Bundled: GOG’s Pick 5 & Pay $10

So Good Old Games makes its second appearance on Bundled, but this time, the bundle is a little different. How exactly? Read on to find out.

Remember, the rating system for Bundled is:

• PAY: Buy this bundle. There is enough offered in it to make it worth the purchase.
• PASS: Do not buy this bundle. Just not worth it.
• PAUSE: Consider if you are really going to play the games. If not, wait to see if they add enough to the bundle later to make it worthwhile.

Who Is Good Old Games?

Good Old Games was started by CD Project RED. You might remember them as the creators of The Witcher series. A little while back, they set out to create a place where gamers could go to buy DRM-free versions of retro games. Good Old Games (or GOG for short) uses programs like Dos Box to tweak the settings of these games, making sure they will work on new OSs, including XP, Windows 7 and now even Mac OS. Just recently, GOG has started carrying new games as well, still offering every game on the site with no DRM, up to and including The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

When you buy a game from Good Old Games, you are not only getting a DRM free version of the game specifically designed to run on your platform of choice, but you are often getting much more. You could be getting soundtracks, guides and other goodies that the team has assembled for fans. Basically, Good Old Games is the best place to get older PC games, and they are continuing to add to their catalog of more recent titles.

Pick 5 & Pay $10

GOG is running a bit of a different bundle this time. Instead of giving you a low price for certain specific games within its catalogue, it is giving you the option to choose from a list of more recent games. Pick out any 5 of the following games, and all you pay is $10: Resonance, Botanicula, To The Moon, Gemini Rue, Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, Blackwell Bundle, Torchlight, Uplink: Hacker Elite, Geneforge 1-5, Machinarium: Collector’s Edition, Spacechem, Defcon, Trine, Symphony, Darwinia, Mutant Mudds, Anomaly Warzone Earth, Multiwinia, Unmechanical and The Ball.

That’s right, you have 20 different choices, and as long as you can find 5 you want, you only pay $2 per game. Coming up with 5 from this list should not be that hard, not when you have the likes of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare, the downloadable game that is not quite the sequel to Alan Wake but does continue within that universe (read John Danforth’s review here). Add to that the critically acclaimed To The Moon, the award-winning Torchlight (read Chris Maeurer’s review here) and indie favorites Anomaly Warzone Earth and Machinarium, and you have quite a list of games. With all the options being offered, you should be able to find 5 you like.

The Verdict: PAY

Good Old Games seems to have a grasp on how to get people to pay for their bundles. The Interplay bundle gave gamers a chance to play a low price and get several award-winning games from a respected company. This Pick 5 & Pay $10 bundle manages to pull enough varied game experiences together to appeal to almost any gamer. I was even able to find 5 games I wanted, which considering I had already purchased about half the games offered in other bundles is actually kind of surprising.

When it comes right down to it, this bundle is all about choosing what you want. something most bundles do not allow you to do. If y0u are on the fence about it, at least take a look at the games offered and see if you can find 5 worth buying. The great thing is you do not have to limit yourself to 5; if you see 10 games you want, you can buy two bundles. The choice is yours.