Vote on Double Fine's next game ideas
Then pay what you want for the prototypes, and vote on your faves.
Ever since Brutal Legend was a financial catastrophe Double Fine has shifted its focus to smaller games that have been created as the result of its "Amnesia Fortnight" process, in which the studio splits into small teams for two weeks and creates prototypes for future projects.
Such titles as Costume Quest, Stacking, and Iron Brigade (formerly known as Trenched) emanated from this process.
This year Double Fine is doing something a little different by allowing players to vote on which four of 23 game ideas they would like to see made into prototypes.
People will pay what they want for opportunity to contribute to this project, and they'll be rewarded with playable versions of all four prototypes. After that, they'll be asked to vote on which prototype is their favourite.
Those who pledge more than $1 will be gain immediate access to a couple of past prototypes. Happy Song was an early version of what became the Sesame Street Kinect title Once Upon a Monster, while Costume Quest turned into, well, Costume Quest. Backers can also decide how much they would like of their pledge to go to Double Fine, the Child's Play charity, and the Humble Bundle.
The whole process of creating the four prototypes will be documented by 2PlayerProductions, the filmmakers behind the Double Fine Adventure and Minecraft documentaries.
So what are these outlandish game concepts, you ask? Double Fine has pitch videos of all of them on its Amnesia Fortnight page, but here are some highlights:
Bad Golf is described as "PGA meets the demolition derby," where you're tasked with playing golf in a hurry so you can run over to your golf cart and wreak havoc on your friends who are teeing off. Black Lake is described as an "action adventure game through the waking dreams of animals lost in a folk tale forest." And Silent, But Deadly is a "smell-based stealth game where you have to escape an office building after pooping your pants."
Schafer described Amnesia Fortnight as "a great morale boost for the team, and a highly effective way to develop new game ideas.”
Voting ends in six days, so head on over to Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight page and let your voice be heard.