By Nathan Grayson on May 11th, 2012 at 11:00 am.
For the longest time, Double Fine’s been hinting at a “secret project” heralding from the gleefully demented brain of Monkey Island veteran Ron Gilbert. But what could it be? A truly next-gen oven mitt? Bread that butters other bread, which in turn butters it back? A bluetooth headset that doesn’t make you look like you deserve to be crushed by a phone factory? Turns out, it’s definitely better than all of those things put together, even though I have no earthly idea what it is yet. I mean, look at that image. Apparently, Game Informer had to assemble it from separate, smaller images. This, I am certain, could revolutionize gaming – provided, of course, Double Fine includes a 37-step tutorial explaining that the small pieces aren’t for eating. I always mess that part up.
So obvious speculation says this is Double-Fine-ese for “This is a puzzle game” – or a game that involves a fair amount of puzzling in some form or another, at least. The vibe, meanwhile, seems wonderfully macabre, and the main cast — which appears to include a robot (!) with a gun (!!) and boots (!!!) – seems both large and diverse. I also spy sloped tunnels with characters running through them. Perhaps there’s platforming afoot?
The buried objects – which include a UFO – give off a post-apocalyptic vibe, though they could also be in-jokes, I suppose. And, because I love reading way too far into things, the light behind the characters seems to suggest they’ve just entered the tunnel, so I doubt it’s a game about emerging from, say, a Fallout-like vault or something. Honestly, though, I could be way off the mark. Maybe the ethereal lighting suggests ghosts, and the UFO suggests… alien ghosts.
Double Fine’s hosting a reveal event soon, but until then, what sort of Olympic-caliber jumps to conclusions can you make based on this image?
11/05/2012 at 11:06 jrodman says:
I’m frightened by the theme. Did I help to summon an ancient evil by funding this?
11/05/2012 at 11:07 stahlwerk says:
it’s not the kickstarter game.
11/05/2012 at 11:14 jrodman says:
Oh, huh, I’m not the only who made that mistake.
Thanks for the clarification.
(I’m still frightened.)
11/05/2012 at 11:16 Text_Fish says:
I’m a little annoyed that they’ve gone so quiet on that project for so long.
11/05/2012 at 11:19 jrodman says:
Are you following the game-specific forums? There’s some kind of news there, but i’m not generally reading it.
11/05/2012 at 11:37 fredcadete says:
They haven’t gone quiet. They just don’t want to break the first rule of the backer forums.
11/05/2012 at 12:27 Wendelius says:
Speaking of the backer forums, has http://www.doublefine.com as a whole been brought down? I can’t reach it right now.
11/05/2012 at 11:08 selkcip says:
That robot looks an awful lot like a knight. Are you sure it isn’t a knight? Not that I want it to be a robot instead of a knight, I like robots. It’s just that it looks like a knight to me.
11/05/2012 at 11:12 Wendelius says:
Yep. That robot does look like a knight on the full size image.
11/05/2012 at 12:06 stahlwerk says:
What if…
…it’s a robotic knight?
A: Your mind is blown.
11/05/2012 at 11:14 Drayk says:
I like what Double Fine does. I like Ron Gilbert. I think I might like that ^^
11/05/2012 at 11:19 The Dark One says:
Spelunking is a really satisfying word to say. Like carbuncle, or feldspar.
11/05/2012 at 11:20 LionsPhil says:
The robot has a gun, therefore this is a cover-based shooter with regenerating health! Boo! Boycott Double-Fine!
11/05/2012 at 12:04 wodin says:
Looks like a Knight to me.
11/05/2012 at 12:18 pilouuuu says:
Oh, I just hope it’s an FPS. We need more of those!
11/05/2012 at 12:34 Eclipse says:
it’s going to be a 2.5d platform game, look at the image, it’s quite clear.
or not. Well, I’m reading that into them.
11/05/2012 at 11:30 Yachmenev says:
They did register the name “The Cave” earlier, which seems to fit this game. A puzzle game with a diverse cast, in a cave? I´m interested.
11/05/2012 at 13:50 Skabooga says:
If this is a modern remake of Spelunker, I’m going to kill myself by jumping off the curb onto the street.
11/05/2012 at 11:33 MadTinkerer says:
Interesting. I wasn’t expecting news of the other projects they were hinting at so soon.
Now if we backers could just have our video update that finally reveals what the Kickstarter Adventure is going to have regarding setting and characters, Tim, I’d be really happy.
(I know we have to wait for the video to be edited nicely in order to get a nicely edited video, but I just can’t wait…)
11/05/2012 at 12:18 Acorino says:
The video will be released today, according to plan. Yeah, I’m excited too!
11/05/2012 at 11:47 Maldomel says:
I don’t know what to think. Probably it’s a puzzle game with platform sections and time travel. Still, it is a very good news!
11/05/2012 at 12:04 stahlwerk says:
MORE but less new CONCEPT ART
http://grumpygamer.com/5694081
http://grumpygamer.com/7310262
11/05/2012 at 13:03 Lemming says:
“The buried objects – which include a UFO – give off a post-apocalyptic vibe,[...]“
Wow hell of a leap there! I’d say it’s more 50′s alien invasion/abduction vibe given the farmer outfit, the scientist and the flying saucer..
11/05/2012 at 13:35 wodin says:
I see an eye in the wood top right. Not sure if that has some meaning.
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11/05/2012 at 18:42 Lowbrow says:
I thought Game Informer was “an American magazine” to RPS. So confused.
14/05/2012 at 06:53 Uninteresting Curse File Implement says:
These just look like some secondary characters from the Psychonauts cast.
Also, wasn’t the Kickstarted project the Schaffer/Gilbert one? Now they have a second one? What