True. A filter would be helpful. There's the possibility that customers might be pissed off after knowing that they've purchased a steam-exclusive game instead of something that's cross-platform and DRM-free.

They should borrow Gamersgate's one. Works pretty well for the most part

Exactly. I don't know how you'd be able to install games without an internet connection with Gamersgate but I appreciate their website's interface. I haven't tried buying any of their DRM-free games but I've read somewhere that you'd need to have an internet connection first to have their games activated or something. Correct me if I'm wrong, of course.

Has anyone played Kentucky Route Zero or Gone Home? I'm tempted to get them DRM-free from the Humble Store, and I'd like to hear any opinions (no spoilers please). Also, I assume Kentucky Route Zero is a Season Pass - anyone know how many of the five episodes are available already?


I wonder, why is there no DRM-free version of Tetrobot & Co. though? Do I have to change my avatar now? :P

Also, GOG apparantly rejected it?! O.o
I guess they're afraid of the next "What's with all these indie platformers lately?" thread. :P

EDIT: Seems like you'll get a DRM-free version from Humble later?

Oh man Godus on special......

"Kentucky Route Zero is split into five acts, of which the first two are available now. All five acts will be automatically available upon their release."
its on the game card. I never heard of the Episode 2 release though....

Ah, silly me, I only checked the Steam page. Thanks! Do you mean you haven't heard any opinions about episode 2 or do you mean it hasn't be released yet?

I haven't played any of the games you're asking about, but I know that the first two out of the planned five Acts of Kentucky Route Zero have been released - if it helps, AdventureGamers reviews for Act I and Act II.

I hadnt heard of its release to be honest (since i been between jobs for a longtime had plenty of time to keep track of games i like hehe) :/

Just in case anyone else was interested, I bought Tetrobot & Co. and even though the Store page only lists the Steam key, and the Humble Widget on SwingSwingSubmarine's side still says that a DRM-free version will get added eventually, there already is a DRM-free download available on the game page when you buy it (v1.0.12, 243.5 mb).

it got released back in February. 5 chapters are planned, the first 2 are released.

By the way, it is cheaper now at Humble Store than it is on Steam, if you are interested. It is 50% off there, while Steam is 25% off. Buying it on either Steam or HS will give you all 5 chapters as they are made.

As nijuu pointed out, the first two acts of Kentucky Route Zero are available already, and the third should apparently be ready soon. As far as opinions go, I think if the following three acts are as good as the first two, then I can group it amongst my favourite games ever made. It's really difficult to talk about without spoiling anything unfortunately... But, to be honest, I bought it on a whim without knowing what it was really about, and I feel like that kind of worked out for the better. The events of the game are really surreal, you see. It'd be a shame to mention some of the things you encounter because not knowing that they're coming was quite amazing, at least for me. So, in your case, I'd look up some spoiler-free reviews to get a basic gist of what's going on as the game begins.

Gameplay's a little easier to talk about, I suppose. It's a point and click adventure game, minus the puzzles - it's completely storyline driven. You can make some minor choices, several of which are highly unusual. In a conversation, for example, you might pick some dialogue. What's so unusual about that, you ask? Well, once you meet another character who tags along with you, you actually pick between what she will say, or what your character will say... It's certainly a strange decision to make, that. Anyway, none such choices will really affect things in the long run, or at least don't appear to yet. They're more catered towards building your characters the way you want to but, because of their odd nature, they're a lot of fun to make, consequence or no. And that could be a problem if you expect every choice to have some massive consequence at the end of the game or something mental, but I wouldn't shrug your shoulders just yet - the writing, as far as I'm concerned, is some of the best we've ever seen in a game. Because of the surrealistic nature, you can't quite always know what to expect in your next encounter, as I've said, but that applies to the writing to. The writing is funny, witty, sad, weird and also poetic, and of the very high quality. Which it ought to be because it's presented as, well...ach, I won't say. Check out the two links at the bottom if you're really curious, although you might guess the inspiration from some of the screenshots. Either way, I think what they've done thus far is nothing short of genius. Thematically, the game's very strong too, but I can't really mention any of those without spoiling anything, although I will say that I'm very excited to see how they'll develop.

Christ, what else? Um, the art style's really cool - I guess you can look at some screen shots to get the idea. What's neat is that there's areas where you're in your truck and the game changes stylistically, and this sometimes even applies to locations you're "in". What I mean by that is that you'll occasionally find somewhere of little import on the game's map and go to it, only to be presented with a black screen and white text as the game describes what this museum, for example, looks like; what sounds you hear; if there are any smells; etc. Funnily enough, I did read a few people complain about such optional sections as lazy on the developer's part for not physically creating these areas, but I personally think it takes some amazing writing to engage with you that way, and let your imagination fill in the area for you (and obviously, they do it on purpose).

Guess I might as well gush about the sound design too. First of all, there's no voice acting but, believe me, that isn't a loss at all, especially towards what they're going for. Secondly, the sound effects are amazingly sparse, and this goes for, thirdly, the music too. Seriously, I cannot emphasise enough how well these are both used. Obviously the sounds are more frequent, but music isn't really playing in the background as you explore a building or whatever as they might in some other game. Which means it can come as a surprise when the music does play, or when a catchy song kicks up with its appropriate lyrics (these are especially awesome by the way). Sound and music do contribute hugely to the game's already stellar atmosphere, though. The endings of both acts, for instance, have the camera move in closer and closer as the one piece of sound, and a song in the background of act two (albeit, sped up), grows louder and louder until we're faced with the end screen, and it is amazing.

So, yeah, KRZ's awesome. BUY IT, YOU FOOL.

Incidentally, I loved Gone Home too, though not in the same way, so I'll spare you the wall of text for that. Still, I would recommend that too if the idea of exploring a home - that genuinely looks real, I might add, thanks to the incredible level of detail - and piecing together one main story, and several others, about the occupants through a combination of collecting and investigating items, as well as some puzzle solving (quite light, and certainly very easy, mind) sounds like something that would interest you. Again, the writing, music, art style and sound design is all very awesome. The developers recently added some terrific audio commentary to the game too, which is great. Certainly didn't expect that to be particularly good, but they all do go into detail about their various roles.

EDIT: Oops, the links I mentioned. So, if you're interested in KRZ, here are two freeware games the developers have released which use the same art style, and play quite similarly.

http://kentuckyroutezero.com/limits-and-demonstrations/

http://kentuckyroutezero.com/the-entertainment/

They're both amazing, as it happens.

Thanks a lot for that detailed answer and for the links! I already bought Gone Home yesterday and look forward to playing it, and next week I'll probably get Kentucky Route Zero, too. :)

Oh, btw, does anyone know what's up with the timer? What does the first number in 01:01:26:55 mean? Does it mean only 1 day left? Or does it refer to something else than days? Yesterday the first number was 05, today it's 01 - did they shorten the sale by 4 days? Or will it be over in an hour already? That would be unfortunate because I need to wait for my PayPal transfer which could take at least 2 more days... :(

Tetrobot & Co. is out and GOG rejected it? WTF??? Would've been a day one purchase for me. Block That Matters was one of my favourite indie games for a very long time, so I expect the new game to be very good as well.

On the other hand they are probably right that the game didn't create much buzz. I didn't even realize it was released around two months ago. Also I created the wishlist entry and it didn't get another vote for about 4-6 weeks (and it only has seven votes by now).

Same here, as my avatar betrays. ;)

True, but on the other hand they have released several indie games in the past that I think were even less known (I don't want to judge them as being less original, as I haven't played them). And SwingSwingSubmarine is a very sympathethic company in my eyes and BTM a DRM-free quality product, so I'm kind of sad to see one of my favorite developers approach GOG of their own accord and get such a reply. I could understand if GOG didn't want to concentrate on indie games too much, but after the new indie offensive they launched, it puzzles me even more ... Humble still seem to have the edge on GOG when it comes to indie games.