Space Quest Creators Try Their Luck With Kickstarter

The Two Guys From Andromeda are back with a new project.

You probably won’t recognize the names Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe, and the sad truth is that Two Guys From Andromeda probably doesn’t ring any bells for most of you either. But 25 years ago, wearing strap-on pig noses, Geordi LaForge sunglasses and ridiculous fake haircuts, they were a couple of big wheels at Sierra, thanks to the success of the sci-fi comedy adventure Space Quest. Like most other Sierra franchises, Space Quest was a big hit and was sequelized numerous times before finally sputtering out in the mid-90s.

[History quickie: The final game in the series, Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier, was actually designed primarily by Josh Mandel, who is now working with Replay Games on the Leisure Suit Larry reboot. These old Sierra guys really are a dedicated bunch.]

But after a brief 20-year hiatus, the Two Guys are back! And as you might expect, they’ve ended up on Kickstarter, where they’re looking for funding for a new project called Two Guys SpaceVenture [which may or may not be a working title] because the Space Quest IP is presumably caught up in a tangled and expensive web of ownership rights.

What the SpaceVenture will actually be about is a little unclear at the moment, but it’s no surprise to say that it will involve hilarious death sequences, pop-culture references and nostril Tang. What is a bit surprising is the distinguished voice acting cast that includes Gary Owens [Space Ghost], Rob Paulsen [Pinky and the Brain], Robert Clotworthy [Jim Raynor of StarCraft], Ellen McLain [GlaDOS] and John Patrick Lowrie [TF2 Sniper]. The duo is also in talks with some of the original composers of the Space Quest soundtracks.

At this point, the Two Guys’ Kickstarter looks more akin to Jane Jensen’s Pinkerton Road, which sought support for a studio rather than a single game, rather than a rebirth of a particular franchise as is being done with Leisure Suit Larry. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s definitely something to be aware of if you simply must have more Space Quest. More information about what they’re up to can be found at guysfromandromeda.com, which has a blog, podcasts and instructions for making your very own Andromedan nose out of a Twinkie, while the Two Guys SpaceVenture Kickstarter is up, as always, at kickstarter.com.