I don’t know about you guys, but I have always seen gaming as a pretty solitary venture. I’ve never been one to participate in online lobbies or play multiplayer games, and for the most part, single-player games are my jam anyway.
Yet despite this, I’ve still got that craving for human connection when playing these games. I want to have someone to rant to when my favorite character dies, or someone to celebrate with when I beat that tough boss that kept caving my skull in.
Well, up until recently, when it came to indie games, your best bet would have been a Reddit forum or something as unorganized as that, but there is a new kid on the block looking to offer a port in the storm for indie fans everywhere, and that new player entering the arena is The Global Game Club, or GLUB for short. (Yes, like a fish).
What is GLUB?
To quote the website directly: ‘It’s a book club for games.’
Sure, it’s a little on the nose, but you know exactly what you’re signing up for the moment you land on the website.
But to dig in a little deeper, GLUB is a gaming book club that focuses specifically on indie games, providing a bespoke list of options for members to vote on every week or fortnight, depending on the complexity and length of the previous game, and then members play, discuss, and come together for a larger group discussion when the allotted time is up.
If you’ve ever been part of a book club, you’ll know this model pretty well, but it’s something that isn’t really an option for gamers, and even less so for indie game fans, so this idea to bring people together and create a space to discover, play and discuss games is a welcome one indeed.
What Sort of Games Are On Offer
One of the first questions you’re probably asking is, ‘Are they going to pick games that I actually enjoy?’.
Well, the good news is that the selections week-to-week are pretty varied and eclectic, meaning that there will usually be something in and around your preferred genres to choose, or if you’re feeling spicy, something completely out of left field to broaden your horizons.
GLUB sometimes will provide a theme for a particular game week, such as a ‘Free-to-Play’ week, or a ‘Re-roll’ week to give players a chance to vote for something that was outvoted before, but generally speaking, the selections tend to be a varied bunch of indie games, and I’m yet to see something pop up that I wouldn’t play.
But to give you a better understanding of what is on offer, here is a list of all the games that GLUB has selected to this point:
- Furi
- Die in the Dungeons: Origins
- In Stars and Time
- Underhero
- Chants of Sennaar
- Robodunk
- Lunacid
- Crosscode
- Sushi Soul Universe
- Pizza Tower
- Backpack Hero
- Pseudoregalia
- Neophyte
GLUB’s Standout Features
Okay, so now that you have an understanding of what GLUB is, and what sort of games you might end up playing, let’s discuss the standout features that will probably make you want to stick around when you do sign up for this group:
A Sense of Community
First and foremost, we should say that GLUB has a wonderful community of like-minded individuals, making it a very welcoming and fun place to jump into the fray and participate in conversations about any given game.
Groups like these live and die by their community, and their ability to manage a crowd and make it a hospitable place for everyone, regardless of creeds, cultures, or opinions, and it has to be said that David Sap, GLUB’s owner and chief admin, does a super job of making this the case.
From the moment I arrived in the group I felt like one of the gang. If I ever shared an opinion or had something to say, there was always a retort or an acknowledgment, so I was never left hanging whilst more established members talked amongst themselves. overall, the group of people that GLUB has cultivated is a lovely, wholesome bunch.
Got Any Games?
You may sign up for GLUB in the hope of discovering new indie games, but what you might not be expecting is that GLUB’s website has some games of its own to keep you busy on the daily.
If you visit the GLUB website, and head over to the ‘EARN’ tab, you’ll find that there is a daily game that players can jump into, and depending on your performance in said game, you can earn GLUB tokens that can be used to earn lucrative prizes that we will discuss more in a moment.
These games are about as simple as they come in terms of concept, but that’s exactly what you want when earning tokens, a simple premise, and a high score to aim for.
Take the current game ‘GLUB Chase’ for example. This is effectively a game of Snake, but who doesn’t love Snake? I used to play it on my granny’s Nokia 3310 all the time. It’s a lovely added bonus that keeps you coming back to the site every day, and as for rewards. Well, let’s talk about that!
Participation Is Rewarding
These GLUB Tokens we mentioned aren’t just some throwaway currency that you can spend on things you don’t want. These tokens are a one-way ticket to some amazing prizes, if your luck is in, that is.
GLUB regularly offers its player base the chance to win amazing prizes in a raffle format. To win, players need to earn tokens that can be earned by signing up for each game week, or by playing the game aforementioned above.
Then, with every 50 Tokens earned, players can use this to buy an entry to the competition, and if fate is in your corner, you may just get an amazing prize.
At the time of writing, a giveaway is in progress where GLUB Members can earn one of three great prizes. They are as follows:
- 1st Prize: A Steam Deck (256GB)
- 2nd Prize: One Year of Discord Nitro
- 3rd Prize: A game code for a future GLUB game of the week
As you can see, these aren’t petty prizes; they are the real deal, and if you want to be in with a chance, then you need to become part of the GLUB community!
Bragging Rights
If you’re someone who gets a kick out of Steam’s profile page, where you can earn badges, look at your achievements, and more, then you’ll probably get a kick out of your GLUB dashboard, which allows for a personal connection to GLUB, and allows you to build your profile within the group to become part of the furniture as it were.
This Dashboard sort of looks like a Trainer Card from the old GBA Pokemon games. It shows all the unique badges you have earned, such as my coveted Founder Badge for being one of the first 100 members of the community. Then, if you flip it over, you’ll see stamps showing all the different game weeks that you actively participated in.
We all get a kick out of our Spotify Wrapped every year, and other stat attacks like this, and this little feature is definitely a welcome addition that adds value to the GLUB membership.
Never Miss a Beat
As much as some of us would love to take every opportunity to play every game in existence, life often gets in the way. GLUB knows this all too well, but they wouldn’t want you to miss out on any of the action.
This is why GLUB provides an archived list of ‘Game of the Week’ conversations. It allows anyone who can’t be there to read through and add to the conversation a little later on if they have something interesting to say.
This has been an excellent option for me personally, as unless I stay up until 2 a.m., I will miss most meetings. So, this has been a way for me to stay involved without ever feeling like the last one left at the party.
Not to mention, this allows you to look at the GLUB back catalog and gain an informed set of opinions on a game you might have been considering buying, which is also pretty cool.
The Drawbacks
It wouldn’t be a review if I didn’t show both sides of the coin. So here are some potential drawbacks you may want to know about before joining GLUB:
A Tight-Knit Bunch
This is only going to be a drawback if you are someone who really thrives in a huge group setting, but for full clarity, GLUB is a small but growing book club. So, if you are expecting to hop into the group and be greeted by thousands of gamers, I want to lower those expectations ever slightly.
However, this does mean that you get in on the ground floor, get to be part of a growing group, and get to have genuine connections with the regulars, which may be less possible with thousands of members.
You Need to Pay Your Way
This should really go without saying, but just in case you were wondering, GLUB doesn’t pay for your game codes, and this means that to participate in game week, you need to go out there and get the game yourself, and depending on your financial situation, this may not always be an option.
GLUB does try its best to combat this by selecting games and themes that allow for plenty of options that are on sale or even a Free-to-Play week where all games listed are completely free. However, there is a certain level of ‘pay-to-play’ in action here.
But at the end of the day, you get to play a new game alongside others, and if you were going to buy a game anyway, why not make it a GLUB game of the week?
Daily Game Variety Lacking
Then lastly, the daily games on the site lack variety, as at this moment ‘GLUB Chase’ is the only game on the roster, which makes getting tokens daily a little repetitive.
That being said, this also comes with a caveat, as David has mentioned that new games are in development and will be posted to the site in the coming weeks, meaning there will be a rotation of games to play daily.
However, we need to report on what is available now, and at this current moment, it is a small drawback.
The Verdict – 8/10
Overall, we have to say that GLUB is a wonderful concept that may be in its infancy, but is making all the right steps to becoming a pillar of the indie gaming scene.
Even at this early stage, the group has great energy, and participation among members is high. The members as a collective are a warm and inviting bunch, meaning any newbie to the group immediately feels like they have found an indie haven, and while there aren’t a lot of members when compared to major discord groups, there is a certain benefit to this, as you feel valued rather than being just another number.
The extras on offer, such as daily games, potential prizes, and a personal dashboard, all make engaging with GLUB on a daily basis a rewarding experience, and when it comes to the games, the discussion, and the organization of these chats, GLUB to an amazing job of offering a curated list of indies to choose from, and a wonderful job of facilitating and archiving these discussions.
The only things dragging this group down from a perfect score, in my eyes, are the scale of the project at this current venture and the fact that a portion of the members may feel isolated due to the financial requirements of participating week-in, week-out.
However, if you want a place where you can play indie games regularly, and discuss them at length, there are very few better places I could recommend than GLUB.
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