The new Humble Bundle allows gamers to vote on which games will be developed during Double Fine’s infamous “Amnesia Fortnight,” and then play the prototypes when it’s all over.
During Double Fine’s annual “Amnesia Fortnight” ritual, all regular work stops so the employees can divide up into small teams and spend the time making other kinds of games. It’s an opportunity to test new ideas and give potential new project leaders a chance to show their stuff, and it’s often a very fruitful process, too, as many of the studio’s recent games have their roots in the Fortnight. “It’s really a great morale boost for the team, and a highly effective way to develop new game ideas,” according to Double Fine honcho Tim Schafer.
It’s also normally an internal process, with the green light given to projects based solely on Schafer’s whim, but this time around, in conjunction with the Humble Bundle folks, the studio is opening the doors to the public. 23 budding project leaders have put their ideas up for consideration, and anyone who kicks in at least a dollar can vote on them. the top four vote-getters will then be developed over the two-week span.
The whole thing will be filmed by 2 Player Productions, the same team behind the Double Fine Adventure documentary, and videos of the probably-not-at-all-stressful development will be posted daily. Once the two weeks are up, the prototypes will be released to all supporters, who will then be able to vote on the best of the bunch. Sweetening the pot are the original Amnesia Fortnight prototypes for Happy Song, which eventually became Once Upon a Monster, and Costume Quest.
As always, funds can be divided in whatever portions you wish between Child’s Play, Double Fine and Humble Bundle, but the Amnesia Fortnight Humble Bundle runs for just six days, so if you want to get in on the action you probably shouldn’t dawdle. Get all the details at humblebundle.com.
Published: Nov 19, 2012 09:53 pm