Humble Monthly August 2019: Kingdom Come: Deliverance & Surviving Mars

The Humble Monthly early unlocks for August will bring you two games that are very unlike each other, except in one way: Both had a subpar reception in early 2018. Kingdom Come: Deliverance released on Feb. 13, 2018, and it featured many bugs and issues, especially on consoles. Surviving Mars released on March 15, 2018 with its share of bugs, and some reviewers thought it was too slow and boring. Fortunately, we live in the age of “patch culture” and “living games.” That means indie developers don’t give up so easily anymore after a rough launch. Instead, they roll up their sleeves and work harder to improve the game with the players’ feedback.

Humble Monthly delivers

Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a diamond in the rough, in my opinion. You play as a Czech or Bohemian young fellow called Henry of Skalitz. It’s the 15th century, a time of great political upheaval as the Holy Roman Empire goes through some transitions. After the invasion of your village by a horde of Cumans, a Turkic nomadic people who settled in Hungary, you struggle to survive. Eventually, you become an errand boy for some Bohemian lords, which involves a few challenges. It aims to be a highly realistic experience, with open-ended quests and gameplay. The final version, released recently, is much more polished and worth playing. In spite of some jank action and wonky quests, I highly recommend it, especially as part of Humble Monthly.

I haven’t played Surviving Mars, but based on its latest Steam reviews, the game has improved quite a bit, achieving an “Overwhelmingly Positive” state. It looks like the developers managed to balance the gameplay and overhaul the difficulty to make it more challenging. It seems to have some great Martian landscapes, with red mountains looming over your cities. The whole aesthetic of Martian terraforming looks pretty great, and if you’re a fan of movies like The Martian, this might be right up your alley. There is also some DLC, so you’ll probably have plenty of content. If you’re tired of city-builders set on Earth, this is the game for you.

So if you’re already a Humble Monthly subscriber, make sure to redeem these early unlock. If you’re not, you can head over to the website and unlock these two games for just $12.

Are you a Humble Monthly subscriber? Have you tried Kingdom Come or Surviving Mars before? What was your experience like? Drop your comments below and tell us what you think!