While we are still on the subject of Kickstarters, surely you remember the one that started this year’s ‘craze’? You know, the one wanting to go back to a so-called dead genre of games: adventure games. The ones that started, or at least publicised, the trend of turning to the crowd to fund video game projects are none other than the idiosyncratic Double Fine Productions, led by their head honcho, Tim Schafer.

The fine people at Double Fine productions.

As many other geeks of my generation, I spent a lot of time playing point-and-click adventure games, spending afternoons glued to my screen trying to figure out what wacky combination of objects would let me progress further in the game. Sadly, at one point, they stopped coming. The world of video games had apparently moved on.

And, in a totally unrelated circumstance, I heard someone speak about an upcoming game that would focus on heavy metal culture and stereotypes. Being a metalhead myself, that caught my attention from the get go, and I set out in search of all the information I could find. The game was called ‘Brütal Legend’, and would be made by a little-known, to me at least, studio: Double Fine Productions. Then, as my search continued, I was quick to connect the dots between my new guaranteed-purchase and those games I loved growing up. And from that day, Double Fine would be a name I would look out for.

Fast-forward to now, and when I saw that they were asking for donations in order to fund a then vague adventure game idea, I was sold. This was the first Kickstarter for me, and with the exception of Indie Game: The Movie, the only one I felt 100% sure about. Not only because I was convinced that they could deliver a great game, but because they actually promised a series of documentary videos shot by 2 Player Productions, documenting every step of the way. And that, for me, justified the amount I spent on the crowdfunding campaign.

To adventure!

But apart from some fanboyism on my part, why did I include Double Fine in this end-of-year list? Well, that is because they are the studio that single-handedly got my priorities straight as far as my career goes. Prior to seeing the inner workings of the studio, I had ruled out the idea of ever working as an employee in a ‘big’ – compared to ‘real’ indies – studio. That came after spending years wanting to get a job at Square Enix or some other behemot. And they had another surprise coming to reaffirm this new view.

The Amnesia Fortnight.

The opening video for the Amnesia Fortnight.

While the principle behind Double Fine’s Amnesia Fortnights was known since their last salvo of smaller games (Iron Brigade, Costume Quest, …), it was still an internal thing. This time, they opened the doors to the studio and let us watch livestreams and recap videos from the ever-present 2PP, and let us download the prototypes obtained at the end of the two weeks. This move, done in conjunction with the guys behind Humble Bundle, was fascinating and full of great insight.

All these and more – Tim Schafer’s apparition in Minecraft: The Story of Mojang, to cite one – made 2012 kind of the year of Double Fine for me. I hope they cultivate their openness in the coming years. And would that not be the case, thank you guys for all you have taught me and made me see this year. You rock!

And as is now customary: Double Fine on Twitter, their website, and Tim Schafer’s Twitter.