Kentucky Route Zero Has a Slightly Hidden "Multiplayer" Mode Now
It's kind of pass-and-play?
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
After a long, long wait, all five acts of the surrealist Americana game Kentucky Route Zero are available to play through. But players jumping in today found something they likely didn't expect from the solitary, introspective indie game: a multiplayer mode.
A prompt in the game reveals a pop-up that tells the player about Kentucky Route Zero's "multiplayer mode," a pass-and-play way of playing the game that seems suitably odd. Essentially, when you see something in the frame that reminds you of someone else in the room, whether it be an object, or even the absence of an object, or just anything, you pass the controller to that person. They then adhere to the same rules.
You don't have to say anything, and can simply pass the controller. It seems like almost a one-off bit of abnormality, which would gel with the overall feel of the game, but I kind of like the idea of silently handing someone the controller when you feel a notion of them in the space. It's reflective of the virtual world having some connection to ours, even if only in spirit.
Not to wax poetic on the concept, but I think it's pretty neat. You can access this prompt by going to the options menu and selecting "multiplayer," but really, those are more just guidelines than any sort of hard-coded multiplayer restrictions.
As far as we can tell, this was added as part of the final act's launch—we booted up both our Nintendo Switch and PC versions to ensure both had them, but have also reached out to developer Cardboard Computer to get some more info on how this got inserted in the game.
Be sure to check out our glowing review of Kentucky Route Zero's conclusion, and how it reflects the recession, debt, and America.