IndieBox is a monthly service that delivers special, boxed copies of hit indie titles to gamers. While the idea of having a physical copy of a game may not appeal to everyone in this modern age of digital delivery, the exclusive collectibles certainly might. Past boxes for titles like Axiom Verge, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime, and GALAK-Z have included vinyl figures and statues, soundtracks on cassette tape, cloth maps, action figures, cell print art, and more. When I found out that April’s IndieBox would feature Super Meat Boy, one of my favorite games, I finally decided to order one.
The theme for the Super Meat Boy IndieBox is that the game’s antagonist, Dr. Fetus, has been given free reign to add his own touches. The result: a lot of graffiti over images of Meat Boy letting the world know just how dumb he is, and a main collectible designed by the villain himself. The box was preceded by a separate card from Team Meat sent by Dr. Fetus, and, well…
It was a glitter bomb. A suitably evil deed for an evil fetus, accompanying an equally evil message from Team Meat:
I received the actual IndieBox the next day, and inside was the boxed edition of the game, a fold-out card detailing the contents of the game box, and a card with the URL for an exclusive Slime-San demo:
Super Meat Boy has actually had physical releases in the past, and the box should look familiar to anyone who has already seen it on shelves. The additions by Dr. Fetus include ‘improved’ artwork on the front, and a specially-edited synopsis of the game on the back.
The box is wide and short, at 6″x8″x3″. By comparison, my boxed copy of Broken Age, which is more in line with how big I remember PC game boxes being, measures 7.5″x9″x1.5″:
The game box held a DVD case, a small plastic bag labeled “Super Meat Dumb Boy Meat Cubes”, and a box containing an Official Dr. Fetus Level Skipper device:
Inside the DVD case was an installation disc for Super Meat Boy, a two-disc edition of the game’s soundtrack, an instruction manual (which also had a track listing for the soundtrack), and an IndieBox sticker. IndieBox ships DRM-free versions of games, but also provides a Steam key on the inside of the packing box so you can still play them if you prefer to keep your game box sealed.
The pack of Meat Cubes was a bit of an oddity. The back of the plastic bag reads, “INCLUDES: 48 ‘MEAT CUBES’. CAN BE ASSEMBLED INTO A SUPER MEAT BOY FIGURE OR LEFT TO ROT AS A PILE OF DEAD MEAT.’ No other instructions are given, but a picture of Dr. Fetus is tucked into the pack, which made me think at first that the wooden cubes should somehow form his likeness. With forty-six red cubes and two black ones, I instead made a pixel-likeness of Meat Boy:
Lastly, there was what I assume to be the major collectible in this set: the Level Skipper.
At just under five inches tall, the plastic device is sturdy. Mine had a few light scratches on the back, though. As indicated on the box, two AAA batteries are required and not included.
Although the back of its box says that it will let the user skip a level in Super Meat Boy, pressing the button instead delivers a special message:
If you’re into collectibles and the indie gaming scene, IndieBox has been delivering some impressive loot for a pretty reasonable price for over two years. There are a number of different subscription plans available, starting at $24.99 for a single month, or bringing that down to $19.99 for twelve months paid in advance. The game featured in their May 2017 box will be Nefarious, and at time of publication there’s a little over twelve days left to subscribe for this box. Afterward, a limited run of collector’s boxes will be available in their store, but will be completely unavailable once they sell out from there.
