It’s Wil Wheaton! In Broken Age! I love that guy!

Plus a whole raft of other amazing voice actors!

And we’ve got even bigger news coming soon—tune into the Spike VGX stream on December 7 at 3pm Pacific/6pm Eastern to catch it live, along with a demonstration of the game!

The Cave knows your deepest, darkest desires… It knows what you want, and it knows what you’ve done to get it… It knows you want to play it on Ouya…

Hope no more, for that is reality! The Cave is now available on Ouya! Enjoy it immediately!

Mark Hamer’s Snapshots single-panel comics are now available in book form, as incredibly attractive softcover and hardcover editions which we are selling on our very own store!

Now listen up: We’ve got five hardcover copies of this sweet, sweet compilation to give away to the authors of the best captions of five tragically captionless Snapshots. Heck, if you win one, we’ll even get Mark to sign your copy!

Just send your entries to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) by Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 11:59pm Pacific time. Just send your text and indicate which Snapshot it’s for—you don’t need to add the text to the image itself. Our panel of esteemed judges (mainly, you know, Mark (Edit: Tim will now also be judging!)) will pick the best caption for each Snapshot. You can send in captions for any number of the Snapshots, but you can only win once. You may also only submit one caption for each Snapshot. If you submit more than one caption for a single image, we’ll just pick one to be judged at random!

There are a few examples of captioned Snapshots above, but feel free to put your own twist on it. Here they are:

Snapshot 1:

Snapshot 2:

Snapshot 3:

Snapshot 4:

Snapshot 5:

Psychonauts, Costume Quest, and Stacking to see retail Windows and Mac release in first half of 2014

San Francisco, CA and Vienna, Austria—November 26, 2013—Double Fine Productions and Nordic Games GmbH have announced that Double Fine has reacquired the publishing and distribution rights to its games Costume Quest and Stacking. Additionally, Double Fine has decided to partner with Nordic Games to bring retail releases of Psychonauts, Costume Quest, and Stacking for Windows and Mac in North America and Europe during the first half of 2014.

“I am pleased that we have regained full control over Costume Quest and Stacking, following a daring and top-secret midnight raid on the Nordic Games headquarters in Vienna,” said Double Fine president and CEO Tim Schafer.

“We can’t wait to partner with Double Fine for this upcoming retail launch of three of its most excellent games,” said Lars Wingefors, owner and CEO of Nordic Games. “However, I feel compelled to point out that we were happy to transfer distribution rights for Costume Quest and Stacking back to Double Fine in an entirely non-secretive and heist-free manner.”

Nordic Games previously acquired the distribution rights to Stacking and Costume Quest upon the bankruptcy of former publisher THQ in early 2013.

“Double Fine is dedicated to controlling its own IP, and we will continue working to bring all associated rights back in-house whenever possible,” said Double Fine business development VP Justin Bailey, “no matter how many split-second security system hacks or painstaking tunneling operations we have to execute.”

“I just want to clarify, again, that we support the right of independent developers to control their own distribution, and we were pleased to have the opportunity to work with Double Fine,” said Klemens Kreuzer, Managing Director at Nordic Games. “No heists.”

Psychonauts was originally released at retail in 2005, but for years has been available only through digital distribution. The upcoming retail launch will mark the first time Costume Quest and Stacking have been available as physical releases.

Autonomous has returned—enhanced for the suitably futuristic Leap Motion Controller.

Autonomous first appeared in Amnesia Fortnight 2012, the brainchild of Stacking project lead and Brütal Legend art director Lee Petty. As a human-robot hybrid Hot Wire, you must explore the ruins of civilization in the wake of the final Robot Wars and assemble an army of automatons to gather energy and fight the enemy. Now with added support for the Leap Motion Controller, you’ll be able to use your hand to aim, throw robot parts, and deliver powerful shock attacks.

In addition to the new motion control, the team added new features and content in several areas:
- Multiple levels! Once the player has met the energy goal for the current level, they must battle their way to a transmission center where they are teleported to new levels—each with a distinct look and procedurally placed robot parts, automatons and energy sources.
- Sky Map: A holographic map of the level is projected into the sky, allowing the player to quickly find energy sources, friendly and enemy automatons and other important structures.
- Hunter-Killstar: The player’s presence no longer goes undetected. Automatons known as HUNTER-KILLSTARS are periodically transmitted into the world, designed specifically to hunt down and destroy the player. As time ticks on and the levels progress avoiding and defeating them becomes more and more challenging.

This version of the game is now available only to Leap Motion on Windows, as a free download. Head over to the website for more screenshots and details!

Remember Spacebase DF-9, from last year’s Amnesia Fortnight? Well, we’ve spent the last six months or so rebuilding it from the ground up as a brand new game! And you can play it right now as an Early Access Alpha!

We’ll be continuing to add to it based on our own plans as well as player feedback—there’s a lot to check out over at the official website. And here’s the announcement press release, if you prefer your news to come from more formal and carefully-worded channels:

DOUBLE FINE ANNOUNCES AND RELEASES ALPHA VERSION OF SCI-FI BUILDING SIM SPACEBASE DF-9

Funded by an all-star group of benefactors, Spacebase DF-9 is now available on Steam Early Access and spacebasedf9.com

San Francisco, CA-October 15, 2013-Double Fine today announced and released an alpha build of Spacebase DF-9, a new builder and social simulation. The game will continue to undergo ongoing development in the form of free updates for players, whose feedback will be taken into account.

In Spacebase DF-9, players help humanity and alien allies recolonize the Milky Way following the collapse of galactic society. In an open-ended gameplay environment, players construct and maintain a self-sustaining deep space habitat, deal with environmental and alien threats, and watch and influence the lives of a diverse crew as they live, work, and attempt to stave off space madness.
“I’ve been really excited about Spacebase DF-9 ever since it was one of the highest-voted games in our public Amnesia Fortnight game jam last year,” said Double Fine president and CEO Tim Schafer. “So excited, in fact, that I decided to launch the team into space until they get it finished, free of the tempting pleasures and distractions of the planet Earth.”

“But Tim, the team is going to keep working on this game post-release,” said Ron Carmel, president of Indie Fund, one of the game’s principal financiers. “If everything goes well, it could be in development for a very long time.”

“Exactly!” declared Schafer, who has kind of a weird glint in his eye. “And everyone will be able to watch! It worked great during Amnesia Fortnight, after all.”

In addition to Indie Fund, Spacebase DF-9 is being supported by a consortium of independent game studios and luminaries, including Humble Bundle, Hemisphere Games, make all LLC, AppAbove Games, Adam Saltsman, The Behemoth, Morgan Webb, and Rob Reid.

“The internet connection we have up here is surprisingly great,” said Spacebase DF-9 project lead JP LeBreton. “The people of Earth will be able to play the game as it takes shape, give feedback, and tune in for regular progress updates. This line of open communication will also be helpful in case of emergency. Because, seeing as we’re in deep space and are not trained astronauts, I actually expect there to be a lot of emergencies.”
Spacebase DF-9 was conceived as a prototype project during Amnesia Fortnight 2012, the first public iteration of Double Fine’s annual internal game jam. After being greenlit for full production, it was overhauled from the ground up.

Spacebase DF-9 now features an isometric perspective and newly-developed lighting system, as well as a wealth of other visual improvements. Citizens engage in a rich array of interactions, forming long-term bonds and animosities. A host of new threats faces the player and crew, including pirate invaders, environmental disasters, and unsettling alien creatures. Oxygen and vacuum are modeled in and outside the base, and citizens must contend with airlocks and execute spacewalks to construct new base segments.

Spacebase DF-9 is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux through Steam Early Access and spacebasedf9.com.

“We are all very appreciative of the food and supplies sent by our generous indie benefactors,” said LeBreton. “Please, please continue to send food and supplies.”

We can’t stop shipping games for iOS!

The Cave just released for iPhone and iPad, and now Costume Quest is available for those amazing computational devices as well, as long as you have iOS 6.1+. It’s only five bucks! And the Grubbins on Ice DLC is only another two bucks! That’s basically the best deal ever. And just in time for Halloween.

The Cave may be a mysterious, impossibly huge, sentient cavern…but it also fits inside your phone. Yes, you can now play The Cave on your iPhone or iPad with iOS 6.1+! So get on it!

San Francisco, CA—September 1, 2013—Double Fine is proud to announce a selection of the voice cast from its upcoming crowdfunded adventure game Broken Age, including cameo and featured roles from Jack Black (Brütal Legend, Tenacious D, School of Rock) and Jennifer Hale (Brütal Legend, Mass Effect, Metal Gear).

They are joined by a host of additional returning talent from past Double Fine games, including Richard Horvitz (Psychonauts, Brütal Legend, Invader Zim), Nick Jameson (Psychonauts, Full Throttle, Sam & Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle), Grey Delisle (Brütal Legend, Batman: Arkham City, StarCraft II), and Cree Summer (Brütal Legend, StarCraft II, Diablo III).

Broken Age, written and designed by Tim Schafer, was initially announced as Double Fine Adventure and funded by a record-setting Kickstarter crowdfunding project in 2012. Its development has been chronicled in depth through an ongoing video documentary series created by 2 Player Productions, and it is planned for release next year.

Double Fine Voice Director Khris Brown, who has cast, produced, and directed the voice talent for all of Double Fine’s previous games, said, “We have been so lucky over the last 13 years to work with the best actors in the industry, and now we’re calling them back for a kind of family reunion. It’s like a big, Thanksgiving dinner, except everything’s being recorded. And everyone you’re related to is a super-talented actor. And the food’s really healthy because you’re in LA.”

“I could not be more excited about being reunited with Jack, Jennifer, Richard, Nick, Grey, and Cree for Broken Age,” said Schafer.“The early voice sessions have been amazing, and we’re not even done yet!”

Jack Black, whose career includes lead roles in films such as School of Rock, Bernie, and High Fidelity, as well as the rock duo Tenacious D, starred as Eddie Riggs in Double Fine’s 2009 heavy metal adventure Brütal Legend. The performance was widely acclaimed, garnering Black a win for Best Voice at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards and a nomination for Outstanding Character Performance at the 13th Interactive Achievement Awards.

Jennifer Hale’s work has spanned television, film, and games, and she is cited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most prolific video game voice actress. She has had major roles in such titles as the Metal Gear series, Halo 4, Diablo III, The Last of Us, and BioShock Infinite, and starred as Ophelia in Brütal Legend. She is best known to fans for her iconic portrayal of Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect series.

Brown and Schafer have collaborated on voice work for each of Schafer’s games to date, including Brütal Legend, Psychonauts, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, and Day of the Tentacle.

Our first two experiences setting up shop at PAX—PAX Prime 2012 and PAX East 2013—have been excellent, so let’s do it again! We’re going back to PAX Prime in Seattle in a couple weeks, and we hope to see you there! Here’s the rundown of what we’ll be up to.

THE BOOTH

We’ve got a great booth right next to our PAX East boothmates, Capy! A bunch of DFers will be hanging out there throughout the four-day expo, including Tim, Brad Muir, Nathan “Bagel” Stapley, Greg Rice, Chris Remo, Denise Gollaher, Justin Bailey, and Su Liu. Plus some great fan volunteers—see below if you’d like to help out.

Tim will be conducting the usual daily signing sessions, and in a new addition to our PAX lineup, Bagel will be doing live painting events! Stop by the booth during the show to check the posted times for both these recurring events. Of course we’ll also have a bevy of DF gear on sale, including some new items yet to be unveiled.

THE PANEL

Join us Sunday at 3pm in the Kraken Theatre. Tim, Brad, Greg, and Chris will be discussing our experiences with open, fan-oriented development on games like Broken Age and MASSIVE CHALICE, sharing examples of how community interaction has influenced the teams and affected Double Fine as a studio. We’ll be taking questions and showing off materials from the projects, so don’t miss it.

THE PARTY

Our last PAX Prime fan meetup on the upper floor of the Seattle Hard Rock Cafe went so well, we decided to book the same space and do it again! Join us Sunday from 6pm to 10pm at 116 Pike St. It’s a short five-block straight shot down Pike from the convention center. Many excellent memories will be generated!

THE VOLUNTEERS

During PAX East we took on a small staff of fan volunteers to make sure our booth ran smoothly. It worked so preposterously well that we’re doing it again—and several of the original crew is coming back to help us out again! They’re the best. But of course a few of them couldn’t make it for Prime, so we’re looking to staff back up. If you love Double Fine games, are friendly and outgoing, can commit to at least two half-day shifts over the course of the weekend, and would like to help us out, send us an email! Include any relevant experience and whether you already have a PAX pass, and mention any days or times you wouldn’t be able to help out.

Please note that this is an unpaid volunteer position, but we do have a limited number of additional full PAX passes! If you’ll be in the area and don’t have a pass (and meet the other criteria listed above), this could work out pretty well!

EDIT: We’ve got all the volunteers we need—thanks to those who got in touch!

THE END

We’re excited! This is going to be real fun times.