Humble Bundle’s monthly subscription service offers users a mystery bundle of curated games each month for a low price. How do you decide if the service is worth subscribing to?

Each month, I analyze Humble Monthly’s latest bundle to determine if the subscription that month was worth it. You can find all the Humble Monthly reviews, including the latest, right here.

The Humble Monthly game subscription program just entered its seventh month with the release of May’s bundle. This mysterious bundling service acts very similar to Loot Crate, but for digital games. On the first Friday of each month, subscribers receive a curated bundle of PC games for a set price of $12. However, the contents of each bundle are unknown beforehand and you can only access that month’s bundle if you subscribe ahead of time. The only clue as to what each monthly bundle will contain is the announced preorder bonus game(s), which early subscribers gain immediate access to. The fee is paid on a per month basis; there is no discount for subscribing for longer periods of time, and you can stop your subscription at any time.

This service is a divergence from Humble Bundle’s typical business model of selling game bundles whose contents are publicized before they are purchased. These “traditional” bundles come in three different price tiers, with the amount you pay determining the number of games you receive.

Since Humble Monthly’s inception in October 2015, the number of subscribers has steadily grown to 70,000 as of February 2016. With bundles featuring a wide variety of both indie and AAA titles, subscribers receive an average of about seven to eight games each month. The bundles have evolved to include the occasional “Sneak Peak” at a game still in development as well as “Humble Original” indie games developed exclusively for subscribers.

But the question is: are these bundles worth the $12 subscription fee? Are the bundled games even any good? As an avid PC gamer with an ever-growing Steam library, I have been subscribed to five of the seven months this service has been available and have been paying close attention to each month’s offerings. From a purely monetary standpoint, subscribers definitely get the bundled games at a very heavy discount.

Often times the $12 subscription price is a great discount for just the preorder bonus game(s) alone. Using the preorder bonus they announce ahead of time is a good method to determine if you want to pay for that month’s mystery bundle or not. For example, if you have had your eye on trying out Mad Max (May’s preorder bonus), it is probably worth paying an all-time low $12 for a game with a retail price tag of $60. And that’s not even taking into consideration the other six to seven games you get in the bundle.

Using data from Is There Any Deal, I have highlighted in the following table the bundled games offered for each month, their total MSRP value, and the total of each game’s lowest recorded price on Steam.

$103.94

$29.04

But just because the average price per game in a bundle is cheap doesn’t mean that Humble Monthly is for everyone. The types of games offered each month are akin to a typical traditional Indie Humble Bundle. While each monthly bundle includes at least one game from a high-profile studio, these games are not usually new releases, so don’t plan on seeing Far Cry Primal or Dark Souls 3 in these bundles anytime soon. A decently large portion of the offered games tend to be smaller, lesser known titles and sometimes quite niche games titles such as NEON STRUCT or I Am Bread. These bundles include a wide variety of game genres and game types. So if you only enjoy playing very specific genres, each month could be very hit or miss depending on your preferences.

Another thing to consider is the size of your current PC game library. If you have already a very exhaustive game collection from buying traditional Humble Bundles or from Steam sales, you may already have some of the titles offered. If that is the case, the games are not wasted since you can send unused keys to friends. But that isn’t exactly the purpose of a service like this and you may find yourself disappointed by the offerings.

In my opinion, I find the mystery of what games you are going to get each month a large part of the appeal of being a subscriber. Every first Friday of the month I find myself eagerly awaiting the release of the bundle to see what new games I got. Even with a large Steam library, I’ve only received a handful of games that I already own. If you are open to trying out a variety of different games and are interested in expanding your gaming experiences, these monthly bundles are a great deal both from a content standpoint as well as a monetary one.

Much to my delight, I have received games that were already on my Steam wish list. These bundles also helped me to discover some hidden gems I would never have known about otherwise. However for every game I’ve received that I was interested in, there were just as many games that I couldn’t care less about. It is a risk that you have to take as a subscriber to a service like this. Some months I feel I got a great deal, while others I am disappointed. While some games I don’t plan on ever playing, most months have included at least a couple of titles that I have greatly enjoyed.

Ultimately you have to make the call if Humble Monthly bundles are something you want to subscribe to. If you are a Steam power user with more games in your library than days in the year then these bundles might be worth passing over. If you are very interested in the preorder bonus or want to explore different types of games you might not have heard about before, then this service is probably worth considering. Or if you’re like me and like to take risks despite having an already huge backlog, then Humble Monthly is a great fit!

The views expressed in this article explicitly belong to the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of, nor should be attributed to, App Trigger or FanSided as an organization.