No, Double Fine isn't creating some sort of crossover between our favorite horror game and Epic's upcoming Minecraft/zombie hybrid . Amnesia Fortnight is the indie studio's internal process for fast prototyping, a two-week period where Double Fine collectively drops whatever it's doing, splits into teams, and sprints to build barebones versions of game concepts. The method was used to greenlight and develop Costume Quest , Stacking , and mobile game Middle Manager of Justice .
Today Double Fine is opening its once-secret process to the public. Partnering with Humble Bundle, a minimum $1 donation earns you the right to vote on Double Fine's 23 pitches, which range from experimental to ridiculous. I like Kaiju Piledriver (everyone hates corporate cities), Milgrim (everyone loves hero/villain role reversal), and Spacebase DF-9 (everyone and their dog loves Dwarf Fortress in space).
http://youtu.be/WTl2V3EDJik
It's worth noting that Double Fine isn't guaranteeing that all or any of these games will be released, and that donating only grants access to the eventual top four prototypes (and existing prototypes for Happy Song and Costume Quest). “There's no promises in any way what happens to the prototypes,” Tim Schafer told me today over the phone. “The deal with Amnesia Prototype is we just do it, and then we see what we have. At the end of it, the good ideas just kind of bubble to the top.” Schafer added that, since game creation is open to the public, a publisher or partner may pursue them during the process. Alternatively, depending on how well Amnesia Fortnight is received, they could get enough funding to release one or more of the games independently.
Visit the Amnesia Fortnight page to donate, watch pitch videos, and vote. Don't let me influence you, or anything, but I think we both want to live in a world where Double Fine is making a Godzilla Roguelike and Deep Space Nine Dwarf Fortress.
