I have been thinking about this for a while now. How can we help ld’ers get some money for their efforts making games?

Ludum Bundle

With the popularity of indie bundles still rising, and considering the high amount of games developer for each LD, I believe this is an excellent choice. Why not pack a couple of entries together and sell them for an inexpensive price?

Selection

I know there are games are aren’t worth anything. Also I know there are developers who don’t care about their games (those who get 0 coolness in the competition). So only the post-compo or HD editions of the games will be qualified for the bundles, proving that the developer cared about his game so much that she released a new fixed version with improvements, and in some cases, new features.

Categories

There are some categories that comes to my mind, for packing games together:

• Innovative. Games that present uniques mechanics (so the classic platformers are out of this category).
• By Technology. Games made in Flash, Unity3D. HTML5, can be pack together.
• Music. Games using music as a part of its mechanic are placed here.
• Hidden Gems. Games that didn’t make to top ranking, but the developers released a new version based on the feedback.

As for the categories, there are obviously more to be explored. It’s important to keep in mind: as a buyer, what will I want to buy? What will I be looking for?

Can a game be in more than 1 bundle? Yes. If you have made an innovative game in Unity3D, it can be in both bundles. So a category is more like a tag for a game.

Pricing

How much to charge for these games? I think the Humble Bundle approach is the best, and let the buyer provide the amount. Some of that money should be send to Ludum Dare for the costs related to the store.

So, what do you think? Do you believe this is achievable?