Kentucky Route Zero isn’t just gaming’s finest slice of magical realism and shaggy dog symphonies, it’s also a magnificent feat of myth-making. Like so much Americana, it straddles the line between fact and folk tale, and finds recognisable unrealities along the road to the grave. If the melancholic dramas of the main episodes take place at centre stage, the occasional interludes aren’t the entertainment in between acts, they’re happening somewhere in the wings, backstage or downriver. The latest free offering, Here And There Along The Echo, has a sinister setup – a telephone that can only dial one number – but turns out to be the closest the series has come to revealing its own absurd comedic heart.

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Here at RPS, we’re quite fond of Cardboard Computer’s magical realist adventure. Kentucky Route Zero took the final spot in our 2013 Advent Calendar and while the wait for the third act has been longer than I would have liked, it’s good to have Conway and his companions back in my life. The new chapter of gaming’s strangest trip since Sam and Max hit the road contains a musical performance worthy of Lynch, a whiskey-soaked underworld and enough melancholic mystery to fuel a new generation of the blues. Here’s wot I think.>

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An old time radio crackles into life, the dial set between nowhere in particular and somewhere else entirely. The voice that speaks could warble with the best of them but it catches on the hooks and snags of age. The accompaniment is the picking of a banjo and the wail of a harmonica. A boot thumping against a dusty floorboard, that’s percussion. This is how we learn that Kentucky Route Zero Act III has been released.

I actually heard about it through Twitter, at which point I loaded up my copy of the game (through Steam) and saw that the new act is already available to play, right from the menu. Guess I know what I’m doing tonight.

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You might remember that we liked sleepy-as-the-night, sharp-as-a-knife adventure Kentucky Route Zero quite a lot. We even gave it game of the year, doncha know. So when Last Life creator Sam Farmer told me his game was best described as “Kentucky Route Zero in space,” I nearly warbled with glee. The noir-themed tale of a detective trying to solve the mystery of his own murder has Double Fine‘s blessing and backing, and it’s taking to Kickstarter for one more boost. I sat down with Farmer for what turned out to be his first interview ever, and we discussed Last Life’s universe and story, Sherlock-style inspection mechanics, Double Fine’s involvement, what it means to be “noir,” and transhumanism. It’s all below.>

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[Waves arms wildly]I DON’T HAVE RELEASE DATE FOR YOU DON’T GET EXCITED[/waves arms wildly]

Wolf Among Us isn’t the only recent episodic game playing silly buggers with our expectations: there’s still no sign of when the passenger door episode III to RPS GOTY 2013 Kentucky Route Zero will open and offer us a ride down its strange, whip-smart highway. To some degree I’m less troubled by the wait than I was by WAU’s, as I’m not really in KRZ for the plot – it’s more of an experiential thing for me, as wanky as that might sound. I would like more of it and soon, though.

Devs Cardboard Computer have attempted to allay fears that something terrible has happened behind the scenes, and explained why no KRZE3 date yet. Apparently it will be “significantly more involved than the first two acts.” Maybe that means it’ll have guns! Or a jump button! Or microtransactions! … [visit site to read more]

This is probably the most exciting game-related anything> I’ve seen in months. And yes, as the headline suggests, it’s entirely bonkers. Remember Zineth developer Arcane Kids’ Tribes-meets-Tony-Hawk thing Perfect Stride? Well, it’s just one of 30+ games (23 of which are already finished and playable) that’ll immediately be yours if you hand LA Game Space a pithy 15 of your bacteria-and-filth-ridden Human Dollars. Experimental Game Pack 01 also includes entirely new projects from the likes of Katamari Damacy creator Keita Takahashi, Adventure Time (yes, the TV show) maestro Pendleton Ward, Hotline Miami madman Cactus, Kentucky Route Zero devs Jake Elliott and Tamas Kemenczy, and sooooooooooo many more. I’m not even going to pretend to be impartial on this one. Buy it. Buy it because duh.

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The second act of the excellent Kentucky Route Zero snuck out late last week. Adam explained why you should play the first part back in January. I’m going to explain why you should play the second part right now. Here’s wot I think:>

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The second act of the excellent Kentucky Route Zero snuck out late last week. Adam explained why you should play the first part back in January. I’m going to explain why you should play the second part right now. Here’s wot I think:>

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Making something that’s really, really different from all the other things takes time. The first Act of Kentucky Route Zero, for instance, was a perfectly serene drop in this industry’s bellowing ocean of shooty shooty bang bang madness, a soul-rehabilitating triumph that plucked both heart and banjo strings just so>. Part traditional adventure, part ode to theater, it was so very effortlessly bizarre and bold. So naturally, it spent years in the making, weathering multiple revamps as well as life’s countless ups and downs. With the groundwork laid, however, Cardboard Computer was pretty confident that Act II could make March. Or not. Or April. Or not. But May? Well, depending on which territory you’re in, the madly methodical developer kept its promise. Kentucky Route Zero Act II has finally arrived.

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