I came late to the Kentucky Route Zero party. So late, in fact, that I was only barely aware of it until the summer of 2014. My inauguration was a long time coming—I'd lost count of the number of glowing reviews I'd read for the first three of a proposed five acts, and while I reckoned it sounded like my cup of tea on a cursory level, I'd decided its narrative-leaning nature would echo that of Gone Home, Dear Esther, and The Stanley Parable. 

These were (and still are) some of my favourite games, therefore I can't really tell you why it take me quite so long to join Conrad, Blue and old-timer Joseph in the forecourt of the Equus Oils station, but that it just did. It turns out Kentucky Route Zero is nothing like Fullbright, The Chinese Room or Galactic Cafe's seminal works. Kentucky Route Zero is like no other game I've ever played. 

Which feels like a strange thing to say about a game whose story isn't finished. Of those five planned acts, developer Cardboard Computer released its first three between January 2013 and May 2014. It wasn't until July of this year that Act 4 landed, and its fifth and final chapter is without a due date entirely. This year has been a questionable one for a number of reasons, yet it's been a very good 12 months for videogames. Nevertheless, my favourite game of 2016 is Kentucky Route Zero's penultimate episode—a small portion of a game which on its own makes little sense, but against what's come before it is arguably the most important.

In a sense, KRZ's fourth act is the runt of its litter. It tells a similarly disparate tale which pays no less deference to storytelling, self-reflection, and the series' Americana lineage; but its structure, tone and outlook is distinctly less overwrought compared to its forerunners. It feels like the calm before the storm as it swaps the open road for life at sea—yet how it turns itself inward to better examine the quirks of its idiosyncratic cast is nothing short of wonderful.  

Choices again govern the direction of the story, yet, this time more than ever, outline its past. Every decision carries weight, and can vastly alter you and the character you've vouched for's outlook. Likewise, interlacing narratives is a series staple among its cast of interchangeable and equally playable characters, yet number four spends much of its time exploring these networks further still. This in turn prompts a shift in tone: one which eschews the familiar dread of previous installments to instead focus on the minutiae of each scenario—the personalities, the foibles, the less obvious imperfections of this broadly dysfunctional, or, at the very least, disjointed, crew. 

It's difficult to dwell on what Kentucky Route Zero does best because it's how you play it that matters. While each game will typically wind up with similar conclusions, how you get there is what makes it interesting—something which is interminably subject to change. Sidestepping the open road, the gospel churches, the bureaucracy of the Big City, and replacing it with the Mark Twain-esque story-focussed lazy Echo river is a masterstroke which sets the stage for the series' fifth and closing act. By dwelling on its specifics, its relatable vignettes, and its whimsical anecdotes and metaphors, Act 4 is perhaps the least developed of the lot as far as overarching narrative in concerned, but is nonetheless crucial to the story's progression.       

The indie renaissance, for want of a less hackneyed term, of the last several years has opened the door to games like Kentucky Route Zero—yet at the same time KRZ is a game which recaptures the text-heavy, parser-reliant classics of yesteryear. With a stunning, minimalist art style, Kentucky Route Zero is a story-heavy game whereby you're as much the author as you are the reader and the player. Act 4 not only serves to frame its curtain call, but also celebrates all that's come before it.

Kentucky Route Zero Act 4 is nearly done, we proclaimed back in November of last year. The statement was made entirely in good faith, but nearly done proved to be a somewhat flexible term, as was the promise that it would be released soon, which I think we can all agree was last seen receding in our rear view mirror shortly after the new year. But better late than never, as they say.

Kentucky Route Zero, as developer Cardboard Computer describes it, is a magical realist adventure game about a secret highway in the caves beneath Kentucky, and the mysterious folks who travel it. It's a point-and-clicker, but unlike most other games in the genre it follows a meandering but fairly linear path on a journey filled with choices rather than goals: You poke around, you discover, you maybe see something unexpected, and you move on. Dialog is sparse, the visual style is striking, and the audio is something close to perfect.

The release of Act 4 is notable not only because KRZ is such a remarkable game, but because it's taken so long to get here. The first act was released in January 2013; act two game in May of that year, and act three in May 2014, more than two years ago. Cardboard Computer acknowledged the long wait last summer when it assured supporters that the game is not abandoned, canceled, a 'scam,' a performance art piece(?), or anything else but a work-in-progress. But it also warned that, despite the longer-than-expected wait, its process would not change.

Which is fine with me. Good things are worth waiting for, as people like to say, and Kentucky Route Zero is very good indeed. Find out more at kentuckyroutezero.com.

Kentucky Route Zero developer Cardboard Computer has tweeted to say that "Act IV is almost done! Excited to share it soon". That was followed by another Tweet of the screenshot above, seemingly from Act IV, which is definitely actually happening!

This is good news. Earlier this year the team had to Tweet to assuage fans desperate to immerse themselves in the next stage of the brooding magical realist adventure game.

So, for total clarity: KRZ Act 4 is not abandoned, canceled, a "scam," a performance art piece(?), or anything else but a work-in-progress.

— cardboard computer (@cardboardcompy) August 2, 2015

The first episode of the five-part series was released in February 2013. Episode three was released in May 2014.The development pace matches the slow-burn feel of the series. By the accounts of those of us that have played them so far, the acts have been worth the wait so far. Personally I'm saving acts II - V for a continuous playthrough on a wintry day.

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor came away from last night's 15th annual Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony having nabbed the top honor of Game of the Year. Monolith Production's open-world action RPG won out over Bayonetta 2, Destiny, Hearthstone, and Alien: Isolation.

A few of those games still took away awards, however. Blizzard Entertainment's digital card game Hearthstone received the Best Design Award, and stealth horror game Alien: Isolation, from developer The Creative Assembly, came away with the Best Audio Award. Best Narrative was given to indie adventure game Kentucky Route Zero, Act 3. The Audience Award went to space simulation Elite: Dangerous from Frontier Developments.

Game designer Brenda Romero received The Ambassador Award for her continued work, now three decades worth, in the games industry. The Pioneer Award was given to David Braben for his work on the Elite series, and Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of the Final Fantasy series, was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.

You can see a full list of the award-winners here.

Cardboard Computer have been releasing free interludes between each of their excellent Kentucky Route Zero episodes. First there was interactive art exhibition Limits and Demonstrations, then came theatrical experience The Entertainment, while today brings Here And There Along The Echo, which requires a bit more explanation. It's a phone. An actual phone, listed on eBay for quite a lot of money. A phone that only rings one number (apparently), which connects to an automated phone service narrated by Will Oldham (this Will Oldham?)

I know what it connects to because there's a digital, game version of said phone, which you can download for PC, Mac or Linux at the above link. This automated phone service is full of beautiful rambling stories and recitations related to the evocative setting of the main episodes, in particular to the Bureau of Lost Tourism, which is mentioned in the series a few times.

Others are saying that you can ring this number from a real life phone—the number being (270) 301-5797—but as I live in the UK and I barely know how to use Skype, I'm going to leave that for others to discover.

Like the previous interludes, it's not entirely clear how this relates to the beguiling story of the main games, but it's doubtless full of clues and references to their gradually unfolding narrative, and I can't wait to uncover these after a bit more poking around. It's also an entirely lovely thing to listen to, regardless of whether you understand much of what's being said.