One last edit:

Ok, so there was one new Near a Tomato giveaway hiding in this most recent batch of leftover bundle keys.

Also, just for fun there were Pink Floyd lyrics on the first and last characters, it didn't mean anything: thereisnodarksideofthemoonreallymatteroffactitsalldark and thetimeisgonethesongisoverthoVghtidsomethingmoretosay - there's no U in Steam keys, sorry about that.

But the double-struck i.e. funny-looking characters spelled out maybethesekeysarehidingonemoretomatogiveaway6541343134 --> "Maybe these keys are hiding one more tomato giveaway 6541343134" --> 65 41 34 41 34 -> eA414 --> One More Tomato Giveaway. The was no secret encoded in the position of those funny-looking characters, that's just where they ended up. If you have enough Steam keys you could certainly use that method for something in one of your own puzzles! :)

Thanks for playing, and good luck next time! :)


Yeah, I forgot to explain where the tomato giveaways were hiding. Sorry about that.

But first, for the people who don't care about explanations, here's some junk I was too lazy to make a puzzle with:

Bayonetta, Level 3
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, Level 4
Gal*Gun: Double Peace, Level 5
House Party, Level 6

I had more stuff in my cart, but the Humble Store didn't want my money until after their Winter Sale had ended, so that's all you get. And you thought Steam support was a disappointment? Oh well...

Ok, time for the puzzle explanation? Hmm, yeah. But before that, since nobody reads explanations, why not race the bots to redeem this fresh batch of consolation bundle leftovers:

TGYVP-P𝕄Z82-LXA7T
HZYTP-FJDH𝔸-8X4BH
EE6TG-CKFQ6-𝕐QD4E
RCPRD-BLAJ0-𝔹2HFT
E𝔼GFF-KL2QB-B5N7I
IM𝕋J7-4WYAM-E3QLM
SℍRAX-G9JME-MFPQE
N3TNI-𝔼BKHM-C2ANI
OJYAB-8PATF-8Q7𝕊S
DJZN𝔼-DJBCN-VR2KG
A𝕂CAI-8BCWT-LJE3O
RJK𝔼J-22GR6-W8AZN
KRARJ-𝕐09T9-XCKEE
S2BKF-NCC𝕊K-34ABT
IR28R-PZXTJ-67L𝔸H
DPTV5-FTICL-FKℝJE
ERX6V-8MBL8-P𝔼J8S
OℍFDF-RDJVG-DIKTO
FPP8H-AHQ𝕀B-6KR2N
T498A-G6HRZ-VZV𝔻G
H5PN𝕀-PY5H5-0924I
E26AR-ℕ0NMH-8F4HS
M4PYL-CI𝔾NK-MGB9O
O8𝕆KM-DBN2Z-XX49V
O9W0Z-6YJI4-V7ℕ5E
NJIV3-9M2𝔼K-TCK5R
RFRBV-DB4Y2-𝕄N20T
E𝕆3PC-N7CKQ-KWG0H
AB3V8-CH0Q0-ℝ3VEO
LEQZ9-MXDE6-XLF𝔼V
L𝕋KYP-CW0RN-T4CNG
YARCJ-RE𝕆NK-VJWPH
M8𝕄97-0IRGM-93RPT
AKZB8-I𝔸I8I-7579I
TVF8A-27TA𝕋-ZF7ND
TRHR6-YXWI5-Z58𝕆S
E𝔾HK5-EHIEN-DP0KO
R4NCX-K𝕀AZ6-QCJNM
OXVY𝕍-MXFGJ-DT87E
F475M-0TC𝔼J-NATCT
FWTHT-LERRI-LV𝔸LH
A8IWE-HG2𝕎X-09M5I
C2𝔸9F-94YA0-Y3B5N
T𝕐B65-GZ39W-G3EIG
I4F04-𝟞DLBA-3L78M
TMN8G-𝟝AEFE-73GMO
SWHAB-QBCZ𝟜-D08XR
AG4ZL-47H𝟙G-ZJNZE
LHDRD-I0H8F-𝟛0RZT
L9P50-PDPET-𝟜Q7KO
DCPMG-VXC4A-𝟛074S
AG507-70V2Y-𝟙J5PA
RF𝟛L7-843RL-8WTYY
KP8Y3-4G2TC-𝟜LHRY

Ok, guess that's enough stalling. If you really want to know, I cleverly deleted my notes for this puzzle, so umm... Let's see if I can remember... Fortunately it's not a complicated one or I'd be screwed...

Hints and stuff were hiding in the keys. The first batch had 2B, then 9S, then A2, then NEARRA, then some ascii thing, then NEARRA, then some ascii thing again, then NEARRA, then NEARAA. Anyway, NEARRA / NEARAA were supposed to give you a hint to the itstoohard thing, i.e. Near A Tomato. Ha ha. If that didn't work, 2B, 9S and A2 are characters in the game, which means if you already owned the game you probably got it right away. And if not, umm, I dunno. So, http://www.itstoohard.com/puzzle/Vc7KnXax -> https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/e7TVU/nierautomata - hooray!

The ascii thing was hiding the second giveaway, i.e. 64 6f 6b 59 37 -> dokY7 -> https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/dokY7/nierautomata - dunno how you were supposed to notice that. Guess it was a dumb puzzle...

Good luck! :)


Original description:

What are you doing? Making another dumb puzzle? Guilty... :)

Turns out reaching "Level 10" on Steamgifts accomplished nothing. I couldn't find the secret clubhouse, the "Click here for a free pony, courtesy of cg" button, the cake, or well, anything. Guess I should have used that money to buy gift copies of removed games for profitz. Sigh...

Sooooo, since making giveaways would be pointless now, how about making a dumb poll instead. Everyone loves those! Screw giveaways! And don't forget all those memes and things. You can't go wrong with that crap.

And, to distract you from the puzzle, here's a pile of leftover bundle keys! Parentheses to slow down all those clowns with their thousands of bots...

Oh, and all of them are sure to be used before you notice this discussion, so don't waste your time looking at them!

5KHRE-N8(T)N6-W9D2B
7W5CE-3B(O)G7-4W2BK
2B6BN-FH(M)26-7QJQV
D2B06-7R(A)WE-Q9RMM
6HQ2B-PE(T)B2-ZMTH9
09A9G-7X(O)QV-52BEA

9SPMM-GN(T)KG-8DLHF
JE0WB-H0(O)FJ-AJ69S
39STL-8L(M)38-BZKIV
36ZZW-TR(A)4R-0Y9SR
VMALK-0L(T)K3-9SF9D
M3F9S-JH(O)JA-V4QMV

A24C6-0B(T)IQ-30708
6TFNT-JV(O)8W-482A2
ZQIMN-6N(M)J4-94A27
XA2WQ-VD(A)HX-00M79
AVMA2-Q9(T)F6-PKPAD
DBPCH-IH(O)64-VA2FG

9EMZA-MK50D-CCQN(T)
ZILVJ-8RZHQ-JVWE(O)
2A9QZ-B8XG8-7BNA(M)
PZKMK-3BQVP-69BR(A)
AKGPL-ZMXEQ-HCWR(T)
PDCE8-KN75L-L3TA(O)

37N2B-2QQQK-6479(T)
4LPE7-MQ99I-6FKI(O)
260DH-A2GW7-6BN0(M)
LZP8L-X305G-5966(A)
QBYHH-DLTIQ-37IC(T)
JJL2M-Z0RW8-21GZ(O)

(T)N8P3-48P2E-75722
(O)EMY9-T2W5C-3Q2KN
(M)AY33-N37KX-KGH5K
(A)RK03-XEMBP-LWIA8
(T)RX4F-39BG5-AT6QT
(O)AFEH-WCY5R-XKERH

(T)64H5-N8WHM-Z45H6
(O)6F7R-TJHF8-F24Y2
(M)6BJA-8L8H7-K56CR
(A)592C-BCMDD-JIL7H
(T)378T-H3W8V-EV8FZ
(O)3FZ2-DTIH8-YICVP

(T)(T)GYD-NJ28I-E50IN
(O)(O)WK3-Z6707-56W2E
(M)(M)T35-WEGDH-CRPMA
(A)(A)QFH-X7ZZB-XFJPR
(T)(T)DHM-ZAHKL-49TFR
(O)(O)PDR-XW9HB-65E9A

NP0ZL-AAB94-D0Z(T)(T)
EA6CG-26IM4-232(O)(O)
APFN7-4WIHF-PF9(M)(M)
RAYZ8-0Z9I9-T6X(A)(A)
A4YCA-GAJ6I-EPL(T)(T)
A0ZQL-R55TH-RP5(O)(O)

And, as a secret bonus for people who can read all the way to the end of the page, here's some bundle giveaways! Woohoo!

Tomato Jones, Level 1
Tomato Jones 2, Level 1
Tomato Way, Level 1
Something else... Hmm... Oh, you know, it's a puzzle... You have to figure it out...

Good luck! :)

p.s. Umm, don't tell anyone, but I've never actually played any of those Tomato Games. If you have, and want to talk about them, that will let me disguise bumps as replies to your comments, so that's cool. :) Just don't expect me to know anything about the games... :( Maybe I'll check them out over the weekend, though... :)

6 years ago*

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What's the best Tomato Game on Steam?

View Results
Tomato Jones
Tomato Jones 2
Tomato Way
A pony, made of tomatoes, or potatoes, or something [HEY, THIS DOESN'T MEAN THE SOLUTION IS BORDERLANDS, I'M NOT THAT LAZY]
Something else... Hmm... Oh, you know, it's a puzzle... You have to figure it out...

Sleep dep made me read the title as "Best tornado game".
Then I thought, "Why is there no air-related game on Steam called 'Blow Me'?"
You would think there would be.

View attached image.
6 years ago
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Don't give those asset-flip people any ideas, sometimes I think the most difficult part of their "developer" work is deciding what to call it... :)

Had no idea what that was, which is unfortunately pretty common lately... Just don't keep up with the cartoons any more... :(

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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I actually wrote tomato jones as the solution in the puzzle, i was so surprised when that failed :P

6 years ago
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say the mystery game is probably a little better... But you could be right, who knows? :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Ok this is driving me mad. Soooo many guesses. The hint was cruel, I think we should get a better hint. :P

And bump!

6 years ago
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Sadly, as puzzles go this one is kinda dumb... :( It's hmm, well, mainly a joke, and if you've heard the joke the answer is obvious - otherwise, you could be beating yourself up for hours and get nowhere... There are hints and things but I couldn't tell you anything specific without spoiling it... :( Will update the main message after it ends, so people can see precisely how dumb it was... :)

Oh, for non-dumb puzzles, this forum thing is a great resource - many of the common giveaway-hiding methods are explained in there, but it's a lot to take in all at once...

Ahhh, just realised I should mention it's only the non-puzzly Tomato Games that are Level 1... If you check here for "Invite Only" giveaways you'll see a Level 3 and a Level 6, and those are the "real ones"... :( Sorry if you've taken a lot of time on it...

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Haha no worries, it's not the giveaway I was bothered about - it was solving the damn puzzle! I'm going to guess it's a joke I haven't heard, that will make me feel better. :p

Oh that guide! I hope it's not any of the first methods! I'd tried numbers but not based on anything that's written there, just the position of what I think is the clue.

6 years ago
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With a time machine, I'd probably go back and make this puzzle less random brainwave-based, but we're stuck with it, unfortunately. :)

I haven't tried to solve anyone else's puzzles in some time, and I don't even know how many people are still making them... :( But presumably all that number-stuff in the guide is going to remain useful no matter what new ideas people come up with.

For example, to hide a giveaway like https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/Mffc7/tomato-jones you only need to hide the characters "Mffc7" - the tomato-jones part doesn't matter. You can call it https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/Mffc7/half-life-3 if you like, and Steamgifts will auto-correct it when you visit the page.

Some people will write a few sentences, and sprinkle five bold/italic/whatever characters in. To solve the puzzle you'd have to notice the funny characters, string them together, put them www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/(here)/ and see where you end up.

Hmmm, for this puzzle I can't say what's hiding where, or how you'd find it, but I will say that people who have seen my previous puzzles had a head start - I only have so many ideas, and tend to reuse them... :) A bit lazy, too... :)

6 years ago
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Hehe I've solved a few so far, mostly for higher level giveaways than I can enter. ^^

I'm actually dying to make my own now on that it'stoohard site, it will be fun watching people guess. Yours is the first one that has truly stumped me. I look forward to finding out the answer when it's over (and probably groaning because it was obvious after all, or something). :P

Oh I actually solved one the other day where someone made what looked like a riddle but with some characters in bold. I thought it was for entering a key on steam and tried a few combinations based on the "riddle". Then I thought, wait - the url! And yup, it was that - I had been overthinking it. :)

6 years ago
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Making puzzles can be a lot of fun, but there's one thing I always forget: try to make them fun for the people solving them, too... :) If it's just frustrating, no instructions, useless hints, no indication when you're making progress, people get bored and quit...

Some puzzle makers reveal what games are being given away, so nobody wastes their time for a game they already own, or would never play, etc. :)

As you can see, this puzzle fails just about everywhere in that list... :) Oh well... :)

I never remember to save my puzzle urls, so I've lost a lot of them... :( After some digging in the forum, here's some recent examples, some of which weren't quite as bad as this one... :)

https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/3onEq/ - pretty simple, if you can read. :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/DFIO8/ - not simple... :(
https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/CSLoQ/ - mainly testing who can read, with one puzzle at the very end... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/0ZD0A/ - not really a puzzle... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/yEQPR/ - not really a puzzle... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/x1uPN/ - not too hard? Explanation: https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/Yu1DL/ :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/qjPVP/ - stuff hiding in leftover bundle keys, so either easy or impossible, depending... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/QFElJ/ - more stuff hiding in leftover bundle keys... :)

And some older stuff:

https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/HGVre/ - only one person found the final giveaway, was still fun though... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/n0td4/ - about half fun, and half dumb... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/cPTbm/ - Enigma machine puzzle, was more work than it was worth... :)
https://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/uDBT4/ - random googling, plus some ascii thing hiding at the very end. :)

Good luck if you keep working on this thing... :) Otherwise maybe save your brain for your own puzzles! :)

6 years ago
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Oh amazing! I'll look through these when I'm more awake. ^_^

I've done irl puzzles, well, scavenger hunts with riddles and such for my mum when I was a kid and now for my boyfriend. I do love watching them unfold :)
So I'll have a good think before I make one, I'll wait til I have something good to give away. :)

6 years ago
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Hmm, don't spend too much time on it, my puzzles are almost all bad... I do keep trying though, in the hope I get better at it. Spoiler: nope. :) Not joking, unfortunately. :)

The Dark Souls one was probably the closest to a "good" puzzle, since usually I'm just giving people a pile of numbers and asking them to figure out what to do with them... Oh well... :)

I wish I could remember everyone from the old days, as there were some real master puzzle creators around here. It feels like a lot of people have stopped making them, or maybe stopped visiting Steamgifts entirely, but since I can't remember the names I don't know who to look for... :( Not sure if anyone ever compiled a list of fun Steamgifts puzzles, but maybe you can get lucky checking the puzzles category for inspiration... :)

p.s. You don't need "something good" to make a puzzle. :) A lot of people enjoy solving them, just for fun, and don't care what the game is... :) Good luck with your think! :)

6 years ago
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What did the tomato say to the other tomato?
we'll ketchup later

still stuck on this puzzle and it's driving me crazy cause I know the answer is silly

6 years ago
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Yeah, it's not a very good puzzle, sorry... :) But I guess it's better than a poke in the eye... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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View attached image.
6 years ago
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Condolences... :) But it's probably a dumb game - how many things can you do with a tomato, anyway? :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Bump

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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I still have no idea D:

6 years ago
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Sorry... :) Hmm, is that Handsome Jack with the Fallout guy's face? Interesting... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Yes :3

6 years ago
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Bump, because I'm a tomato enthusiast :)
But my true addiction is for mangoes <3

6 years ago
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Hmm, haven't had any mangoes in a while... Probably would have loved them as a kid, but I don't think I even saw one back then... :) Now they just seem reeeeeealy sweet... :) Oh well... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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hidden bump
It can be an expensive fruit, depending in which country you live, but you should try to buy one the next time you go to your market. Don't cook it, eat it alone, I think it's the best way to rediscover it. Once you'll taste one, you can't resist to buy more ;)

6 years ago
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Thank you for the suggestion, I will have to think about it... :)

6 years ago
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Bump!

And although I bumped, I did not solve your puzzle. XP

6 years ago*
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Sorry about that... But it's a dumb puzzle, don't feel bad... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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bump for solved tomato :)

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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It's still almost at the top, but have another bump for solved :p

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Bump for solved!
Bump for tomato!

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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View attached image.
6 years ago
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Hmm, is that Attack of the Killer Tomatoes? Probably... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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I believe it's actuality from "Return of the Killer Tomatoes" but close enough, It all honesty i don't think i could tell the different movies apart.

Edit: attack was more like this:

View attached image.
6 years ago
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Hmmm, never heard of Return of the Killer Tomatoes, wonder if I'm missing anything... :) Going to guess "no" ... :)

6 years ago
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It's the sequel to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes and I quite enjoyed it and recommend it. It stars a young George Clooney before he became famous and more importantly the villain is played by the always brilliant John Astin. There were two more films made in that series but I wouldn't recommend them.

Oh, and for the record that first image is from Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The later films used cleaner film stock and have somewhat better production values.

6 years ago
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That's interesting, thank you! :) I barely remember watching the movie, seem to remember it was dumb fun, just don't expect Citizen Kane... :) And it's only in these comments I discovered there were more of them... :)

Oh, speaking of interesting, looks like the secret giveaway's finished... :) Which leaves the umm, double secret giveaway still running... :) Plus all this tomato junk... :)

6 years ago
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At this point I just wanna know the solution even if I don't get to enter the giveaways, wth am I missing :).

6 years ago
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I dunno, but it's probably something dumb... The other ones don't look very good... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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I've been getting a few hours of sleep per day for weeks so that's not gonna help, but tnx though :)).

6 years ago
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bump for not completely solved.
This level 6 gib.

6 years ago
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Close enough... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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If you don't mind, what is solution to level 6 gib(I had tried some variants, but then just gave up. Thought that it was borderlands-gib and that's why entries were so low)? Of course, if there are no plans to use such variant again.

6 years ago
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It was a lv 3 gib.

6 years ago
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I won lvl 3 gib.
But there was one more invite gib for Nier, lvl 6.

6 years ago
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Sorry, finally remembered to write the explanation. It was pretty dumb, sorry. :)

6 years ago
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Yes, second variant was too tough.
Walked through the game for the first time btw. Interesting one with certain port-problems(one crash without saves in last hour - just pain). But I won't be go for the second run at once, will wait for normal hi-res-texture mode.
Thanks for game and puzzle again. And for solution.

6 years ago
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Bump. this is hilarious! I have absolutely no idea what it all means, but those Steam keys are amazing. :D

6 years ago
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Ahh, basically it means I buy too many bundles... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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bump :>

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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bump

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Level 10 users should get a tomato icon 🍅

6 years ago
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Sounds like a good idea, but maybe people who don't like tomatoes wouldn't enjoy it... Guess they could get a rutabaga instead...

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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I don't get it, have a bump anyway :D

6 years ago
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That's ok, it doesn't look like too many people got it... :) But you're probably not missing much... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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bump!

6 years ago
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Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Thanks for the tomatoes!

6 years ago
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No problem, hope you found something interesting in there... :)

Thank you! :)

6 years ago
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Is the solution a name of an actual game on Steam or some random bullsh*t?

6 years ago
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Checks wallet

Hmm, looks like actual money was spent. Guess that means I bought something. Does that help?

Thank you!

6 years ago
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Humble Store didn't want my money until after their Winter Sale had ended

Sounds like maybe you had the same issue I had? Annoying buggers…

Thanks for the giveaways!

6 years ago
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Yeah, it was frustrating to read "Due to unexpectedly high ticket volume, our average expected wait time for first response is currently 5+ business days." - but at least they saved me a bit of money. Good job, Humble Store! :)

No problem, good luck! :)

6 years ago
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View attached image.
6 years ago
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Hmmm, looks scary, whatever it is... :)

6 years ago
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