Kentucky Route Zero (Steam)

Kentucky Route Zero was picked for this months game in my video game book club. I had actually played the game a few years ago at a friend's recommendation. It can best be described as an arthouse game, and leans heavily into symbolism and imagery, rather than gameplay. The narrative - while totally abstract - touches on a number of relatable and interesting themes ranging from the importance of community, to finding value in work. Unfortunately, Kentucky Route Zero struggles in terms of it's presentation, pacing, and cohesivity. The player is forced into the games pace without any wiggle room. Dialogue is overly abstract and decisions are artificial. And characters seem to appear and disappear at a high rate - each of these perhaps resulting from the facts that this game was developed by first time developers across a period of several years. With that critique established, I do think the game approaches some interesting themes with an insightful lens. It also boasts some beautiful scenes and images. If you're one who can appreciate deliberate art and endure ample dialogue, then I think you can enjoy - and perhaps even love - Kentucky Route Zero, but from an objective perspective I wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

Play it for the:

Symbolic and abstract narrative
Beautiful images and art design
Ballad scenes

Reviewed on 2025-11-5

There are plenty of artistic scenes like this, and they are quite nice.