Take a Trip on Kentucky Route Zero

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
Take a Trip on Kentucky Route Zero

I don't know what Kentucky Route Zero is, but I sure do like it.

This is a game trailer for Kentucky Route Zero. And what is Kentucky Route Zero, you ask? It is "a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky and the mysterious folks who travel it," according to Jake Elliott of Cardboard Computer [http://cardboardcomputer.com/], the indie game studio developing the game. It will feature an original electronic soundtrack by Ben Babbitt plus "old hymns and bluegrass standards" performed by The Bedquilt Ramblers, and will be released in five parts over the course of 2013, with the first part set to come out in December 2012.

This is the first I've heard of it, but Kentucky Route Zero has actually been in development for a couple of years and even had a Kickstarter [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/149077132/kentucky-route-zero-a-magic-realist-adventure-game] that wrapped up successfully in February 2011. According to the Kickstarter page, the player will control an antique furniture deliveryman named Conway who's trying to make the final delivery for his financially troubled employer. Gameplay will be slow-paced and focus on exploration and interaction with strange characters like Junebug, a robotic country singer who's trapped in the abandoned restaurant where she once worked.

Nearly everything that's known about Kentucky Route Zero at this point comes from the Kickstarter page, which may be a little out of date at this point - two years is an awfully long time in the game development biz, after all. But the trailer gives me a bit of an Another World vibe, and that in itself makes it worth paying attention to. (Paul Goodman says it's more Limbo-like, but what does he know.) If you want to learn more (when there's more to learn), you can add your name to the list at kentuckyroutezero.com [http://kentuckyroutezero.com/].

Thanks to The_root_of_all_evil [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/profiles/view/The_root_of_all_evil] for the tip.


Permalink
 

Albino Boo

New member
Jun 14, 2010
4,667
0
0
Sounds like a side plot from American Gods. If there is a character called called Low Key Lythe Smith don't trust him.
 

RamaTheVoice

New member
Apr 18, 2012
10
0
0
One the one hand I'm pretty happy to finally have an update on this thing, I've been waiting for it for a while now.

On the other hand, I'm pretty bummed, because the overall aesthetic of the game seems to have changed drastically, and not necessarily for the better IMO.

Here's the very first trailer, to give you an idea. I was very, very psyched after seeing it. The new one, not so much :(

 

Andy Chalk

One Flag, One Fleet, One Cat
Nov 12, 2002
45,698
1
0
RamaTheVoice said:
One the one hand I'm pretty happy to finally have an update on this thing, I've been waiting for it for a while now.

On the other hand, I'm pretty bummed, because the overall aesthetic of the game seems to have changed drastically, and not necessarily for the better IMO.
Two years is a long time. It's quite possible that the devs realized they needed to scale things back if they wanted to get it done. It's also possible that the new trailer is just different, and showing us different things. Time will tell.