Meanwhile, forking over a mere $5 (£3.70) will still net you the games in bold. Should you do it? Let me give you a definite maybe. The fact of the matter is for the average BG3-lover on the hunt for their next fix of Faerûn, this ain’t gonna do it. But if you’re a brave Indiana Jones of videogames? Someone unafraid to plumb the depths of the old and the shopworn? Well, it’s like $10. You can easily wring $10 of baffling deaths out of 30 games in 13 packages.

One of Josh’s first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he’s been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He’ll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin’s Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you’re all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.