Digital scarcity is an interesting concept. There should be no logical limit on how many times you can copy a file or generate a key, some places seem to just run out of stock anyway. That’s a deliberate decision on part of the Indie Gala managers for this pay-what-you-want (kinda) sale, as rather than have a time limit, this particular sale will end with 50,000 bundles sold. In addition, there’s three different bundles available here, offering 3, 5 or 11 games respectively. Oh, and like the enormously successful Humble Bundles, a chunk of the takings goes to charity. Lots of choices. Hit the break for a quick run-down of what each bundle and game offers.

The 2011 phenomenon that is Bundlemania continues unabated into the much more futuristic-sounding 2012. Sneaking in out of nowhere, Indie Royale is back with a ‘bonus’ bundle comprised entirely of Serious Sam games, including the whole third-party indie series, including Vlambeer’s Serious Sam: The Random Encounter and Mommy’s Best Games’ Serious Sam: Double D. As usual, the base price (otherwise pay-what-you-want) is going to creep up – now is the time to snap this lot up for cheap.

And here we are. Thirteen days later, probably weighed down with a few more games and a few dollars lighter. It’s been really heartening to see tiny indie productions sitting in the top 5 sellers on Steam alongside mega-budget giants these past few weeks. It’s good to see PC gaming going back to it’s roots, at least in part. I guess there really is room for innovation in both design and business model, and this sale has been ample proof. Here’s the last of the indie lineups. Time to put your chips down on the last Steam bargains of 2011.

Just one more day after this. Tomorrow, the last batch of festive achievements and daily deals will roll into play, followed by a ‘best of’ compilation of final day deals on January 1st. Between indie bundles and the Steam autumn/winter sales, this has been a rather noteworthy season for the PC games industry. Despite the grand push by the console giants to make $60 (or €70 – closer to $90 for European types) the new base price for gaming , the repeated and proud success stories of those willing to drop prices and bring in a wider audience tell us a greater truth; Gaming has vast markets yet untapped. Here’s today’s notable indie tappings:

It’s funny to think that not too long ago, a plethora of industry figures were declaring PC games either dead or dying. Now we have tiny indie games from one or two-person studios sitting high in the Steam top sellers list right alongside the latest Ubisoft or EA-published mega-budget blockbuster. Rumors of the death of PC gaming were, apparently greatly exaggerated, with the figures showing now that not only is business good, but more varied and flexible than ever before. We’re entering a new era here – here’s today’s discounted heralds of the Next Age on Steam:

The festive buzz begins to fade – in part due to dwindling booze reserves already heavily depleted by family gatherings. Without the guiding light of alcohol, we’re just going to have to turn to that everpresent fallback for our daily endorphin boost; videogames – and the retail therapy so closely tied to them. Just a few days left to hoard for spring, and today is a big one – here’s the indie picks of the day:

Back to everyday life for many of us today, until the looming spectre of New Years revelry decends upon us. With a multitude of indie bundles coming to a close in the next day or two, plus this sale continuing for another week, I’m sure a great many studios are celebrating a very wealthy holiday indeed. Us consumers get to be poor but happy, buried under a pile of games. Here’s today’s indie picks:

And a merry Smissmas to one and all. Today is the day to be avoiding relatives, tinkering with your presents and generally being vaguely antisocial after any unavoidable big meals. Here I am in front of my computer with a glass of rum in one hand and a chocolate in the other and typing all the while! The world keeps on turning, though, and the Steam sale doesn’t stop for anybody. Here’s today’s indie picks of the day:

It’s officially The Holidays now. Most of you have managed to crawl away from your place of work, paycheques proudly in hand, ready to fling them cartoonishly at your monitor while shouting slightly tired memes. Between sales, review copies and people being insane enough to just randomly gift me games, my Steam game list – and in turn, my backlog of stuff to play – has reached absurd lengths. With so many games, what’s a few more? Here’s today’s wave of indie discounts and challenges:

2011 may also be remembered as the year where time became more of an issue than money. With such an amazing deluge of games in every price bracket – including free – almost everyone I know has found themselves having to put more thought into how they budget their time, rather than their spending. Along come those great big meanies at Valve and all their indie minions to make that job just a little bit harder – it’s time for more games! Indie daily deals and thoughts after the break.