Virtual Reality Point-and-Click Adventure Review: Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is a Virtual Reality game with a story that takes place directly in the middle of Psychonauts and Psychonauts 2.

The game takes place directly after the end of Psychonauts on the mission to rescue Lili's father, the leader of the Psychonauts. The plane they are on goes down while flying over the Rhombus of Ruin due to an abundance of psylirium, a radioactive material that is mentally disorienting to most psychics.

Because Razputin Aquato is a powerful psychic, he is able to mostly overcome the effects of psyliryum, making him the only person who can uncover the plot behind the leader's disappearance as well as to save his fellow Psychonauts and his girlfriend Lili.

It is one of the best uses of virtual reality that I have played so far since it sticks to the strengths of the concept while avoiding the pitfalls of the current technology. To reduce the possibility of motion sickness, the game can be played while sitting. It plays like a point-and-click adventure game where the motion of your head acts like a cursor, while there are text prompts for objects with which you can interact. 

The story is also told in a fantastic way that makes complete sense why Raz would be seated as he serves as your eyes and ears. You can use many of his psychic powers to manipulate the environment as well, with many powers from the original Psychonauts making their return. There are many characters that make their return as well, including one that fleshed out a larger backstory than they were given in the original game.

The music and art style was a big part of what made the original Psychonauts so appealing, and Double Fine did a fantastic job capturing the spirit of the original in both respects. The opening has my favorite song in the franchise so far, as it is a James Bond-style spoof complete with over-the-top female vocals. You can also move your head around to view the credits in virtual reality which was a nice touch. The rest of the game retains that spirit as well.  There aren't as many areas to play around, so there isn't as much of a vast difference in art styles between the real world and the mental worlds, but they all adhere to the aesthetic set by the original game.

Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin is a fun virtual reality point-and-click adventure take on the world of the Psychonauts. The voice acting, art style, and music are all great and adhere to the style of the previous game. The story is also fantastic and ties the virtual reality aspect into the story well. It's a shame Double Fine hasn't released a version of the game without the headset requirement, but if you have a PlayStation 4 and a PlayStation VR or a Windows computer with a VIVE or Oculus headset it is well worth playing.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Free Direct-Controlled Adventure Review: Host Master Deux: Quest for Identity

Host Master Deux: Quest for Identity was the second of the Host Master free adventure games. The protagonist of these games is none other than the founder of Double Fine himself, Tim Schafer.

In Quest for Identity, Tim wants to get past the backroom so that he can host the Game Developer's Choice Awards. However, because he wore a suit and lacked his beard, the bouncer doesn't believe he's actually Tim Schafer, so he won't let him pass.

Tim has to explore both the back room of the awards as well as a tongue-in-cheek representation of Tim's home as a mansion filled with Double Fine mementos. He needs to get on stage and to be prepared to do a stellar job hosting the awards show.

Host Master and the Conquest of Humor was a throwback point-and-click adventure game with the look and feel of Tim's early work at LucasArts on the first two Monkey Island games. The sequel shakes things up a bit with a look reminiscent of Day of the Tentacle mixed with the zaniness of Major Bueno, the team behind the development of this game.

It's direct-controlled rather than point-and-click, however, it is very much still an adventure game. You still pick up things and interact with objects, talk to the bouncer, and pretty much do anything you would do in any adventure. In this way, the way it is played is more akin to The Cave than the LucasArts classics. It's all good though since the game is quite enjoyable and the controls work well with the gameplay and art design.

The best thing about the original host master was its humor, and the tradition is carried out in the sequel, if not more so. It's a lot of fun experimenting with the objects in the game to see Tim's comments on his game world. Like the original, there are multiple endings. However, there are more to be found here, and they are actually quite funny and well worth playing through multiple times to see something new.

Host Master Deux: Quest for Identity is not just a fantastic sequel, it's a fantastic game, period. The art style and humor are wildly different than the original, but it's all the better for it. It's like Maniac Mansion to Day of the Tentacle. They are two wildly different games with wildly different styles, yet they somehow still feel as if they are part of the same game world. Flash may now be dead, however, until the Ruffle Flash replacement is more mature, the game can still be played using the Windows Flash executable. It's well worth the effort to get this game working, as the humor and the replayability make this freebie a must-play for fans of Double Fine, Tim Schafer, or just adventure game fans in general.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Free Point-and-Click Adventure Review: Host Master and the Conquest of Humor

 

Host Master and the Conquest of Humor is a free point-and-click adventure game that was created in Flash by the former webmaster of Double Fine, Klint Honeychurch.

The player character is the Double Fine founder himself, Tim Schafer. The year it was released, 2009, was one of the years Tim Schafer hosted the Game Developer's Choice Awards at the Game Developer Conference. Schafer is backstage waiting for the awards ceremony to begin. The problem is that he has no jokes to tell. In order to go onstage appearing as if he were prepared, Tim searches around the room for jokes.

Collecting jokes was accomplished by doing classic adventure game staples such as collecting random things into an inventory, using inventory items together, and, of course, using inventory items on different things in the room. The game is designed with a verb bar akin to Shaefer's classic games Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge and the VGA CD version of The Secret of Monkey Island. The art style was designed like an early 1990s adventure game.

This being a Double Fine adventure game, Host Master and the Conquest of Humor is filled with funny dialog as well as fun references to LucasArts and Double Fine games on which Tim Schafer had worked up to that point. The jokes that Tim Schafer collects, though, are purposefully old-fashioned dad jokes. This is funny in itself, as these are the jokes Tim will use onstage, to the delight of the fans. Well, the delight is based on how many jokes Tim is able to collect. There are three endings to the game depending on how many jokes Tim has when he gets on stage.

The music, by Bert Chang, isn't memorable but works well for this escape-the-room-style game. The fun thing about the music, however, is that the music changes based on a prompt before the game starts where the player is asked if their computer has a sound card. If no is chosen, the music will resemble the boops and beeps of the PC speaker commonly installed in IBM-compatible computers.

Host Master and the Conquest of Humor is a fun, free throwback to classic LucasArts adventure games. It is enjoyable and funny with graphics and music that resemble classic early 1990s computer games. It is made in Flash, so it's no longer playable online until the Flash replacement Ruffle becomes more fully featured. However, it can still be played just fine on Windows computers by using the Flash executable.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

A Host Master Carol

The first game out the gate for the Coding for COVID Coronavirus fundraiser is a sequel to Host Master and Host Master Deux titled A Host Master Carol.

It is a mix of my favorite Charles Dickens novel, A Christmas Carol, and one of my favorite Tim Schafer games, Day of the Tentacle.

To donate to the fundraiser, click here: https://donorbox.org/coding-for-covid.

Coding for COVID Fundraiser for Coronavirus Relief

I'm doing a fundraiser titled "Coding for COVID", wherein I code games while raising money for Coronavirus relief.

I'll be creating games based on my comics, Jenni and Doug the Ogre. I also received generous permission from Double Fine to create games based on some of their properties.

90% of all donations will be split up evenly among Doctors without Borders, Direct Relief, and Actions Against Hunger. The remaining 10% will go to the West Elmira Computer Museum. The latter is my non-profit charitable organization through which this charity drive is being handled.

You can donate to the cause here: https://donorbox.org/coding-for-covid

Rad Is Out Now

Rad, Double Fine's post-post-apocalyptic rogue-like was released on August 20th for Windows, Switch, PS4, and Xbox One. It's the last game to be published by a publisher other than Microsoft due to the studio's assimilation into the Xbox Games group of companies earlier this year.

I'll have a full review for it soon-ish, but I played the beta, and I can safely say that the game lives up to its name as it really is rad.

Freemium Turn-Based RPG Review: Middle Manager of Justice

The Middle Manager of Justice review was previously posted on The International House of Mojo on August 21, 2013.

There have been countless stories told of superheroes fighting villains. The story that has never been told is the story of the person who sets training schedules, budgets income earned on various necessities, and determines which crimes particular heroes should tackle. Kee Chi and Double Fine have rectified that with Middle Manager of Justice.

Middle Manager of Justice began as one of the amnesia fortnight prototypes, which was then was extended into a full game for iOS and Android thanks to Double Fine's angel investor, Dracogen. It's a departure from Double Fine's usual fare, as this is their first foray into the free to play market. But, fret not true believers. Middle Manager of Justice is one of the few games to do freemium right.

You begin with one hero, and can purchase more heroes as you progress. Your task as middle manager is to train each hero to increase their stats. They have four, strength, health, armor, and intelligence. Strength and health can be increased in the gym and intelligence can be increased in a meeting with the middle manager. Armor can be increased by purchasing items from the store. Each hero has a set level of training time, but this can be increased when the hero levels up. The heroes also have a set of power moves, which can be increased by training in a different gym in the office.

Only four heroes can be active at one time, and from one to four can fight battles at once. Battles are fought through the map in the office (although the map sometimes contains other heroic duties, such as stopping a school bus or saving people from burning buildings). The middle manager can choose to have the fights play out automatically, or to watch the fights, which will allow you to control the fights directly in RPG style battles. The more training and armor your heroes have, the better your chances of winning (the map will tell you a rough percentage of winning before you play, although it's possible to win even with a low percentage).

The writing shines in the battles, with a lot of Double Fine's trademark humor coming through. In battle, you can deploy your hero's usual attacks, use their super attacks (each super attack can only be used a set number of times, with a gauge telling you how many attacks are left for each hero), or even have your middle manager help out with his management powers. He can push the heroes to work harder, giving them more health and power (however, there's a time limit), reverse the team's health bars so that they can have near full health when before they were near exhaustion, give them pep talks to double the team's chance of making critical attacks, or make them work twice as hard (at the expense of some morale). Health and morale allow the heroes to keep fighting at their peak. Health can be replenished by sleeping at the office, morale can be replenished by watching TV.

There are also jokes in the office as well, found in the office's bulletin board. It's these little touches that make Double Fine's games stand out, and they can be found here in spades. The game's art style and animations also have a lot of charm, and the animations for the character's activities contain some subtle humor as well.

The game does use the standard freemium model of having two models of in-game currency. The standard currency, coins, are used to purchase things such as supplies and upgrades on training equipment. The game's premium currency, Superium, is used to purchase things such as new heroes and additional coins. However, even with the standard freemium model of currency, it's possible to enjoy Middle Manager of Justice completely, without ever having to use real-world money.

Coins are plentiful. You collect them from city districts, which pay based on how free of crime you keep them. You can also set tasks for your middle manager or your heroes to earn coins while in the office. You can earn more coins by upgrading the computers in your office, which like all of the office's equipment, are upgradable with coins.

Luckily, even the game's premium currency is earned at a steady rate. It's possible to earn 1 Superium randomly after a battle (along with other in-game items). However, the best way to win Superium is after boss fights. Each district has a boss fight, which will allow you to defend a new district once you have won.

Of course, since the game is freemium, it is possible to purchase currency with real-world money. You can purchase Superium in quantities ranging from 15 for $1 to 450 for $20. However, the best deals are the currency copier (which gives you two coins for each coin earned) and the Superium plant (which gives you one Superium every 15 minutes. These items are only $2 each, and if you do opt to send some money Double Fine's way, give you the most bang for your buck.

As is often the case with free to play games, the game has been extended since it has been released. There are now more districts than before, meaning more boss fights and more chances at winning Superium. There are also more heroes to buy than before, allowing you to use your earned Superium wisely. Additionally, the game has added a list of most wanted thugs. These thugs will pop up on the map randomly, adding 10 high-experience winning fights to the game. It is also now possible to collect meteorite shards, which can be combined by the middle manager in his office to create meteors which give the heroes more abilities (orange meteorites increase fire damage from attacks, dark blue reduces enemy power, yellow increases coins earned from fights, green causes enemies to take damage when they attack, and light blue increases experience earned from fights).

The game also has the ability for quests to be added for holidays. So far, the game has had a Valentine's Day quest this February, which added Valentine's themed boss fights and ended with the middle manager going out on a date. It's unknown if there will be more, but Double Fine has stated that more content will be added to the game soon, since they were previously investing time porting the game to additional platforms.

A huge part of a game is its music, and Double Fine never disappoints in that department. The game's theme song is a fitting tune that is inspired by super hero movies. The game's office tune has an uplifting melody with a catchy horn section. And, the battle theme is suitably upbeat, followed a nice superhero-inspired medley when you win the battle (or recieve a promotion). The sound effects are also done well, with attack sounds fitting well to each move, from lighting cracking to the usual amplified fist chop sounds. And, as with all unvoiced Double Fine games, the characters are mute except for a few noises, but what's there is fun. All of these elements fit the game well, and really add to the experience.

Double Fine's first foray into the free to play market truly excels as one of the best games of its kind. It's one of the few freemium games that doesn't feel like it is nickel and diming you in order to get the most out of the game. You can fully enjoy this game without ever paying a cent, but if you do choose to pay, there are options available that cost little and allow your money to go a long way. The dialog contains a lot of the trademark Double Fine humor, the art style and animations are wonderful and contain a lot of charm, and the music is catchy and fits the game well. If you own an iOS or Android device, download this game immediately. You won't regret it.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Body-Tracking Party Game Review: Happy Action Theater

The Double Fine Happy Action Theater Review was previously published at The International House of Mojo on February 21, 2012.

Double Fine has been making their latest games in easy-to-digest bite-sized chunks, but nothing they've made up to this point is as bite-sized or easily digestible as Double Fine Happy Action Theater.

The game is aptly named, as it plays out as separate set pieces setting you free to do whatever you want in each set. The default mode is theater mode, where the game automatically starts after the mandatory logos and then automatically chooses a new mini-game after a few minutes. This title was clearly designed with young children in mind, and this automatic system makes it perfect for even the youngest of children. All of the other Kinect games out there require some degree of precision, even those aimed at children. So, ultimately the under-3 set is left out. With everything automatic, you can just let your kids go at it and do whatever they want. You can also press start at any time to bring up a menu to choose any mini-game giving you all the time you want to play a particular stage. This makes it perfect if your child (or yourself) enjoys a particular mini-game and wants more time with it, or if you need some extra time to get an achievement on a particular mini-game.

Double Fine has made it so that the sensor tracks movement easier than most other Kinect games as well, since it is not absolutely necessary to have full-body tracking for the game. This makes Double Fine Happy Action Theater's best feature possible: Up to six players can play at a time. It also makes it possible for children (and impatient adults) to just hop into the game and play without having to worry if the sensor is tracking your body correctly.

Adults may also find the title fun, as my mother and myself did since there is a lot to discover in the mini-games. There are references to Double Fine games, and even characters from other Double Fine games and Action Comics to be found within. The games also have some unexpected things to be found, since the game uses every single feature of the Kinect at some point. My mom and I laughed out loud once we realized one of the things the microphone was used for.

I referred to the mini-games earlier as set pieces, and that's really the best way to describe them, as none of them are really a game, with the possible exception of the Breakout-style mini-game which has a score, albeit arbitrary, that resets to zero once you lose your last ball. The rest of the mini-games have no set goal, leaving you free to experiment with the game to try to find out the hidden things the designers put in each mini-game and to try to come up with weird things to do with the Kinect. The only real goal for gamers in the game is the achievements, which are actually helpful since most of them give hints towards fun hidden things that you might not have known were there otherwise. The achievements also gave me the inspiration to experiment with the Kinect sensor. In order to get the 6-pack achievement where you are supposed to have 6 friends, I used six chairs and myself. Since the game doesn't track full bodies for every player, I was able to duck down behind the chairs once I was recognized and sneak out to get another chair to try it again. I put a teddy bear in one chair and was surprised to see the Kinect recognize it as a player, complete with a tiny skeleton. It's quite amusing to just put the game on the dance stage and watch the teddy bear dance. It's also amusing to sit while on the dance stage, as it makes you look like you are short with tiny little legs. It's these kinds of things that make you come back to Kinect again, just to see what else you can do with a little imagination.

There are 18 mini-games, plus a credits screen which is a combination of another mini-game (the previously mentioned dance stage) with developer credits, complete with the dancing images of (most of) the development and production team at Double Fine and Microsoft. The balloon mini-game is the first game that starts once you start the game, which is perfect for my 1-year-old nephew who loves balloons. My personal favorites are the image manipulation stage, the dance stage, and the monster attack stage. In the image manipulation stage, images of people and objects in the room are captured and then frozen on the screen. You can then put yourself in front of or behind the objects captured on the screen, so you are in essence interacting with objects that are no longer there. It is quite fun to interact with yourself on screen. Five pictures are taken in total, and then the images reset. On the dance stage, you don't have to do anything, just sit there and watch yourself dance. This is where I did all of my experimenting with the chairs and bears with the Kinect sensor. Not only can you watch yourself and random objects dance, this is also the stage where many of the Double Fine's characters can be found from previous games ranging from Psychonauts to Stacking, as well as the Double Fine Action Comics available on Double Fine's website. In the monsters attack stage, you crush buildings and swat at planes, helicopters, and zeppelins and periodically a picture will be taken showing you attacking the city on the front page of a newspaper.

I can actually play all of these by myself, but the fun definitely comes in with multiple people. For me, the Breakout stage is the most fun to me with multiple people. This game is in the style of Atari's Breakout, where your body is the paddle and you have to bounce the ball up to hit the blocks above. If you bounce a ball that is the color of your paddle, the ball splits in two. As I mentioned above, this is the only stage where points matter, as the score resets after all the balls are lost. The score doesn't save, but it is fun to see how high of a score you can reach. The more players you have, the more balls you have to bounce off the paddles when it splits, making it pure chaos (and pure fun). There is also a Space Invaders stage, where you launch projectiles at incoming invaders using your arms. This one isn't as fun to me as an adult gamer, as there is no goal since the score keeps adding up.

The rest of the mini-games are fun to experience once or twice, but as an adult, I soon grew tired of them. I do have to say though that the disco music star stage is a bit of fun, even as an adult, since you control the speed of the music with the speed of your movements (although, sadly it's only possible to slow the music down. Wailing your arms around as fast as you can will not make the music change to hyper speed). The music in that mini-game, as well as the rest of the game, is excellent. Double Fine's games always have a fantastic score, and this game is no different. I found myself humming the music long after the game was over.

I can't conclude the review without mentioning what I'm sure is on everyone's mind. Ever since the game was announced, it has been stated that it's fun for kids or for a college frat party. There are definitely mini-games in here that are designed for the latter. The aforementioned disco music star stage is pretty trippy, since your body is shown in a star with neon colors all around it, and occasionally a shooting star with your picture on it shoots by. However, there are two stages in particular that are downright psychedelic. There is a stage where everyone is transplanted into a kaleidoscope, with their image bending, twisting, and blending into the colors of the kaleidoscope. But by far the most trippy mini-game is a stage where everyone in the room is shown in silhouette form and colors emanate out from them, slowly fading out with each movement.

Now that I got that out of the way, I can safely wrap this review up. If you have a young child, an Xbox 360, and a Kinect, this game is a must-buy. If you have an Xbox 360 with a Kinect and are looking for a trippy party game, this game is also a must-buy. For everyone else who has a Kinect-enabled Xbox 360, you should still be able to have fun with it. It's definitely one of the few games out there that make full use of the Kinect hardware. It's also priced 1/3 cheaper than Double Fine's other console games, which in my opinion, makes Double Fine Happy Action Theater well worth the price of admission.

Addendum April 7, 2023: It's old news by now, but the Kinect technology has a major drawback. It has trouble detecting dark colors, so make sure you don't have on a dark outfit so that the sensor has the best chance to detect your body. Unfortunately, this trouble with dark colors also is seen with hair and even skin color. I have natural jet-black hair, and I have played many Kinect games with my hair completely cut off. People with dark skin tones have reported even worse issues, with Kinect not detecting them or cutting off entire body parts.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Free Puzzle Platform Game Review: Tasha's Game

The Tasha’s Game review was previously published at Jupiter Beagle on October 1, 2008.

Tasha’s Game is available to play for free on Double Fine’s website.

Double Fine is best known as the creator of the game inspired by covers of Metal music covers, Brütal Legend, as well as the underappreciated but excellent platformer Psychonauts. But, they have also released a free flash game on their site that is actually fun and well worth your time.

Tasha’s Game is a puzzle platformer starring former Double Fine animator Tasha, who is also the star of her own webcomic. In the game, you must rescue Tasha’s co-workers from a mysterious captor. In each level, you must collect various blocks with different abilities in order to reach your colleague. The blocks are placed by Tasha’s helpful cat, who is controlled by the mouse, while Tasha is controlled with the keyboard. The blocks are either static, move back and forth, up and down, or act as a trampoline. The trick is using the blocks at the right time in order to get to the next part of the level.

The art style is the same as Tasha’s webcomic, and the music is done in an 8-bit style which fit the graphics and tone of the game very well. The game is short, it will probably take you less than an hour to complete, but it is worth playing just for the final boss battle. It completely took me by surprise, as that battle was really rather epic for a free, short flash game.

Final Verdict:
4 out of 5

Microsoft Acquired Double Fine

Tim Schafer posted a video explaining that Microsoft has acquired Double Fine Productions.

Games already announced won't be affected, such as Psychonauts 2, which will still launch on Linux, macOS, Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One as planned, and crowdfunding backers will still get everything for which they pledged.

 However, the company will focus on Microsoft platforms going forward.

Double Fine's Broken Age Is Out Now On the Switch

Broken Age, the successfully crowdfunded adventure game by genre veteran Tim Schafer and his Double Fine Productions game studio is out now on the switch through the Nintendo eShop.
It was originally released in 2015 for Windows, Mac, Linux, Ouya, Android, iOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita.

Broken Age is a point-and-click adventure game that follows two young people, a girl named Vella and a boy named Shay. Shay lives in a spaceship and is kept overly protected from harm, while Vella is chosen by her village to be sacrificed to an alien monster. The difficulty in puzzles begins easy enough, but it ramps up as the game goes on.

In related Double Fine news, another Double Fine adventure game is slated to be released on the Nintendo Switch. Grim Fandango Remastered is an updated version of a game Tim Schafer made in 1998 while he was employed at LucasArts, following a grim reaper named Manuel Calavera as he discovers a conspiracy of crime and corruption in the land of the dead. No release date has yet been announced for this title, although it was announced with the Switch port of Broken Age, so the wait shouldn't be too long.

Day of the Devs 2016

It appears that the Day of the Devs lounge that was at the GDC in March isn't the only Day of the Devs event that's being held this year.  Double Fine's fourth annual Day of the Devs event is going to be available to the general public soon.

It is a day that is full of gaming fun, from Double Fine and other developers.  Plus this year, they are accepting game submissions from the public.  The game selection will be locked down in the next few weeks, so if you want to take part, head over to the website now and fill out the form linked at the bottom of the page.

The event takes place this November 5th at The Midway in San Francisco, and, as always, admission is free.

My PAX East 2016 Experience - Day 1

It's quite a bit late, but I'm working on my writeup of PAX East 2016.  Here's the write up of the first day.  The other two days shouldn't be as detailed, but I wanted to post what I've written so far.  I'll post the rest of it shortly.  I'll also go through my hundreds of pictures from PAX to pick out the best ones to use for the article.  Hopefully I'll have it all done by the end of this weekend.

I haven't been to a major gaming show since 2002. That was at Electronic Entertainment Expo, the year of the 20th anniversary of LucasArts. Their 20th Anniversary video was playing on a loop on the big screen in the lobby, and was honestly the highlight of the show

I forgot how crazy these big gaming conventions get. Had I remembered, I still would have volunteered to work at the Double Fine booth, as I loved being able to help people who work at the company that made some of my all-time favorite games. I just would have been more prepared.

The first day, I arrived at nine in the morning, just as the show was opening to the public. The crowd outside the convention was insane. It took me an hour to get through it. I had lost my cellphone, so I brought my iPad and laptop. It was too loud to make a Skype call, and I wasn't sure how to send a text. Luckily, the registration booth was very helpful, and they sent a text to Double Fine's community manager, and half an hour later I was in the convention center with my exhibitor badge in hand. That community manager is James Spafford, who was the founder of The Interneational House of Mojo, and I asked him for permission to write about my experience for the site. It had to be surreal for him to be on the receiving end of requests for Mojo articles.

Double Fine's booth was situated next to Adult Swim's booth, as they will be the publisher of Double Fine's upcoming platformer, Headlander. Spaff told me to look for the Adult Swim banner if I ever couldn't find the booth. I am grateful for that advice, as I ended up using it multiple times throughout the show. Double Fine's space was showing several of their current and upcoming games. They also had a station demonstrating Headlander, as well as one demonstrating Day of the Tentacle Remastered. Three of their published games, under the Double Fine Presents label, were also present, Gnog, Everything, and Gang Beasts. Gang Beasts always had a large group around the game. It was described as "perpetually popular", and, at least for demonstrations at game conventions, it fit that description well. Gang Beasts is up on Steam Early Access now, but the 1.0 release is slated to come out by the end of the year, once the development team finishes online multiplayer support. Once it has reached that stage, Double Fine will publish the game on consoles.

I spent most of the day selling items at the booth from the Double Fine store. The Pinny Arcade Raz and Two Headed Baby pins were quite popular. Quite a few people asked for more Brutal Legend merchandise, and were happy to hear that the Double Fine art team finalized a pin design for a Brutal Legend Pinny Arcade pin, which will be available at the Double Fine booth at next year's PAX.

Towards the end of the first day, I learned that Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick were showing off Thimbleweed Park as part of the Indie Showcase area.  I headed to the booth, and talked to them while I was waiting for my turn to play the PAX demo of the game.  I had a hard time keeping myself composed, as I love Maniac Mansion, and I love all of Ron's games. I even have a soft spot for the Humongous Entertainment games, even though, at 12, I was outside of the demographic when the company was founded (that didn't stop me from playing the games though).  I also purchased and enjoyed Gary Winnick's Bad Dreams graphic novel so much I tracked down most of his other comic work, including the Venture comic magazine and the short-lived two issue Neomen.

After getting my inner fangirl in check, I asked Ron Gilbert if Thimbleweed Park would have multiple endings like Maniac Mansion.  He stated that each character would have their own ending.  However, unlike Maniac Mansion, you won't have to play through the game again to get each ending.  It will be possible to see each ending in a single play-through.  I also asked Gary Winnick if he preferred working on comics or games.  He stated that which he prefers depends on the situation. Right now, he's working on Thimbleweed Park, which he began right after working on his Bad Dreams graphic novel. So at the moment, he prefers working on games.  However, he said that he likes doing both, and once Thimbleweed Park finishes and he goes back to making comics, his answer would probably be different.

I bought a Thimbleweed T-shirt and went over to the play area to watch people playing the Thimbleweed Park demo.  There were four people playing, I was fourth in line, and I could hardly wait to try it for myself.  From what I could spot while looking on, it had all the humor that we've come to expect from the Lucasfilm Games era, and tons of in-jokes to spot for fans of those games.  I took a few pictures of some of the in-jokes in action, and waited patiently for my turn to play the game.  Finally, I was able to play the game, and it was worth the wait - not just waiting in line, but it also was worth the wait since the Kickstarter concluded back in December 2014.

This demo starts at the crime scene that has been shown prominently in features about the game, even while the Kickstarter was still live.  You can alternate between the two police detectives, and like Maniac Mansion or Zak McKracken, some puzzles require you to give objects to the other character, so that character can combine that object with one that they have in their own inventory.  Once the crime scene is cleared, you're taken to a diner where you obtain information about a suspicious clown named Ransome the Clown.  The police officers are told the story about this clown, and you are then given control of Ransome as you play the story out in flashback.  Ransome's story is quite interesting, as it includes dark magic that reminds me, in a way, of the Voodoo Lady from the Monkey Island games. Once Ransome's backstory is revealed, the player characters once again become the detectives, who have placed Ransome on their suspect list.  However, the demo doesn't last much longer, as one of the officers is seemingly ambushed, and the demo ends, leaving the player wanting to experience more of the game.  The suspense of the cliffhanger is supplanted with humor, as the ending text is displayed across the screen, bringing back memories of the "Turn Your Computer Off and Go to Sleep" text at the end of Monkey Island.

I leave the play area, and, like everyone who takes the time to play the game, Gary Winnick gives me a Thimbleweed Park mouse pad for trying out the demo.  I thank him for the excellent gift, and decide I should head back to help out the Double Fine team at their booth.  At this point, there are four people there, and they are in the middle of a change-over in booth staff.  They said that they don't need any help at the moment, so I decided to head out to see what kind of food was available at the convention center.  I'm actually a big fan of festivals, so when I spotted a festival style set up with festival staples like Italian sausage, pizza, and funnel cakes, I knew I found the place I wanted to eat. I ordered a slice of pepperoni pizza, and got a Mountain Dew Kickstart from a vending machine, as it was about a dollar cheaper than getting a drink at any of the food areas.  I then headed back to the Double Fine booth, and went inside the staff tent that was set up beside the booth.  I ate my food, and talked with Spaff until the exhibition hall closed at 6:00PM.

I told Spaff that I'd help the entire weekend, and decided to head back to my car.  The convention itself didn't end until midnight, but I was quite tired, so I decided that I'd check out what PAX East had to offer outside of the exhibition hall some other night.  I had a long walk ahead of me. Since the traffic was intense coming into the convention area, I parked in the middle of downtown Boston. I would not recommend anyone to go this route, as it was several miles away from the convention center and it didn't have a convention discount parking rate.  While I paid $15 to park for the other two nights, I ended up paying the maximum rate of $40 my first night there.  I also recommend driving around to get a feel of the area before parking, if you park a long distance from the event, as I ended up getting lost and walking around for three hours before I got back to parking garage. The good news though, was that with my car picked up, and the parking fee paid, I could head back out of Boston and get a good night's sleep.

Double Fine Will Be at PAX East this weekend

Double Fine will be coming to PAX East this weekend. They'll be at booth #6123 showing off Day of the Tentacle Remastered and Headlander. They'll also have three Double Fine Presents titles, Gnog, Gang Beasts, and Everything. A new title will be shown at the show as well.

They'll also be selling merchandise at the show, including the Raz and Two Headed Baby Pinny Arcade pins, and a new special edition game bundle box. The bundle contains 10 games, with 10 game cards drawn Jon Magram and Melissa King. The game cards can be seen below (click to see them in a larger size).

I'll also be volunteering at the Double Fine booth at PAX East this weekend, so if you're at the show, come by and say hello. :)

Day of the Tentacle Remastered Is Available Now

Day of the Tentacle Remastered is now available to purchase for Windows and Mac from Steam, GOG.com, and The Humble Store. Your purchase at those stores will also get you a Linux version, but this version will be coming a bit after launch.  It's also available on the PlayStation Store for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.

Day of the Devs Lounge Coming to the GDC

The Day of the Devs lounge is coming. This event, an incarnation of the Day of the Devs event that is held jointly by Double Fine and iam8bit, is being held this year at the Game Developer's Conference.

There will be a Day of the Devs lounge that, according to the GDC event schedule, will be held every day of the convention (from Monday March 14 to Friday March 18) from 10AM to 5PM PST.

• Below by Capy Games
• David OReilly Game 2 by David OReilly
• Headlander from Double Fine Productions
• Day of the Tentacle Remastered by Double Fine Productions
• SUPERHYPERCUBE by Kokoromi
• Return of the Obra Dinn by Lucas Pope
• Dreams by Media Molecule
• Bound from Plastic
• Hob by Runic Games
• ARENA GODS by Supertype
• Manifold Garden by William Chyr
• Severed by DrinkBox Studios
• Line Wobbler by Robin Baumgarten
• Rez Infinite by Monstars + Resonair

So, if you're heading to the GDC, make sure to stop by the Day of the Devs lounge to play Day of the Tentacle Remastered for yourself, and give the other games a try while you're at it.

Psychonauts Retrospective By Two Player Productions

2 Player Productions has created an excellent retrospective on Psychonauts titled The Color of Your World. This 50 minute retrospective has been posted in three parts on YouTube. You can view the first part embedded above, or directly here, and the other other parts can be selected from the annotations at the end of the video. Or, alternatively you can, you can view part two directly here, and part three directly here.

The Psychonauts Fig campaign is doing well so far. It's currently nearly 75% funded with 31 days left to go. So, there's plenty of time to back it if you haven't. If you feel like playing a social media game, Double Fine has set one up for the campaign, which is a neat new twist on their social media campaign from the original Psychonauts which used Friendster and Myspace (remember those relics of the internet from 10 years ago?), this time using modern social media like Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, Vine, and YouTube and combining them with achievements.

Although, unlike usual video game achievements, you actually get tangible rewards for playing this game. Once enough people hit a goal, everyone who follows the campaign will get fun stuff like this retrospective, which was the first goal hit. The next goal is previously unseen concept art from the original Psychonauts. The social media game is a completely optional part of the campaign, but if you want to join in on the fun, join the PSI Cadets.

Psychonauts In The Rhombus of Ruin Coming To PS4 VR

One more Double Fine game was revealed at the PlayStation Experience.

If you wondered what happened after the end of Psychonauts, you'll now get your answer in the form of Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, the PlayStation VR game, coming to PlayStation 4 next year. You'll finally be able to take part in the rescue mission mentioned at the end of the first game, bridging the story gap between the original Psychonauts and the forthcoming sequel, which you can still back over at Fig, if you haven't already.

You can view the trailer embedded above, or directly here.

Day of the Tentacle Remastered Trailer

The PlayStation Experience had a lot of good things from Double Fine this year. On top of the new game announcements of Full Throttle Remastered and Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin, the official trailer for next year's Day of the Tentacle Remastered has made it's official debut. It also has received a release window, March 2016.

You can view it embedded above, or directly here.

Full Throttle Remastered Announced

Hot on the heels of this year's excellent Grim Fandango Remastered, and next year's fantastic looking Day of the Tentacle Remastered, Tim Schafer took the stage at the PlayStation Experience to announce that Full Throttle is also getting the remastered treatment.

It will feature updated graphics and sound, director's commentary, and new control options that will make the game more accessible to today's gaming audiences.

Full Throttle Remastered will be coming to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2017 (and presumably Windows, Mac, and Linux as well, since both previous Double Fine remasters were announced as PlayStation console exclusives and were also revealed to be coming to computer systems as well).