Broken Age: Act 1

 PC
User Score
7.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 361 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 261 out of 361
  2. Mixed: 48 out of 361
  3. Negative: 52 out of 361

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  1. prmcoelho
    Jan 28, 2014
    10
    From the art style to the music to the voice acting, Broken Age proves to be a solid game with a lot of personality on its own. The fine humor on the dialogues make for an unique experience, from start to finish.

    Puzzles are logical, so an experienced adventure gamer won't be stuck so easily. Some people will find it too easy, some people will get stuck on one or two of them, but will    From the art style to the music to the voice acting, Broken Age proves to be a solid game with a lot of personality on its own. The fine humor on the dialogues make for an unique experience, from start to finish.

    Puzzles are logical, so an experienced adventure gamer won't be stuck so easily. Some people will find it too easy, some people will get stuck on one or two of them, but will quickly find the answer, for sure.

    The interface is simple yet elegant. Based on a touch screen UX, it does not do any favor to PC gamers. Dragging and dropping items is not exactly the best solution for mouse support, but it is not a deal breaker at all.

    At some point later on the game you will realize that you are looking to a classic point and click, witch a beautiful landscape, some backtrack action and amazing character personalities. I played this game with a smile on my face from the beginning to the end (4 hours long), and one cannot ignore this.

    It is not Tim Schafer's masterpiece (yet), but its characters and the story makes this one of the best out there.    … Expand
  2. Snordix
    Jan 29, 2014
    0
    God, I need to vent this. Broken Age is a REALLY bad game; bland as hell. Basically they **** up everything. Not only is it a bad, boring and shallow game, but it becomes glaringly obvious that it is a big step back from LucasArts games.

    There's no look/take/use/etc. Only left click and everything will be conveniently solved for you. The problem with this is that the game lacks the    God, I need to vent this. Broken Age is a REALLY bad game; bland as hell. Basically they **** up everything. Not only is it a bad, boring and shallow game, but it becomes glaringly obvious that it is a big step back from LucasArts games.

    There's no look/take/use/etc. Only left click and everything will be conveniently solved for you. The problem with this is that the game lacks the descriptions you would get by looking at stuff in the backgrounds; plus there hardly is anything to interact with. This sadly means that a big part of the charm - listening to humorous or moody phrases or one liners is absolutely gone.

    But the worst part is not the controls, or the easy as **** puzzles.

    As Ron Gilbert recently said in an interview with Tim Schafer, adventure games are really an excuse to look at pretty sceneries and listen/read good writing. Well, the game **** fails to deliver any of these.

    It's so goddamn bland and uninspired that you can almost taste the unmotivated design team.

    The sceneries are devoid of any real detail. Yes, they look pretty, in a gay-as-hell-21st-century-progressive-fairytale sort of way. There just isn't anything of interest to look at. Forget the interiors and computer huds from Full Throttle.
    Also, the characters don't show any **** emotion. The voice acting is the typical sedated crap you get nowadays. It's almost like the developers tell the actors to not put themselves into the characters, but instead make them all sound the same. Plus, as the expressions from the characters' faces change pretty much NOTHING, the game doesn't really put a definite emotion through.

    The game world is simply not interesting. Other thing that bugged me was when they zoomed the characters' faces in the dialogues; you can see the poor quality of the backgrounds up close: blurry, not very defined; you can pretty much tell they were made with photoshop in a hurry. I'm certain that if they had pixelated everything in the game it would all look sharper, and well, better.

    Music was pretty off too. At times it felt pointless and irrelevant. At others, strangely out of mood.

    And the writing is as bland as everything else. Not funny, not moody. This guy **** lost it. Forget the "nerd" 1990's-Simpsons humor you would find in DotT, you'll find none of that.

    What else can I say, I did not expect too much when I saw the first screens they released way back, expecting a sort of snuggle-feel-good game, but hell this was really mediocre. What the **** did they do all this time? Were did all the money go, to voice actors?    … Expand
  3. DeusXCom
    Oct 11, 2014
    4
    I didn't have any expectations, nor did I back this project, so I don't really care what they promised and didn't deliver, although if they really promised oldschool LucasArts style adventure, I understand the negative reactions. I recently played "The Dig", one of LucasArts old masterpieces and that is an adventure on completely different level of quality. Broken Age is more like a candy,I didn't have any expectations, nor did I back this project, so I don't really care what they promised and didn't deliver, although if they really promised oldschool LucasArts style adventure, I understand the negative reactions. I recently played "The Dig", one of LucasArts old masterpieces and that is an adventure on completely different level of quality. Broken Age is more like a candy, it's sweet and colorful, pretty to look at, but not much else, no depth. It seems like the target audience here is about 6-12 years old, both boys and girls. Nothing wrong with that, but it felt quite boring to me. It also uncovers the problem with the point and click gameplay itself, which is just not something enjoyable at all. Adventures always depend on good writing and story, is it here? Well, it tries, but the biggest problem is that they delivered just the half of it and that's why I must go down with my score. Why are you releasing a game that is only halfway done? I finished this in under 4 hours and it's obviously cut in the middle. Is it ok nowdays to release games when they are halfway unfinished? I don't remember any old adventures being released like this. This is unacceptable, release your games when they are done, 100% finished and bug free, I'm getting sick of developers and publishers releasing these half-products. I would actually want to know how the story continues now, but in months, when (IF) they release the second part I won't care anymore. Disappointed. 4/10… Expand
  4. PoofyPoof
    Jul 23, 2014
    4
    First time reviewer here, but as a backer for the Kickstarter campaign for this, I am very upset with Double Fine with this "game." Over 3 Million bucks and this is what they have to show for it? "Broken Age Act 1" is not what I expected from Double Fine.

    The story, I'll admit is cute, maybe even good. But it's also only half of a story, so I can't even give a full judgment on the    First time reviewer here, but as a backer for the Kickstarter campaign for this, I am very upset with Double Fine with this "game." Over 3 Million bucks and this is what they have to show for it? "Broken Age Act 1" is not what I expected from Double Fine.

    The story, I'll admit is cute, maybe even good. But it's also only half of a story, so I can't even give a full judgment on the story. The cliffhanger also doesn't help. It would help if the game was fun. Well, for me it really wasn't. I kept wanting for it to get better, then it was over before ever getting there! I love a good point & click adventure, and I've been there since the time "The 7th Guest" and "Myst" were released, so I'm no stranger to the genre. Considering new games in the genre that have popped up lately (especially "The Walking Dead" series) I was hoping for at least some of these elements to come through amidst the old-school style gameplaly. Well, that didn't happen. This is literally a re-skin of "Dark Seed," a 20+ year old point & click game. Double Fine did nothing at all to add some new perspectives/ideas/game mechanics whatsoever. It's just "Dark Seed" with a G-rating, except not as interesting, and only half-of-a-game.

    While the art style is pretty, I excepted that 3 million bucks would bring more beauty, more movement, and animation to the visual style. We don't even get that. The music, however, is beautiful and I have nothing that I can say that could possibly be bad about the soundtrack. Truly master quality music.

    Extras? Well, if you count that 8-hour documentary that you can download (which is about 3 times longer than the "game" itself) the I guess that's something. But even that documentary is fully of ego. Of the 8 hours of documentary, about 85-90% is comprised of closeups of Tim Schafer's face. Not even exaggerating. The first shot in the documentary is insulting to unhappy donators as well. Even though the money is fake that they're throwing around on him, it pisses me off that it reminds me that this was a Kickstarter campaign that made 3 million+.

    Shame on me for donating $100. I really thought that considering Double Fine's past, that they would make a masterpiece of a point & click adventure that would give us something different from the crowd of games out there. And shame on you, Double Fine, for making this unimpressive half-of-a-game. You won't find me backing your projects anymore until you make good games again (if even then). It seems like you spent $80,000 building the actual game; $300,000 on a 8-hour documentary to stroke Tim Schafer's own ego; and pocketed the remaining millions. This is a 4 out of 10. And that's because I'm only giving credit to some of the assets that were good.    … Expand
  5. skogsgurka
    Nov 1, 2014
    7
    Pretty. Short. Interesting storytelling. Nice puzzle design. Easy to average difficulty level. I recommend it to those interested in story driven games with unique art styles and logical problem solving.

    As for my reflections about the game; The interesting thing about the main characters, Vella and Shay (played by Elijah Wood), is the situation they are in, rather than their    Pretty. Short. Interesting storytelling. Nice puzzle design. Easy to average difficulty level. I recommend it to those interested in story driven games with unique art styles and logical problem solving.

    As for my reflections about the game; The interesting thing about the main characters, Vella and Shay (played by Elijah Wood), is the situation they are in, rather than their personalities and personas. During the game, switching between the two characters gives you two separate game experiences. Playing as Vella, is a laidback, funny and calming game-experience in a quirky adventure-setting. Whereas playing as Shay is more of a contemplative, philosophical experience on the topic of taking control of your own life. This gives the game the diversity of serious questions contra quirky adventuring. One of the strongest features of the story is that it sometimes twists in unexpected ways, which functions almost as a sort of reward for solving the puzzles of the game.    … Expand
  6. Yuusou
    Feb 9, 2014
    4
    I don't know why but this game isn't showing its value with 3 million dollars of development costs. I'm happy to be a backer of the lower class and didn't pay more than it was needed to get the game. The game is not telling a good or even deep story so far, there's no riddle in this game (even the Riddle of Yorn is not a real riddle) and all the time I get the feeling that I may be notI don't know why but this game isn't showing its value with 3 million dollars of development costs. I'm happy to be a backer of the lower class and didn't pay more than it was needed to get the game. The game is not telling a good or even deep story so far, there's no riddle in this game (even the Riddle of Yorn is not a real riddle) and all the time I get the feeling that I may be not dumb enough to find it challenging. The coming-of-age approach gives me the feeling that it's more like a high school movie story but the settings have been changed so it's not that obvious for the gamer. Seriously: The hints of NPCs are way too obvious, you have about 4 real item-in-inventory combinations, the rest is giving and taking items to / from NPCs and I don't like it if the last answer in a dialogue option is either the exit (which is okay) or the solution (which is not okay). Also the pixel hunting was put to the next level. You have no descriptions of what you're point at, you can't look at, pull, push, pick up or talk to things. No, there's only the developers' pre-defined one or two interactions with the object and that's it.

    Some dialogues are even below the belt (if you know what I mean and I wonder if anybody noticed). It is okay if it would fit the graphical style or general humor, but since there's not much of a humor, these jokes are in some way inappropriate. A Brütal Legend could've used one or another joke way better. The animations look so damn cheap, they're sometimes not even smooth. Even a slow-motion scene looked like my GTX 760 couldn't handle it but my graphics card wasn't challenged at any time. Even Prince of Persia (the original blond white version) had smoother character animations. There are no visible facial expressions, I've never seen real fear in the face of a character, even sadness was not a part of it. A face consists of more than just eyes, eyebrows and mouth. It's also questionable why some of the voice actors put so much emphasis in their voice while the facial expression doesn't fit to it at all. It doesn't make sense if someone is yelling but looks like he's talking to me in a normal way. This isn't the 90s, guys.

    The only good thing is Peter McConnell. Thank you Peter for delivering such a beautiful soundtrack. That's why I go for 4 points, cos I would've given the game a 2 or 1. Even Telltale Games now offer better adventures for the same price but way deeper story for ADULTS, a majority of original Lucasfilm Games title players.

    I can wait for Act 2. I can wait for it forever.    … Expand
  7. artemonster
    May 12, 2014
    3
    This game delivers a very good content, but it is VERY overpriced (too short for such amount of money). Another games of this genre can offer much more for this price tag (hello,Daedalic). Oh, and one more thing: I've played Shay's storyline at the end and it is completely not interesting, and even repelling. to "play along" the story of "saving creatures", when you got it figured out immediately.
  8. lolmetacritic
    Feb 3, 2014
    5
    Buyer beware: There are a lot of fanbois on this forum and giving positive scores here. The game is really not very good. Don't trust the countless 10s here.
  9. failwhale10
    May 3, 2014
    1
    Remember when you played Myst, RIven, Monkey Island, or Grim Fandango? Remember the weeks and weeks of exciting puzzles to solve, and rich story and plot? Broken Age isn't even 1/100th of that. For $25 the game takes about 3 hours to solve. The artwork is fantastic, but the story and game are terrible. Don't waste your money like I did. Big disappointment.
  10. mrpinsky
    Jan 28, 2014
    7
    Tim Schafer's first adventure game after many years is finally here, and it looks and sounds fantastic! The art style is unusual, but charming and the animations are all very well done. The music and voice acting is spectacular, too, both on a level that we haven't see before on adventure games. I also enjoyed the storytelling and the characters, although some of them are rather flat andTim Schafer's first adventure game after many years is finally here, and it looks and sounds fantastic! The art style is unusual, but charming and the animations are all very well done. The music and voice acting is spectacular, too, both on a level that we haven't see before on adventure games. I also enjoyed the storytelling and the characters, although some of them are rather flat and one-dimensional (as often in Shafer's games). The one that stands out as extraordinarily well done is the enigmatic "wolf", Marek. The world and locations overall are fairly interesting, although some of it seems rather randomly packed together (e.g. the lumberjack, who is funny, but doesn't appear to fit into the story at all).

    The one point where the game fails to deliver is the puzzles. They are simply way too easy. I didn't even get stuck once in the entire first act and basically played it through in one go. It felt more like a click-through animated story than an adventure games at times, there was really no challenge at all. Even the somewhat more difficult ones were all run-off-the-mill adventure game puzzles (e.g. combining two items in the inventory, the star map pattern matching). This is regrettable as the makers should have known that their core audience (the KS backers) are seasoned adventure gamers. What made it worse is that the game was repeatedly telling me what to do before I even had a chance to explore and think about the puzzles myself. In that way, it robbed me of the sense accomplishment of finding the solution by myself. Maybe a choice of difficulty at the start (enable/disable hints) could have improved the experience for me.

    The game also lacked some depth. The first act felt short (partially because it was too easy) and had few rooms, few items, and too little dialog. It felt like too much effort was spent on art, animation, music and voice acting, and too little on actual game play and creating a rich and deep world.    … Expand
  11. sparriskrigaren
    Jan 30, 2014
    4
    This is the most disappointing game in like 20 years, no kidding. I backed this game with $100, believing it was going to be old-school .. well .. it's not. It's very modern and it's for modern gamers who don't like to get stuck or having to use their brains. Just clickety-click and it's over, no challenge, no thinking - super easy. Uninspired and uninteresting story, horrible art-style (IThis is the most disappointing game in like 20 years, no kidding. I backed this game with $100, believing it was going to be old-school .. well .. it's not. It's very modern and it's for modern gamers who don't like to get stuck or having to use their brains. Just clickety-click and it's over, no challenge, no thinking - super easy. Uninspired and uninteresting story, horrible art-style (I know, it's a matter of taste), short. I know it's only act 1, but it's still A LOT shorter than just about any adventure game I've played. There are like two commands and you just use one mouse button.. seriously? I'm not going to give this a 0 though, since it's not THAT bad, it's just very mediocre and nothing special at all. I really regret backing this and I would never pay money for this game, had I known this is what it's like. I feel so ripped of, they used $3.4 million dollars for THIS? Bland, bland bland. The music is very forgettable, and there's just so little to do and interact with!… Expand
  12. Lambo442
    Jan 28, 2014
    5
    I've been playing point and clicks since the early days and love Tim Schafer's work but I was a bit disappointed with this. It's trying so damn hard to be original and quirky that it ends up just being all over the place. The puzzles are too easy and I would prefer there to be multiple ways of acting with objects, rather than just click once and sit back and watch. I think they should haveI've been playing point and clicks since the early days and love Tim Schafer's work but I was a bit disappointed with this. It's trying so damn hard to be original and quirky that it ends up just being all over the place. The puzzles are too easy and I would prefer there to be multiple ways of acting with objects, rather than just click once and sit back and watch. I think they should have made something a bit more down to earth, something we could identify with a bit. This is just silly really. The art work is gorgeous though.… Expand
  13. Pannox
    Jan 30, 2014
    9
    Broken Age was promissing us a reborn of point and click game, but did it really do it? Let's see.

    Personally, I'm a big fan of adventure games, and so I know to make a good P&C game, you need a good story and intelligent puzzles. The story starts very easy, with 2 different characters: Vella, a teenager girl, had the honor of being chosen to be sacrificed to a big monster, that each    Broken Age was promissing us a reborn of point and click game, but did it really do it? Let's see.

    Personally, I'm a big fan of adventure games, and so I know to make a good P&C game, you need a good story and intelligent puzzles.

    The story starts very easy, with 2 different characters: Vella, a teenager girl, had the honor of being chosen to be sacrificed to a big monster, that each year, will eat chosen girls and save the village. It's a great honor, but strangely, Vella doesen't want to be sacrificed, she rather prefer to kill this monster.

    In the other side, we have Shay, a teenager guy who always lived into a mother-spaceship that takes care of him like a little child. But he gets tired of child-play, so, by finding a misterious character, he will make everything to take control of the spaceship.

    The puzzles aren't so much hard for most of the time, sure, they don't give you a lot of hints, and most of all, you have to search for items, with no helps of where to click like in the recent Telltale games (they are still great tho'). I still had lot of fun solving them, and feeling of feedback by completing them.

    The dialogues are perfect and immersive, really fun to listen and always with an enjoyable voices. After all, we're dealing with Jack Black and Elijah Wood right here.

    The soundtrack it's godly, I really love it. Same for the art style, it's something new and refreshing.

    The only complaint by me it's the duration of the game itself. It took me only 4 hour to finish it, and I know it's just act 1, but I guess act 2 will be the same 4 hours, so 8 hours of gameplay in all. And usually took me more then 20 hours even to complete some recent adventure games like Black Mirror.

    Get this game, 20$ it's a fair price. Support those video game developer, they need to make more games like those.    … Expand
  14. All_Must_Burn
    Jan 29, 2014
    1
    Terrible game.

    Puzzles are WAY too easy. Graphics are sub-par, it looks like a glorified Flash game. Everything feels floaty, and textures are rock-bottom quality (whenever the game zooms in they get terribly blurry) Artistic design is bland and generic, nothing new here though it sure as hell appeals to the hipster demographic. Music is non-existent. It plays in the background    Terrible game.

    Puzzles are WAY too easy.

    Graphics are sub-par, it looks like a glorified Flash game. Everything feels floaty, and textures are rock-bottom quality (whenever the game zooms in they get terribly blurry)

    Artistic design is bland and generic, nothing new here though it sure as hell appeals to the hipster demographic.

    Music is non-existent. It plays in the background and stays there, thankfully I guess. It's not moody, and feels like it was added as an afterthought.

    The reason I gave it a 1 is because you can install Full Throttle, or whatever, Monkey Island 2, and get a much better experience.

    In fact, I believe the only reason this game is getting reviews is either due to two things: apologetic buyers who don't want to feel bad for having wasted their money and hopes; and they haven't played a single classic point-and-click adventure game in their lives.    … Expand
  15. JoshMouch
    Apr 25, 2014
    5
    This game is very enjoyable to play. It is MUCH simpler than most adventure games, but in a good way. You don't really solve many difficult riddles, but there is enjoyment in the very rough, simplistic, yet very creative and unique art work. The environment and story are enough to keep you engaged. Voice acting and story are great. I also like that I was able to play this on myThis game is very enjoyable to play. It is MUCH simpler than most adventure games, but in a good way. You don't really solve many difficult riddles, but there is enjoyment in the very rough, simplistic, yet very creative and unique art work. The environment and story are enough to keep you engaged. Voice acting and story are great. I also like that I was able to play this on my tablet. If it were a complete game, I would probably give it 8/10. However, only after paying $25 for it and "finishing" it, did I find out it was only half finished, and the rest would only be developed if Act 1 made enough money. Well, it did make more than enough money, but that's not the point. The principle of only delivering half a game is not one I can stand behind.… Expand
  16. horst81230
    Nov 24, 2014
    1
    This game is a trainwreck.

    It got kickstarted with 3,3 million dollars, so the required budget was easily met with a nice little additional pre-sale profit for Tim Schafer. In addition to that, the price tag for this game was $25 and that sure isn't cheap for an adventure game. So keeping all this in mind, here is everything that's wrong with this game: - No McGuffin. What am I    This game is a trainwreck.

    It got kickstarted with 3,3 million dollars, so the required budget was easily met with a nice little additional pre-sale profit for Tim Schafer. In addition to that, the price tag for this game was $25 and that sure isn't cheap for an adventure game.

    So keeping all this in mind, here is everything that's wrong with this game:

    - No McGuffin. What am I even doing in this game? And why? There is no motivation whatsoever to keep playing this game. The storytelling is really really bad.

    - Boring dialogs. Really, boring, with no real information driving the story. And you can't just read and skip through single lines (only the whole dialog), you have to wait and listen. Oh no ... wait... there are actually 5 clever lines in this game about a stool.

    - Bad mechanics. There are fast-travel points to quickly switch rooms, unfortunately most of them are only accessible after traveling through half of the current room first.

    - Bad "puzzles". I actually shouldn't call them puzzles, they are an insult to adventure gamers. This game is suitable for 6 year olds at best.

    - 3h of gameplay. This is REALLY REALLY bad, especially considering that this game is already stretched with useless dialogs and time consuming travel.

    - And this was only Act1 with no Act2 in sight. Throughout the story you don't know what you're doing and even in the end you only get a bad "cliffhanger" with NO explanation. Do you know how good cliffhangers look like? Monkey Island 2 did it right.

    I would probably rate this game an 8, if it was clearly labeled "for children" and priced at $5.    … Expand
  17. Beerit
    Jan 28, 2014
    8
    I really thought I'd dislike Broken Age's visual style but it sucked me in and held on tight. The animation will surprise and entrance you at every turn, and coupled with the dialogue and voice acting (which sway from decent to great) you get a very strong sense of the world you're operating in. The puzzles are easy and the first act is very short, but other than that I got a very pleasantI really thought I'd dislike Broken Age's visual style but it sucked me in and held on tight. The animation will surprise and entrance you at every turn, and coupled with the dialogue and voice acting (which sway from decent to great) you get a very strong sense of the world you're operating in. The puzzles are easy and the first act is very short, but other than that I got a very pleasant and intriguing ride through a world I want to visit again.… Expand
  18. Dunge
    Jan 31, 2014
    7
    Very nice point and click adventure game, but it's not living up to the hype. There's about 10 others adventures games released this year who are as good and much less known (principally from Daedalic Entertainment).
  19. Dragz
    Feb 3, 2014
    7
    This game is pretty good. I love the art style, the game itself is pretty easy, BUT the story is just great. I think this is one of the best story game I ever played. The voice actors are really good and you have two main character which I both really like.
  20. Pixlbot
    Jan 28, 2014
    9
    Broken Age starts with a question, not a verbal one, but a question none the less. Will you choose the summery sunset land of a girl napping under a tree, or will you choose the world of futuristic blankets with the slumbering boy in space? These are our main characters, Vella and Shay, and Broken Age is their stories. Whoever you choose first doesn’t matter, the player can freely switchBroken Age starts with a question, not a verbal one, but a question none the less. Will you choose the summery sunset land of a girl napping under a tree, or will you choose the world of futuristic blankets with the slumbering boy in space? These are our main characters, Vella and Shay, and Broken Age is their stories. Whoever you choose first doesn’t matter, the player can freely switch between characters at will. Play is similar to most “Point and Click” adventures. You explore your environment’s and touch everything you can get your paws on. Occasionally the character will pocket an item for later use in puzzles.

    The puzzles are of varying types. Mostly in the form of using certain items in certain orders or combining certain items together to create an all new item. Other puzzles involve placement, some memory, and riddles. The item combination make logical sense within the game world. However, some could call these puzzles mild, especially if they are “Point and Click” veterans. Do not expect hours of being stumped or puzzles that you will wish for the hint lines of yor. Items collected are typically used in the same area or in a timely manner and if you’re stuck, the characters start hinting at the solution or in some cases blatantly just tell you. Nonetheless, the puzzles are fun and creative; and still instill a sense of pride upon solving.

    For all that, the puzzles are not the center of Broken Age, instead they are catalyst’s for the plot, a natural flow in the story. The player quickly becomes very invested in the lives of Vella and Shay. These characters stories relate to each other in more ways then one and it is ideal to alternate play between the two, if you can pull yourself away from one character long enough! Both characters are faced with a great desire to break from the routines they find themselves in. Each seeks to do good in the world while those around them seem to be unable to grasp the concepts of change. Both characters are given the opportunity of change and they both grasp that opportunity by the horns. What results from their rebellious actions is Broken Age.

    Over all, is Broken Age a “Point and Click” adventure for the modern age? In this time of casual games, Broken Age sits comfortably among them. Broken Age is not a hair pulling puzzle game, and it’s not trying to be. Instead, what it is, is a beautifully illustrated and animated story with amazing music and voice acting, with enough puzzle variety to get you invested and feeling meaningful to the advancement of the plot. Broken Age would certainly be a good game to use as an introduction to the “Point and Click” adventure genre. Broken Age gave me around four hours of game play, with a possibility of replay in the hopes of catching any small hints now that I know the story of Act One! I look forward to Act Two and the answers it may hold.    … Expand
  21. marpieters84
    Jan 29, 2014
    9
    After playing Broken Age for ten hours (finished two times) I can easily say that Act 1 is a masterpiece of art.

    The game sets new standards for the visual presentation of adventure games. There are animations all over the screen, like tons of birds in the cloud colony. The cutscenes look fantastic and the overall musical score is monumental. All supported by brilliant voice acting    After playing Broken Age for ten hours (finished two times) I can easily say that Act 1 is a masterpiece of art.

    The game sets new standards for the visual presentation of adventure games. There are animations all over the screen, like tons of birds in the cloud colony. The cutscenes look fantastic and the overall musical score is monumental.
    All supported by brilliant voice acting done by e.g. Jennifer Hale, Eliah Wood and Jack Black.

    The two stories (Vella & Shay) seem to stand for themselves but lead to a masterfully written and stunning cliffhanger; keep in mind: Act II will be for free later this year.

    The puzzles in Act 1 are pretty easy, though Tim Schafer (designer and writer of the game) already stated Act II will be harder. This reminds me a lot of Full Throttle (another Tim Schafer game) where the first half was also not very hard to master, but the second became a great challange.

    I hope Double Fine can live up to the promise, because we would have a great balanced finished game in the end.

    But as far as I can tell this is the best piece of adventure I have seen in a long time so far. The loveable, weird characters and the very interesting story of two teenagers trying to grow out of their surroundings make this a special treat for me.

    This is (will be) a game that not everyone will be into; It's like it is with all art after all. But if you love a good story being told, well...

    the first half is absolutely worth it, already!    … Expand
  22. Noviere
    Jan 30, 2014
    8
    As a point and click adventure, Broken Age will get mixed reviews depending on who you ask. The story is very enjoyable, with two playable characters each with their own set of unique areas to inhabit. The puzzles tend to err on the easy side, though I say this as someone who has been playing point and click adventures for 20 years... On the forums, there are plenty of people gettingAs a point and click adventure, Broken Age will get mixed reviews depending on who you ask. The story is very enjoyable, with two playable characters each with their own set of unique areas to inhabit. The puzzles tend to err on the easy side, though I say this as someone who has been playing point and click adventures for 20 years... On the forums, there are plenty of people getting stuck.

    It took me just under 4 hours to complete Act 1. Assuming that Act 2 will be a similar length, it's safe to say that it is on par with most games of the genre. The puzzle difficulty will obviously be a factor in this, as well as how much time you spend just soaking it all in, and examining every thing.

    From an artistic stand point, Broken Age is truly amazing. The art style they used is charming, and utterly unique. The voice acting is spot on as well, with cast of truly talented individuals. The music ties it all together... The cherry on top of a gorgeous sundae.    … Expand
  23. kimdba
    Feb 4, 2014
    5
    I love the art, story and music and how it entertains me. The length of the game was little bit surprising though.. evil marketing strategy I guess. The story break up is little bit insane... guess they had to do it to steal money from gamers... big minus!
  24. thesalon
    Oct 14, 2014
    0
    $100 Kickstarter backer here. Big mistake. Coming up on 3 years now, the documentary and all communication has ceased, and no game in sight. I have to say, while the first half was somewhat amusing, it was a huge step BACKWARDS in adventure gaming mechanics and gameplay. Single click does everything. Puzzles clearly dumbed down for an audience that doesn't play adventure game as much.$100 Kickstarter backer here. Big mistake. Coming up on 3 years now, the documentary and all communication has ceased, and no game in sight. I have to say, while the first half was somewhat amusing, it was a huge step BACKWARDS in adventure gaming mechanics and gameplay. Single click does everything. Puzzles clearly dumbed down for an audience that doesn't play adventure game as much. Really bad atmosphere in a lot of the scenes, somewhat boring, even. All in all, this game was a huge letdown, and it they won't even release the 2nd half and just let it die. Well, I learned my lesson. Don't back DoubleFine games until they are fully released. Seeing as how they said they run out of the money they asked for and then-some just for the 1st half (10x more money then they asked for in the kickstarter) I am not holding my breath regarding part 2.… Expand
  25. conorm185
    Mar 5, 2015
    0
    50% completed. 100% crap.
    You would think with something like 8 times the original kickstarter goal they could complete the game they promised. Sadly, TS is **** at managing his company. Plenty of money to throw parties though.
  26. Filipus
    Jan 28, 2014
    9
    A spoon in this game has more personality than most AAA games characters.
    Its a gorgeous game, funny lines, great history and 1 big con.
    The puzzles are all super easy. Really, really easy. I think I know why they did it (to appeal to everyone) but it doesn't justify that ALL of them are completely fast and easy to solve. They give too many tips and don't require a lot of thinking. That    A spoon in this game has more personality than most AAA games characters.
    Its a gorgeous game, funny lines, great history and 1 big con.
    The puzzles are all super easy. Really, really easy. I think I know why they did it (to appeal to everyone) but it doesn't justify that ALL of them are completely fast and easy to solve. They give too many tips and don't require a lot of thinking.
    That is the only problem with the game for me.
    The characters are all great, the art style is amazing and great voice acting. Play it, its awesome.    … Expand
  27. TheDrisk
    Jan 28, 2014
    9
    As a backer of Broken Age I have been actively following the game from it creation to now and have actively played through Act One. This Game done by Tim Schafer (co wrote Monkey Island 1 and 2, Wrote Day of Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango) and his company Double Fine (Psyconauts, Brutal Legend). He has finally returned to the genre after 15 years.

    Let me say this game is    As a backer of Broken Age I have been actively following the game from it creation to now and have actively played through Act One. This Game done by Tim Schafer (co wrote Monkey Island 1 and 2, Wrote Day of Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango) and his company Double Fine (Psyconauts, Brutal Legend). He has finally returned to the genre after 15 years.

    Let me say this game is wonderful. It is really stunningly beautiful and a great two stories to play leaving you to be desperate for Act two. For hardcore adventure gamers they may find it slightly too easy (but no less enjoyable). But I think this was a concious and deliberate act on Tim Schafers part to not frustrate those new to adventure games or those who were turned off by the illogical (how could I have ever sold that) puzzles, that adventure games used to be guilty of.

    All in all this needs to be played by all gamers, from those who love their adventure games right through to those who simply like a great story and well written graphical extavaganza.    … Expand
  28. olucho
    Jan 28, 2014
    10
    Broken Age has enchanted me over the past few days as I've become immersed in the rich atmosphere, the thought-provoking story full of epic symbolisms, and the charming and humorous characters. Many have commented on the hand-painted 2.5D animation, and it is indeed stunningly gorgeous, but not many have taken note of something else just as responsible for the beauty of the game: theBroken Age has enchanted me over the past few days as I've become immersed in the rich atmosphere, the thought-provoking story full of epic symbolisms, and the charming and humorous characters. Many have commented on the hand-painted 2.5D animation, and it is indeed stunningly gorgeous, but not many have taken note of something else just as responsible for the beauty of the game: the score. Peter McConnell has created something truly remarkable, a musical weaving of two parallel worlds into one cohesive theme, lacing it with pitch-perfect emotion, wonder, mystery, and soul. The story itself can be seen as a commentary on many aspects of our current world (blind fanaticism on one side, excessive consumerism on the other), and recalls ancient mythology about beasts, human sacrifice, and humanity's search for meaning - all seen through the eyes of youth. It's a thought-provoking adventure for any age, and should be particularly suited to play on an iPad (once it comes out on iOS), and on a retina display it should look fantastic. Tim Schafer and the Double Fine team have managed to rejuvenate the adventure game genre with a fresh and exciting new face, with what is sure to be one of the best games of recent years. I'm relishing Act 1 several times over, and eagerly anticipating the next installment.… Expand
  29. Ephezius
    Jan 28, 2014
    10
    This is an elegant, understated, and unique experience that is well beyond what my expectations were. The story is the centerpiece, but it is enhanced by unprecedented artwork, a moving orchestral soundtrack, an A-List voice cast, and a humor that is characteristic of the one-and-only Tim Schafer.

    The story is as simple and unassuming as it is mature and weighty. Yet, somehow, it's    This is an elegant, understated, and unique experience that is well beyond what my expectations were. The story is the centerpiece, but it is enhanced by unprecedented artwork, a moving orchestral soundtrack, an A-List voice cast, and a humor that is characteristic of the one-and-only Tim Schafer.

    The story is as simple and unassuming as it is mature and weighty. Yet, somehow, it's frickin' hilarious too. My favorite thing about the story is how you get to know these characters and their motivations leading up to the ending. No spoilers here, but the ending is what sold me on the story. In fact, I think this game works better as two acts because of it.

    The art is above reproach. Nathan "Bagel" Stapley's style is unmistakably the star of the show and - WOW - is it a sight to behold! The animations are nuanced and work to support the art style - without taking anything away from it.

    The sound and voice acting just completes the feeling of immersion. I love the Lumberjack, particularly - well done, Will Wheaton. With a cast the includes Jack Black and Elijah Wood, though, can you really go wrong?

    The puzzles are intuitive, which I think is incredibly important for newcomers: if you've never played an adventure game, this is a great way to cut your teeth. Tim has also made it clear that Act II will be much more difficult, so you'll have a ramp and by the time it's all said and done you'll be a pro.

    Any avid gamer needs to experience this game and I would recommend getting it now vs. waiting for Act II. It's at once a nostalgia trip and a glimpse into the future of graphic adventures. Well done, Double Fine!    … Expand
  30. Gnomey
    Jan 30, 2014
    10
    It's not just that Broken Age's visuals and art-style redefine the way adventures should look. It's not about the easy yet enjoyable puzzles and the quality of the acting. It's about a wonderful setting and some of the sharpest writing since the latest game by Jonas Kyratzes.
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Awards & Rankings

49
#49 Best PC Game of 2014
69
#69 Most Discussed PC Game of 2014

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 64 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 54 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 64
  3. Negative: 0 out of 64
  1. RPG Fan
    Apr 14, 2014
    90
    A game that will resonate with you and make you nostalgic for something that you might not even remember forgetting.
    Read full review
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Apr 7, 2014
    80
    We expected Tim Schafer to deliver the unique and we weren't wrong. Broken Age stands on the threshold of a classic adventure and a tablet game while retaining a lot of soul. [Issue #239]
  3. Hyper Magazine
    Mar 9, 2014
    70
    Well written and charming but Broken Age plays it too safe to be particularly memorable. [Apr 2014, p.67]
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