Kentucky Route Zero

We have been asked to play this game called Kentucky Route Zero by Cardboard Computer (CARDBOARD COMPUTER, 2016) for a couple of minutes and then share our experiences together and how we felt while playing.

(CARDBOARD COMPUTER, 2016)

At first glance the game looked nice and interesting. Nice colours, art style and sound. But then as soon as you start playing you realise that it is a text-based game. I’m not saying that text-based games are not fun, but for me are just not engaging enough. If I am playing a game I would like more visual interaction, movement, and more control over the game. In text games, you just read and click over and over again and this for me results in lack of engagement.

As from my personal experience, I got sleepy, bored and skipped some of the text like I was summarising to get the key points to be able to proceed in the game. To be honest I struggled in continuing playing it because it was assigned to us by our lecturer; if it was for me, I would have quit the game much sooner.

The game also offers you a lot of choices, which at first makes you believe you are customising the story, but then you realise that whatever choice you make you will always end up with the same situation. I confirmed this theory when we were evaluating the game as a group, since we all chose something different and ended up doing the same thing.

To be fair the game seems to have a very interesting story. It talks about a delivery man who is trying to find an address, where he finds out that there is a hidden route somewhere that leads to that place called The Zero. So, you start gathering information from locals to try and discover where this mysterious route is.

After searching online for other player’s reviews, I found out that there are players who enjoyed it and talked about it as it was the best game of their lives. One player said “So is it a point and click adventure? Sort of. But it’s also a weird and wonderful bluegrass ballad, a poem about play, and a showcase for intelligent writing and gorgeous art” (Smith, 2013). Then he continues adding how much he enjoyed it since it was an old-school point and click game favouring drama rather than humour. Apart from the story he also appreciates the art style which he defines as “something of another world”. Maybe he is exaggerating a bit but I do agree that it has a great art style and a carefully chosen colour palette.

I also found another review that basically sums up what I felt while playing the game. There is also a short video of the game where he explains that apart from its visual style the options available to you does not impact the game but rather the vision you are current into. He also adds that by these dialogues and options you can select from, helps you to build the personality of the character or at least what you believe he is in your mind based on the text (VanOrd, 2013).

From this experience, I think that games experiences are very subjective and affect people in different ways based on their liking and maybe hobbies or life style. I still appreciate the effort done in the game but it is not a game for me.

References

CARDBOARD COMPUTER, 2016. Kentucky Route Zero. [Online] Available at: http://kentuckyroutezero.com/ [Accessed 25 November 2016].

Smith, A., 2013. Wot I Think: Kentucky Route Zero Act I. [Online] Available at: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/11/wot-i-think-kentucky-route-zero-act-i/ [Accessed 25 November 2016].

VanOrd, K., 2013. Kentucky Route Zero - Act 1 Review. [Online] Available at: http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/kentucky-route-zero-act-1-review/1900-6402313/ [Accessed 25 November 2016].