Note that most of these problems come from a closed-source application A) being linked against old versions of stuff and B) not using statically-linked libraries. I know that statically-linked libs are widely hated but at least where you know newer versions break compatibility, you should include static libs if your app is closed source. Of course, an open app can be rebuilt and/or tweaked as necessary so static libraries aren't needed there.

The one thing that would make HIB more exciting would be an immediate release of source for all games involved. I know many participants in HIB1 did this after HIB2, but that's not the same thing.

EDIT: Oh, and it appears Crayon Physics Deluxe must be launched by ./launcher, NOT ./crayon.

These installation issues will go away as quickly as someone puts a PKGBUILD in AUR. :D