DAY 125 / GAME 125
The Cave
Just over a couple years ago Double Fine started a Kickstarter crowd-funding venture for a new adventure game which eventually became Broken Age and was released earlier this year. (The first half anyway.) But before the game had a final release title, it was simply known as the Double Fine Kickstarter, or the Double Fine Adventure. Shortly after things got rolling with the Kickstarter, Double Fine announced The Cave. An adventure game created by Double Fine and Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame.
Now, hearing "Double Fine" and "new adventure game" during The Cave's announcement, I immediately assumed this was the Kickstarter adventure. Turns out I wasn't the only one, so I don't feel too silly because of course these two games turned out to be totally unrelated.
The Cave was published by Sega and developed by a team at Double Fine directed by Ron Gilbert. Gilbert, an old friend and associate of Tim Schafer, worked at Lucasfilm Games back in the 80's where he ported Atari 800 games to the C64 platform and eventually created the very successful SCUMM game engine. The Cave, is more of a mix of a platformer and an adventure game with it's own twist. You start off around a campfire as The Cave (yes, the Cave is sentient) narrates it's backstory to you. Before you lie seven different characters, three of which you choose to band together and plunge deep into it's depths on a journey of self-discovery.
As you make your way through The Cave, it's required that you solve puzzles which block your advance using two or three of the characters you've chosen. Puzzles may be as simple as a door that requires two levers pulled at the same time across an area, forcing you to place the Knight at one lever and the Scientist at the other; but also more complex puzzles that really get you scratching your noodle. The Cave's level system is quite fluid. The entire game plays as one big level, like most adventure games, but with no real cutscenes or the like to blend sections of the cave together. This wouldn't be so impressive if the game's levels didn't change based on the players you choose, but it does.
A neat thing about The Cave is how each character's deep dark secret backstory is delivered through the Cave's levels. Basically, there's a overall plot with it's own levels and then individual levels that bind in with that playthrough. Depending on which three characters you choose each playthrough ends up being different. With an alternate ending for each character and 7 characters to choose from, The Cave ends up being a much bigger game than it's first playthrough suggests. I definitely wanted to see each of them. The narration, the writing and the characters are all so well put together that I most certainly didn't put it down until I had exhausted all the available writing.
I love The Cave. It's simple, yet gorgeous. The 2D gameplay is enhanced with fantastic 3D sets. The levels are all build with a cutaway design like all those books you use to look at as a kid with diagrams of the Titanic and engines and cars. The simple camera means they could push amazing looking graphics with minimal effort creating moody levels chock full of character.
The Cave is an inexpensive game, rolling in at about $10-15 depending on the platform and is worth every penny. It's got the Double Fine feel to it and a uniqueness that makes it really stand out as nothing you've played before. I had a ton of fun with it and it's easy to recommend since it doesn't take much of an investment to try it out. It's short(ish), cheap and easy to play for really anyone, regardless of what kind of games you are good at.
The Cave
Just over a couple years ago Double Fine started a Kickstarter crowd-funding venture for a new adventure game which eventually became Broken Age and was released earlier this year. (The first half anyway.) But before the game had a final release title, it was simply known as the Double Fine Kickstarter, or the Double Fine Adventure. Shortly after things got rolling with the Kickstarter, Double Fine announced The Cave. An adventure game created by Double Fine and Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame.
Now, hearing "Double Fine" and "new adventure game" during The Cave's announcement, I immediately assumed this was the Kickstarter adventure. Turns out I wasn't the only one, so I don't feel too silly because of course these two games turned out to be totally unrelated.
The Cave was published by Sega and developed by a team at Double Fine directed by Ron Gilbert. Gilbert, an old friend and associate of Tim Schafer, worked at Lucasfilm Games back in the 80's where he ported Atari 800 games to the C64 platform and eventually created the very successful SCUMM game engine. The Cave, is more of a mix of a platformer and an adventure game with it's own twist. You start off around a campfire as The Cave (yes, the Cave is sentient) narrates it's backstory to you. Before you lie seven different characters, three of which you choose to band together and plunge deep into it's depths on a journey of self-discovery.
As you make your way through The Cave, it's required that you solve puzzles which block your advance using two or three of the characters you've chosen. Puzzles may be as simple as a door that requires two levers pulled at the same time across an area, forcing you to place the Knight at one lever and the Scientist at the other; but also more complex puzzles that really get you scratching your noodle. The Cave's level system is quite fluid. The entire game plays as one big level, like most adventure games, but with no real cutscenes or the like to blend sections of the cave together. This wouldn't be so impressive if the game's levels didn't change based on the players you choose, but it does.
A neat thing about The Cave is how each character's deep dark secret backstory is delivered through the Cave's levels. Basically, there's a overall plot with it's own levels and then individual levels that bind in with that playthrough. Depending on which three characters you choose each playthrough ends up being different. With an alternate ending for each character and 7 characters to choose from, The Cave ends up being a much bigger game than it's first playthrough suggests. I definitely wanted to see each of them. The narration, the writing and the characters are all so well put together that I most certainly didn't put it down until I had exhausted all the available writing.
I love The Cave. It's simple, yet gorgeous. The 2D gameplay is enhanced with fantastic 3D sets. The levels are all build with a cutaway design like all those books you use to look at as a kid with diagrams of the Titanic and engines and cars. The simple camera means they could push amazing looking graphics with minimal effort creating moody levels chock full of character.
The Cave is an inexpensive game, rolling in at about $10-15 depending on the platform and is worth every penny. It's got the Double Fine feel to it and a uniqueness that makes it really stand out as nothing you've played before. I had a ton of fun with it and it's easy to recommend since it doesn't take much of an investment to try it out. It's short(ish), cheap and easy to play for really anyone, regardless of what kind of games you are good at.
Now, hearing "Double Fine" and "new adventure game" during The Cave's announcement, I immediately assumed this was the Kickstarter adventure. Turns out I wasn't the only one, so I don't feel too silly because of course these two games turned out to be totally unrelated.
The Cave was published by Sega and developed by a team at Double Fine directed by Ron Gilbert. Gilbert, an old friend and associate of Tim Schafer, worked at Lucasfilm Games back in the 80's where he ported Atari 800 games to the C64 platform and eventually created the very successful SCUMM game engine. The Cave, is more of a mix of a platformer and an adventure game with it's own twist. You start off around a campfire as The Cave (yes, the Cave is sentient) narrates it's backstory to you. Before you lie seven different characters, three of which you choose to band together and plunge deep into it's depths on a journey of self-discovery.
As you make your way through The Cave, it's required that you solve puzzles which block your advance using two or three of the characters you've chosen. Puzzles may be as simple as a door that requires two levers pulled at the same time across an area, forcing you to place the Knight at one lever and the Scientist at the other; but also more complex puzzles that really get you scratching your noodle. The Cave's level system is quite fluid. The entire game plays as one big level, like most adventure games, but with no real cutscenes or the like to blend sections of the cave together. This wouldn't be so impressive if the game's levels didn't change based on the players you choose, but it does.
A neat thing about The Cave is how each character's deep dark secret backstory is delivered through the Cave's levels. Basically, there's a overall plot with it's own levels and then individual levels that bind in with that playthrough. Depending on which three characters you choose each playthrough ends up being different. With an alternate ending for each character and 7 characters to choose from, The Cave ends up being a much bigger game than it's first playthrough suggests. I definitely wanted to see each of them. The narration, the writing and the characters are all so well put together that I most certainly didn't put it down until I had exhausted all the available writing.
I love The Cave. It's simple, yet gorgeous. The 2D gameplay is enhanced with fantastic 3D sets. The levels are all build with a cutaway design like all those books you use to look at as a kid with diagrams of the Titanic and engines and cars. The simple camera means they could push amazing looking graphics with minimal effort creating moody levels chock full of character.
The Cave is an inexpensive game, rolling in at about $10-15 depending on the platform and is worth every penny. It's got the Double Fine feel to it and a uniqueness that makes it really stand out as nothing you've played before. I had a ton of fun with it and it's easy to recommend since it doesn't take much of an investment to try it out. It's short(ish), cheap and easy to play for really anyone, regardless of what kind of games you are good at.
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