Weekender: You NEED to play this game
Ten years in the making, Kentucky Route Zero is a bonafide classic.
When it comes to video games, I like them chill. I’m not a Call of Duty fan. I don’t enjoy first-person shooters or uber-violent splatter-fests. I prefer story-driven experiences or ambient platformers like Journey or Inside. But I’ve just found one that tops all of those. It’s got me, and it’s got me good. Here’s why. Let’s go…
The animation is blocky, the graphics are simple. There are no action sequences, no swelling drama scenes, no major conflicts of note.
You will not shoot a gun, abseil down waterfalls, wander around an island solving complex puzzles, escape from a wrecked train, smash robots with iron fists or fail and fail again at mighty boss battles.
Most of the game takes place amidst scenes so gloomy you’ll feel like your TV might not even be turned on.
No characters are voiced. Instead, pages and pages of text scroll across the screen like you’re reading the script for an incredibly long theatre performance.
You will read them. You will read them all. And you will go back to read them again.
You will read so much that the experience will probably equate to several of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones tomes. You’ll read so much your eyes will hurt.
If someone described a video game like that to me, I’d tell them to stop talking. I’m out. I don’t care. I don’t want to play it. It’s not for me.
But Kentucky Route Zero is different. Kentucky Route Zero is so much more than the sum of its parts. Kentucky Route Zero isn’t just brilliant, it’s fucking amazing.
And I can’t stop playing it.
Released in five instalments, as well as several mini instalments, over the course of the past decade, Kentucky Route Zero is the result of what three guys can do when they combine their talents, put their minds to it and attempt to create something extraordinary.
Yes, there’s a story, of an antique delivery driver called Conway attempting to make one last run. That’s where you come in: he’s lost, confused, and looking for help. And he stumbles upon a weird world full of strange people worthy of investigating.
I don’t really want to tell you any more than that. Kentucky Route Zero is so wacky and wonderful you need to experience for yourself. You need to sit with it, give it time, let it sink in. It’s a small game about small things that ends up saying a whole lot about the world we live in.
Split into five acts, the best way to play it is by experiencing one act a day. That means its stunning set pieces can really stand out and stay with you.
It’s just so good. I can’t recommend it enough. I think about it all the time. A two-piece folk group sparking up a gig at a dodgy bar might be my favourite gaming experience of the past 10 years.
The soundtrack consists of ambient noise and downbeat folk. It’s incredible.
You don’t need to listen to me waffle on about it anymore. Hear from the experts, like Polygon, who called it “the most important game of the decade”. Or the Washington Post critic who asked, “Are games art?” and responded: “Kentucky Route Zero screams an emphatic and stubborn ‘yes’ to that question.”
Also, if you have the time, go read this Slate story about the three guys who made it happen. Honestly, if you don’t want to play it after that, move along, there’s nothing to see here, this one isn’t for you.
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is available for around $35 on the Playstation store. It’s also available for Switch, Xbox and PC.
Five other things you should do this weekend:
Go see Shadow in the Cloud! It’s directed by Chinese-Kiwi Roseanne Liang, and it’s an absolutely freaky mash-up monster-fest. I loved the shit out of it.
Watch It’s a Sin on TVNZ OnDemand. Everyone’s talking about the 80s-set show for a good reason - it’s equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking. It’s great.
Go read this New York Times feature on the Foo Fighters, which explains why the rock veterans are about to release a new album full of disco and funk (WTF?).
Watch the Tiger Woods documentary Tiger on Neon. I hate golf with an absolute passion but this is a super compelling deep-dive on the dark side of fame.
Listen to Collapsed in Parks, the debut album by British singer-songwriter Arlo Parks. She shares a name with my son, but there are plenty of other reasons to love her mix of silky smooth vocals and DIY bedroom pop. Here she is ruling on Jimmy Kimmel Live! earlier this week…
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