Kentucky Route Zero

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About

Kentucky Route Zero is an indie point-and-click video game which became a critical and fan-favorite since its first act debuted in 2013. The game, developed by Cardboard Computer and published by Annapurna Interactive, released in chapters over the following seven years, ending with Act V's release in January of 2020.

History

Kentucky Route Zero was developed by Cardboard Computer, a small team consisting of Jake Elliott, responsible for design, programming, and Tamas Kemenczy, responsible for art and design. The game was funded with help of a Kickstarter campaign that launched January 7th, 2011.^[1] Two years later, the game's first act released (trailer shown below).

Over the following seven years, the game released four more "acts," with Act V releasing on January 28th, 2020. The story follows Conway, a truck driver on a magical highway in the caves of underground Kentucky, and players control where he goes and his dialogue choices. The game was initially developed for Linux, Windows, and Mac OSX, and was ported to the Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One.

Reception

Each installment has been positively reviewed on Metacritic.^[2] Many praised its artistic elements, with IGN describing it as a "damn fine example" of what video games can be.^[3] The game also won several awards, including "Game of the Year" at Rock Paper Shotgun in 2013, "Game of the Year" for Killscreen in 2014, #3 "Game of the Decade" at Paste and #4 at Polygon.^[4]

Online Presence

In addition to the game's glowing critical praise, it has developed a passionate online following. On Reddit,^[5] the game's subreddit has gained over 1,600 subscribers since its creation in February of 2013. It also has 1,600 likes on Facebook.^[6]