Articles

Resources: Articles & interviews ⋅ Talks ⋅ Podcasts ⋅ Publications & books ⋅ Newsletter ⋅ Postcards ⋅ Patreon

Materials: Achievements ⋅ Ephemera ⋅ Wrongles ⋅ Phone numbers ⋅ Debug mode ⋅ Fonts ⋅ Music

Many articles have been published about Kentucky Route Zero, and its developers have participated in multiple written interviews.

2012

• 'Kentucky Route Zero' is a bluegrass adventure with robots and cats by Andrew Webster. October 26, 2012.
  • https://www.theverge.com/2012/10/26/3558366/kentucky-route-zero-adventure-game-cardboard-computer

2013

• Wot I Think: Kentucky Route Zero Act I by Adam Smith. January 11, 2013.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/11/wot-i-think-kentucky-route-zero-act-i/

• Interview: Kentucky Route Zero's Mountain Of Meanings by Nathan Grayson. January 22, 2013.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/22/interview-kentucky-route-zeros-mountain-of-meanings/

• Where the road takes you: investigating Kentucky Route Zero by Dan Whitehead. January 28, 2013.
  • https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-01-28-where-the-road-takes-you-investigating-kentucky-route-zero

• Road to the IGF: Cardboard Computer's Kentucky Route Zero by Mike Rose. January 29, 2013.
  • https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/road-to-the-igf-cardboard-computer-s-i-kentucky-route-zero-i-

• From Kickstarter to burgeoning cult hit, we explore the origins of Kentucky Route Zero by Adam Rosenber. February 5, 2013.
  • https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/exploring-the-magical-reality-of-cardboard-computers-kentucky-route-zero/

• On Kentucky Route Zero, Act 1 by Tara Ogaick. March 11, 2013.
  • https://thiscageisworms.com/2013/03/11/on-kentucky-route-zero-act-1/

• Breathe In The Road: Cardboard Computer and Kentucky Route Zero by Charlie Hall. April 11, 2013.
  • https://www.polygon.com/features/2013/4/11/4158338/breathe-in-the-road-kentucky-route-zero

• Kentucky Fried Zero parts 1, 2, and 3, by Magnus Hildebrandt (English translations by Dennis Kogel and Josefiene Pertosa).
  • https://superlevel.rip/spiele/indie-spiele/kentucky-fried-zero-english-edition/ April 21, 2013.
  • https://superlevel.rip/spiele/indie-spiele/kentucky-fried-zero-act-2-english-edition/ July 24, 2013.
  • https://superlevel.rip/spiele/indie-spiele/kentucky-fried-zero-act-3-english-edition/ February 27, 2015.

• 'Taking genre conventions as your starting point is kinda boring' by Kris Ligman. May 29, 2013.
  • https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/-taking-genre-conventions-as-your-starting-point-is-kinda-boring-

• Wot I Think: Kentucky Route Zero Act II by John Walker. June 4, 2013.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/06/04/wot-i-think-kentucky-route-zero-act-ii/

• The Indifference of 'Kentucky Route Zero' to the Platonic Ideal of Video Games by Eric Swain. December 17, 2013.
  • https://www.popmatters.com/177535-kentucky-route-zero-indifference-to-the-platonic-ideal-of-video-game-2495700024.html

2014

• Interview: Cardboard Computer by Benjamin Filitz. February 20, 2014.
  • https://superlevel.rip/spiele/indie-spiele/interview-cardboard-computer/

• "Try to Perceive Life": An Interview with Kentucky Route Zero Developers Jake Elliot and Tamas Kemenczy by Drew Dixon. May 2, 2014.
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20170810032614/http://gamechurch.com/try-to-perceive-life-an-interview-with-kentucky-route-zero-developers-jake-elliot-and-tamas-kemenczy/

• Wot I Think: Kentucky Route Zero – Act III by Adam Smith. May 7, 2014.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/05/07/wot-i-think-kentucky-route-zero-act-iii/

• The Kentucky Route Zero Guide To Film by Brandon Boyer. May 20, 2014.
  • http://venuspatrol.com/2014/05/venus-patrol-presents-kentucky-route-zero-guide-film/

• Transcending Fiction: “Too Late to Love You Now” and ‘Kentucky Route Zero’ by G. Christopher Williams. May 21, 2014.
  • https://www.popmatters.com/182075-transcending-fiction-too-late-to-love-you-now-and-kentucky-route-zer-2495656878.html

• Kentucky Route Zero's Musical Centerpiece and the Power of Choice by Ansh Patel. July 14, 2014.
  • https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/07/kentucky-route-zeros-musical-centerpiece.html

2015

• The Poetics of Space by Cara Ellison. January 3, 2015.
  • https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-01-03-cara-ellison-on-the-poetics-of-space

• Pulling the Strings by Lindsey Joyce. February 7, 2015.
  • http://www.haywiremag.com/features/pulling-strings/

• A Psychogeography Of Games #1: Kentucky Route Zero by Hannah Nicklin. July 3, 2015.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/07/03/a-psychogeography-of-games-1-kentucky-route-zero/

• The Point N' Click meets Modernism — Frost, Joyce, and Conrad in Cardboard Computer’s Kentucky Route Zero by Hannah Nicklin. December 16, 2015.
  • https://medium.com/@disembodiedbird/the-point-n-click-meets-modernism-frost-joyce-and-conrad-in-cardboard-computer-s-kentucky-ea5ffb61c802

2016

• Where the hell is 'Kentucky Route Zero'? by Jessica Conditt. February 16, 2016.
  • https://www.engadget.com/2016/02/16/kentucky-route-zero-act-4-interview/

• Opened World: Art Imitates Art by Miguel Penabella. March 27, 2016.
  • http://www.haywiremag.com/columns/opened-world-art-imitates-art/

• Finding poetry in the caves beneath Kentucky by eli fessler. April 19, 2016.
  • https://elifessler.com/games/blog/posts/finding-poetry-caves-beneath-kentucky

• What Makes Kentucky Route Zero's Dialogue So Good? by Alex Wiltshire. June 3, 2016.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/06/03/kentucky-route-zero-dialogue-analysis/p

• We Talked to Cardboard Computer About ‘Kentucky Route Zero’ and the Politics of Debt by Lewis Gordon. June 27, 2016.
  • https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/8gea93/kentucky-route-zero-and-the-politics-of-debt-an-interview-with-cardboard-computer-123-58477fecace19e023cedc910

• Wot I Think: Kentucky Route Zero Act IV by Alec Meer. July 22, 2016.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/07/22/kentucky-route-zero-act-iv-review/

• American Spaces, American Burdens by Carolyn Petit. July 23, 2016.
  • https://carolynpetit.tumblr.com/post/147863575015/american-spaces-american-burdens

• The Unsteady Steadying The Unsteady by Cara Ellison. August 11, 2016.
  • http://caraellison.co.uk/essay/the-unsteady-steadying-the-unsteady/

• A Melancholy Journey Through the Lost American Dream by Laura Hudson. August 16, 2016.
  • http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2016/08/kentucky_route_zero_reviewed_a_perfect_depiction_of_quiet_economic_desperation.html

• Kentucky Route Zero: How Ben Babbitt scored a Lynchian modern classic by Lewis Gordon. August 23, 2016.
  • http://www.factmag.com/2016/08/23/kentucky-route-zero-ben-babbitt/

• Kentucky Route Zero's android musicians are releasing a whole album by Reid McCarter. August 23, 2016.
  • https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/kentucky-route-zeros-junebug-set-release-tktk-album-androids/

• Play Kentucky Route Zero now, before it’s too late by Dan Solberg. September 30, 2016.
  • https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/play-kentucky-route-zero-now-late/

2017

• Kentucky Route Zero, Act IV: All but Done by Richard Herndon. January 22, 2017.
  • https://medium.com/the-cube/kentucky-route-zero-act-iv-all-but-done-664ecae2d896

• Welcome to The Zero: the making of Kentucky Route Zero's open road by Joe Donnelly. January 27, 2017.
  • https://www.pcgamer.com/welcome-to-the-zero-the-making-of-kentucky-route-zeros-open-road/

• Reexamining the American Road Trip in Kentucky Route Zero by Patrick Larose. September 2, 2017.
  • http://blog.pshares.org/index.php/reexamining-the-american-road-trip-in-kentucky-route-zero/

• The Forgetting Game by Sam Dibella. November 29, 2017.
  • http://www.heterotopiaszine.com/2017/11/29/forgetting-game-kentucky-route-zero/

• The Making of Kentucky Route Zero – Games™ Magazine, Issue 194. November 30, 2017.
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/kentuckyroutezero/comments/7tzhsf/games_magazine_issue_194_the_making_of_kentucky/

2018

• Video killed the video star: on "Un Pueblo De Nada" by Cardboard Computer by Robert Yang. February 2, 2018.
  • https://www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2018/02/video-killed-video-star-on-un-pueblo-de.html

• The Dismantled Book of 'Kentucky Route Zero' by Preston Johnston. February 5, 2018.
  • https://epiloguegaming.com/the-dismantled-book-of-kentucky-route-zero/

• Opened World: Kentucky Route Zero Acts I, II, III, and IV by Miguel Penabella.
  • http://www.haywiremag.com/columns/opened-world-kentucky-route-zero-act-i/ March 7, 2018.
  • http://www.haywiremag.com/columns/opened-world-kentucky-route-zero-act-ii/ April 1, 2018.
  • http://www.haywiremag.com/columns/opened-world-kentucky-route-zero-act-iii/ May 10, 2018.
  • http://www.haywiremag.com/columns/opened-world-kentucky-route-zero-act-iv/ July 17, 2018.

• The Scenographic South by Miguel Penabella. April 26, 2018.
  • http://www.heterotopiaszine.com/004-2/

2019

• Player Two: An Interview with Ben Babbitt by Miguel Penabella. July 31, 2019.
  • https://invalidmemory.wordpress.com/2019/07/31/player-two-an-interview-with-ben-babbitt/
• Critical Compilation: Kentucky Route Zero by Nicholas O’Brien. September 26, 2019.
  • https://critical-distance.com/2019/09/26/kentucky-route-zero/
• Why Kentucky Route Zero is the most important game of the decade by Chris Plante. November 12, 2019.
  • https://www.polygon.com/2019/11/12/20960055/kentucky-route-zero-the-most-important-game-of-the-decade

2020

• Hard Times: Revisiting Acts I-IV of Kentucky Route Zero While Desperately Looking for Work by Carolyn Petit. January 25, 2020.
  • https://medium.com/@carolynpetit/hard-times-revisiting-acts-i-iv-of-kentucky-route-zero-while-desperately-looking-for-work-6991f2707516

• Kentucky Route Zero's final act was worth the wait by Andrew Webster. January 27, 2020.
  • https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/27/21083368/kentucky-route-zero-act-v-review-pc-switch-ps4-xbox

• Kentucky Route Zero Review: Hard Times Served by Caty McCarthy. January 27, 2020.
  • https://www.usgamer.net/articles/kentucky-route-zero-review

• This is the end of 'Kentucky Route Zero' by Jessica Conditt. January 27, 2020.
  • https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/27/kentucky-route-zero-act-v-review-tv-edition-interview/

• Kentucky Route Zero review: a grim road trip about the stops along the way by Russ Frushtick. January 27, 2020.
  • https://www.polygon.com/reviews/2020/1/27/21080362/kentucky-route-zero-review-switch-pc-ps4-xbox-one-cardboard-computer

• Kentucky Route Zero is soulful, evocative and one of the most important games of the last decade by Elise Favis. January 27, 2020.
  • https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/reviews/kentucky-route-zero-is-soulful-evocative-one-most-important-games-last-decade/

• Kentucky Route Zero is immersive theater for your Nintendo Switch by Scott Stein. January 28, 2020.
  • https://www.cnet.com/news/kentucky-route-zero-is-immersive-theater-for-your-nintendo-switch/

• The long road to Kentucky Route Zero by Andrew Webster. January 28, 2020.
  • https://www.theverge.com/2020/1/28/21112356/kentucky-route-zero-act-v-interview-cardboard-computer-xbox-ps4-switch

• How the creators of Kentucky Route Zero ended their seven-year saga by Andrew Kuhar. January 28, 2020.
  • https://www.polygon.com/features/2020/1/28/21111029/cardboard-computer-kentucky-route-zero-seven-years

• "It Feels Like We Made 10 Games:" Kentucky Route Zero at the End of the Road by Caty McCarthy. January 28, 2020.
  • https://www.usgamer.net/articles/kentucky-route-zeros-creators-at-the-end-of-the-road-it-feels-like-we-made-10-games

• A Dystopian, David Lynch-Inspired Video Game That Leaves Its Meaning Up to You by Dan Schindel. January 28, 2020.
  • https://hyperallergic.com/539015/a-dystopian-david-lynch-inspired-video-game-that-leaves-its-meaning-up-to-you/

• Kentucky Route Zero review - haunting drifter's odyssey comes to an end by Oli Welsh. January 28, 2020.
  • https://www.eurogamer.net/kentucky-route-zero-review-haunting-drifters-odyssey-comes-to-an-end

• 'Kentucky Route Zero' Pays Off on Nine Years of Hope and Doubt by Austin Walker. January 29, 2020.
  • https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/bvgjma/kentucky-route-zero-pays-off-on-nine-years-of-hope-and-doubt-review

• The Tragedy and Mystery of the 'Best Game of the Decade' by Laura Hudson. January 29, 2020.
  • https://www.wired.com/story/kentucky-route-zero-5/

• Kentucky Route Zero's 'Multiplayer' Isn't What You'd Expect, But It Fits by Riley MacLeod. January 29, 2020.
  • https://kotaku.com/kentucky-route-zeros-multiplayer-isnt-what-youd-expect-1841333451

• USG Game of the Month for January 2020: Kentucky Route Zero Gave Us a Brilliant Final Act by Caty McCarthy. January 30, 2020.
  • https://www.usgamer.net/articles/usg-game-of-the-month-for-january-2020-kentucky-route-zero-gave-us-a-brilliant-final-act

• It Took Nearly 10 Years to Finish 'Kentucky Route Zero,' But It's Done by Patrick Klepek. January 30, 2020.
  • https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/jge5v7/it-took-nearly-10-years-to-finish-kentucky-route-zero-but-its-done

• Wot I Think – Kentucky Route Zero: Act V by Alec Meer. January 30, 2020.
  • https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/01/30/kentucky-route-zero-act-v-review/

• Kentucky Route Zero review – Samuel Beckett meets David Lynch by Simon Parkin. February 2, 2020.
  • https://www.theguardian.com/games/2020/feb/02/kentucky-route-zero-review-conway-cardboard-computer

• « Kentucky Route Zero » est-il le jeu vidéo narratif le plus influent de la décennie ? by Corentin Lamy. February 3, 2020.
  • https://www.lemonde.fr/pixels/article/2020/02/03/kentucky-route-zero-est-il-le-jeu-video-narratif-le-plus-influent-de-la-decennie_6028250_4408996.html

• Kentucky Route Zero review: A point-and-click adventure well worth the wait by Carli Velocci. February 3, 2020.
  • https://www.windowscentral.com/kentucky-route-zero-review

• The creators of Kentucky Route Zero open up about the ending of their game by Chris Plante. February 5, 2020.
  • https://www.polygon.com/interviews/2020/2/5/21117009/kentucky-route-zero-ending-act-5-interview

• A story told in five acts: The making of Kentucky Route Zero by Paul Walker-Emig. February 6, 2020.
  • https://www.gamesradar.com/the-making-of-kentucky-route-zero/

• 'Kentucky Route Zero' Creators on Finding Hope and the Burden of 4K Gaming by Lewis Gordon. February 14, 2020.
  • https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/dygdkx/kentucky-route-zero-creators-on-finding-hope-and-the-burden-of-4k-gaming

• Machines for Getting Lost on Purpose: Kentucky Route Zero and the Future(s) of Adventure parts 1 & 2 by Aaron A. Reed.
  • https://medium.com/@aareed/machines-for-getting-lost-on-purpose-7f66e3c56712 June 20, 2020.
  • https://medium.com/@aareed/machines-for-getting-lost-on-purpose-4af910f70ed7 June 23, 2020.

• 'Kentucky Route Zero's magical realism hides the raw economic realities of abandoned towns by Emad Ahmed. October 23, 2020.
  • https://www.eurogamer.net/kentucky-route-zeros-magical-realism-hides-the-raw-economic-realities-of-abandoned-towns

• 'Kentucky Route Zero is the game about 2020 — despite its decade in development by Chris Plante. December 14, 2020.
  • https://www.polygon.com/22165761/kentucky-route-zero-game-of-the-year-2020

2021

• Scott Benson's Top 10 Games of 2020 by Scott Benson. January 21, 2021.
  • https://www.giantbomb.com/articles/scott-bensons-top-10-games-of-2020/1100-6094/

• Reading The Game: Kentucky Route Zero by Jason Sheehan. February 11, 2021.
  • https://www.npr.org/2021/02/11/966499158/reading-the-game-kentucky-route-zero

• • What makes Kentucky Route Zero a classic? by Noelle Warner. March 27, 2021.
  • https://www.destructoid.com/what-makes-kentucky-route-zero-a-classic/

• Kentucky Route Zero and the Desperate Reality of Liminality by George Parr. July 22, 2021.
  • https://astralnoizeuk.com/2021/07/22/kentucky-route-zero-and-the-desperate-reality-of-liminality/

2023

• Kentucky Route Zero: Homesick for a place that I've never been by Beidi (Betty) Guo. August 16, 2023.
  • https://www.tinystorm.co.uk/post/kentucky-route-zero-homesick-for-a-place-that-i-ve-never-been