The Indie Royale bundles are a sort of "pay-what-you-want," but there is a minimum price. The catch is that the minimum price increases as more bundles are sold. But, paying above the minimum will lower the minimum price for others. The choice is intriguing and I'm not sure how well it's going to work. Early purchases are clearly encouraged if you want a low price, but what about latecomers who also want a low price? 

The minimum-lowering mechanic is even more interesting. I don't know how much altruism high-spenders will have when there is no charitable component involved. Supporting indie developers is great, of course, but will that be enough to encourage a lot of high-above-the-minimum purchases? Luckily, it won't take long to get some idea of how the system is working. Indie Royale promises to launch new bundles every two weeks; the next three bundles are already teased on the site. 

The first bundle, the Launch Bundle, is definitely worth a purchase. For a few dollars (started at $2 minimum but is now around $4 minimum), you'll get A.R.E.S. Extinction Agenda, Gemini Rue, Sanctum, and Nimbus. All four games are Windows-only at the moment, but Steam and Desura keys are available. At the moment, Gemini Rue does not have a Steam key (but will after the bundle's conclusion) and Sanctum does not have a Desura key. Additionally, every 10,000 purchases, one piece of Sanctum DLC will be added to all bundles.

With 4.5 days left, 18,000 Launch Bundles have been purchased. I managed to purchase my bundle way back around #25, thanks to Twitter and Rock, Paper, Shotgun. As for the games, Sanctum is the only one I previously owned. Sanctum is a bit lacking in content, but enjoyable...in co-op; the single player can get very dull. I've also not been a fan of Sanctum's DLC structure/pricing/strategy, but it will be nice to get some of that DLC through Indie Royale.