Ah, the first Friday of the month. Time to virtually unbox the latest metaphorical box of chocolates that is Humble Monthly's latest offering of video games. And truly, they went all out this Valentine's Day, knowing exactly what we'd want for such a special occasion...two sides fighting the crap out of each other for our love!! You see, this is one of those months where Humble Monthly, even if just by coincidence, stumbled into a theme concerning the selection of games they gave us. This time around, that theme is the battle of ancient civilizations and untouched nature vs. sci-fi worlds and modern living/construction. So who wins in this month's special skirmish? Let's take a look at the games and find out...

Starting with the sci-fi/modern side, we kick things off with the biggest game in the lot, and the one that was first revealed to us last month, XCOM 2. Firaxis' latest installment in the popular strategy franchise where you battle an evil alien corporation is then somewhat appropriately followed up by another turn-based strategy game inspired by XCOM, SteamWorld Heist. Because you can never no wrong with any game featuring steampunk robot pirates. And rounding things out for the "modern times" side is Project Highrise, a simulator all about creating the legendary skycrapers of your dreams for the future.

And in the ancient past/nature corner, we begin with some enchantment under the sea in the form of Abzû, the atmospheric underwater adventure where you discover various beautiful wildlife and odd secrets. Then we travel to ancient Greece with Okhlos, where we get to help an angry mob smash the tar out of mythological figures, Smash TV-style, just in time for February 6's Omega update. Finally, we shift from anicent Greece to ancient Rome with Ryse: Son of Rome, which is here because...um, we needed another triple-A game, I guess? Seriously, Ryse?

So with the scales even on both sides when it comes to the six main games, let's see if any special extras this month tips it to either side. Well, the Humble Monthly Debut this time around is Husk, a first-person horror game set in the 1990s inspired by the likes of Silent Hill and Alan Wake, so it doesn't really fit on either side. And the Humble Original is the Beta version of Oh, Deer!, a late-'80s arcade-styled driving game about helping a station wagon craft fresh venison while on the go (and was already on the Vita, so the "Original" label seems slightly odd), so that doesn't fit either. Well, I guess a stalemate is...oh, wait, we have a wild card in the form of a an exclusive playable sneak peek of Hollow Knight, Team Cherry's gorgeous metroidvania game about traversing through a world of various insect people on your way to uncover the ancient mysteries of an underground ruined kingdom! So that tips the scales, and the ancient past/nature side wins!!

Mind you, this month's haul is full of some some pretty great games, so while it may sound cheesy, it's easy to say that we're all winners. And it looks like we'll be winners again next month, as the first revealed game which new subscribers or those who pay early can begin playing ASAP is Total War: Warhammer, so...wait, last month we we had Vermintide, and Mordheim the month before that, and now we're heading into the Total War spin-off as well? Geez, one of the higher-ups at Humble must REALLY be a big Warhammer fan. Well, we'll be back in four weeks to see if the Warhammer love letters continue, so enjoy these latest Humble Monthly games until then!