A complete, retail version of Broken Age, Double Fine’s Kickstarted adventure game, arrives in stores in spring 2015, simultaneous to the digital release of the second and final act, according to a joint announcement from Double Fine and distributor Nordic Games. The retail copy will also include a new German voice-over track, for Teutonic adventurers.
Broken Age is a classic point-and-click adventure following two teenage protagonists, Vella and Shay, in what first appear to be unrelated coming-of-age narratives. Players can switch freely between the two characters, shaping their futures and figuring out how their lives connect. Act 2 promises to bridge that gap and explain how Shay and Vella’s stories intersect and conclude.
The game was an important, early success on Kickstarter, blowing past its goal by almost $3 million in 2012. Writer/designer Tim Schafer (The Secret of Monkey Island, Psychonauts) had not created a traditional adventure game in 16 years prior to Broken Age. Its release was split into two acts to allow for more attentive development that took advantage of the crowdfunding surplus.
Digital Trends’ Adam Rosenberg greatly enjoyed the first part, calling it “at once a declarative commentary on Double Fine’s precedent-setting approach to publishing and the vintage Schafer adventure we were promised.”