After roughly one and a half years of magic-making here at SkyGoblin, we are now proud to finally let you take part of The Journey Down: Chapter One. The game was released for PC and Mac this morning and has already slam-dunked sweet scores on a bunch of different sites. Our Linux build should go live on Desura some time today as well. (UPDATE: Yay we’re now live on Desura!) A couple of our favorite reviews are quoted below.
…a fine bit of point and clickery, with a good script, solid puzzles and a fantastic sense of style.
One of the most essential adventure gaming experiences of the past few years.
I can easily say The Journey Down now has a place among my favorites.
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We are currently hard at work making sure TJD will be available for purchase through as many channels as possible, and our list of stores is growing by the day. Here’s our current list of sites that offer the game for download. We will be adding to the list as more stores go live. If there is a certain store you’d like to see added to this list, please drop us a line and say so!
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Commented: May 18, 2012 at 1:18 pm
Is it available without DRM(SecuROM) on any of these sites? I want to buy your game, but not with that crap attached to it..
Commented: May 19, 2012 at 8:31 pm
Yes, SecuROM has been thrown out the window but not all stores have yet updated their builds. GamersGate is now DRM-free though, they just haven’t had the time to update the info-page yet.
Commented: May 18, 2012 at 2:14 pm
Good work! The trailer looks great!
Is there any news on releases for Linux or Android? I loved the free version (played it in Linux with Wine), but I don’t own a Mac and don’t play games on Windows much anymore. I spend 99% of my time in Linux these days, but I might enjoy the Journey Down on my Android phone too.
For stores, I like Desura (http://www.desura.com ) and the Humble Store (made by the guys that do the Humble Bundle). The devs of Legend of Grimrock used the Humble Store. I’d prefer the Humble Store most. Indievania (http://indievania.com ) is supposed to be good to, but I’ve never used it.
Commented: May 19, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Hey Kevin!
The Android version is in the works, but it’ll take some time. Linux versions (32 & 64 bit) are available from Desura since today, I just updated the post to add a link.
I didn’t know the Humble Store had opened yet, I thought it was just for the lucky few in the bundles. It would be really cool to have TJD there so I’ll see if I can get hold of the humble people about that. Thanks for suggestion!!
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Commented: May 18, 2012 at 8:25 pm
Congrats guys!
Commented: May 19, 2012 at 8:44 pm
Tackar och bugar
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Commented: May 19, 2012 at 4:51 pm
It’s coming a win/mac Steam release too?
Commented: May 19, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Would love to see TJD on Steam, but I honestly don’t know if we’ll make it there..
Commented: May 21, 2012 at 7:24 pm
I would also love if this game was released for Steam. To a game available in multiple platforms is always great, but sucks when the one you chose to build your game library in isn’t in the list
Commented: May 19, 2012 at 9:34 pm
I’d love to see the game on Steam! That’s where i buy most of my games, so it’s really convenient. And it would help to make the game be more well know!
Commented: May 22, 2012 at 1:08 pm
lol so many people have said that now that there should soon be a petition or something!
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 3:08 am
TJD on Steam would be awesome. I hope you consider it.
Commented: May 20, 2012 at 1:12 am
Congratulations on the release!
Do people have to purchase each version separately, or does a purchase give you access to it for all platforms? I’d like to be able to play/replay it on my Mac, Win7 machine and Android tablet (not knowing which device will be most convenient in the future), but I’m not going to buy the game three or four times.
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 7:44 pm
That would be a neat feature but I have no clue as to whether we would be able to pull it off. (Or if it would be worth the effort, really.) Multi-platforming is a tricky jungle to navigate!
Commented: May 20, 2012 at 5:10 am
Nice trailer, looks like a game made with big budget, except the font used. Kinda weird character designs, but haven’t tried playing yet. The “chapter one” words kinda turned me off.
Commented: May 20, 2012 at 11:14 am
Just finished it. Amazing game, guys! Are you already working on chapter 2?
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 7:45 pm
Thanks! Yeah, chapter two is well under way and looking real bombastic if I may say so myself. We will be showing stuff off soon.
Commented: May 21, 2012 at 4:08 am
gog.com?
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 7:46 pm
I wish. Believe me, we are working on reaching out to as many channels as possible.
Commented: May 22, 2012 at 5:13 am
Just bumped into the title and now choosing between the stores
Is it possible to see the game on http://www.gog.com/ ?
Commented: May 22, 2012 at 9:23 am
Spelet ser fantastiskt ut!
Det stora misstaget ni har tagit är den oerhört höga priset ni har lagt på spelet, runt 120kr.
Att ni ska också göra 3 till kapitel och om man förväntar sig att dom kommer att ligga på samma pris blir det sammanlagt 480kr!!!
Jag önskar att det inte skulle vara så himla dyrt. :/
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 7:48 pm
Spel är alltid som dyrast då dom är splitternya, så oroa dig inte, priset kommer uteslutande att dala.
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 3:22 am
Congrats on your release, i will check out the linux version.
I saw that you also work on Android and iphone, would it also be possible to make a version for the Nokia N9.
The Nokia N9 runs meego harmattan Linux so i think it wouldn’t be to much work.
Commented: May 23, 2012 at 10:04 am
Tackar för ett fantastiskt spel! Ser fram emot Chapter 2!
…funderar på en sak bara…borde det inte vara en lök istället för en potatis?
hehe!
/Eddan
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Commented: May 26, 2012 at 11:44 pm
I must be fair, I wasn’t expecting a lot from this game, boy was I wrong. It’s incredible and I must say that it’s on my favourite game’s list of all time! Simply amazing modern work of art. Keep it up, and I’m waiting anxiously for the chapter 2.
Commented: May 31, 2012 at 2:12 pm
Dudes, I wanna play/buy the game under Linux
Please bring it to the HumbleStore …..
Commented: May 31, 2012 at 2:30 pm
Gött spel!
Diggar speltypen berättelse med pussel och humor, musiken i baktakt och jazz och den när-futuristiska grafiken. Nu när Monkey Islands inte verkar få några fler uppföljare inom överskådlig tid finns det helt klart en marknad att jobba mot! Längtar stort efter Kapitel 2.
Commented: June 2, 2012 at 4:43 am
Where or when am I able to buy/download the amazing soundtrack of the game?
Commented: June 6, 2012 at 4:24 pm
Enjoyed it very much and wishing it was longer. Any idea when episode #2 will be out?
Commented: June 16, 2012 at 2:02 am
Out of curiosity, if the art is Central African inspired, why did you go with Jamaican accents? Maybe I missed something, but it didn’t seem like any of the folkorey bits were Afro-Caribbean based, so it just seemed weird that the music and voices were modern Jamaican style, but the art was from a few hundred years ago and a different continent.
Commented: June 19, 2012 at 11:29 pm
I decided after my experience with the game (as I was kindly rewarded with a code for it by @HansAdventures) to write a review for GamersGate. I’ll post it here, just in case you miss it:
The Journey Down: A Solid Start, Not Aiming Low.
Wonderfully presented in a smooth and uninterrupted painterly style, “The Journey Down” tries almost entirely successfully to take you back to the late 90s heyday of adventure gaming greatness, with a charm not dissimilar to “Grim Fandango,” however its attempts at humour are more ‘cute’ than Grim Fandango’s wise-cracking, sardonic wit.
TJD is, much like its protagonist Bwana and his adopted brother, Kito, easy going for the most. Puzzles work well, and I only found myself stuck the once when a pixel hunting exercise for an elusive room exit prevented me from finding a crucial clue. Items can be combined simply by dragging and dropping in the inventory and interactions cut out the need for verb choices simply leaving you with a single click. A bit of a limitation when you consider how much depth can come from getting more of the character’s perspective by “looking.”
There’s not a great deal of antagonism, despite the plot’s inferred dangers and urgent presentation within the FMVs, there’s not compulsion to rush through to completion. Which is just as well, considering the laconic pace of the somewhat dated animation styling, which quite often has you skipping repeated dialogue that could have been more varied (although on the whole, voice acting is hard to criticise, despite some accents slipping here and there) and Bwana’s strutting coolly out of each scene makes you wish there was a run function of some sort.
The characterisations are mostly engaging and their design (based on African tribal masks) is more than appealing. The plot in this first episode reveals very little, therefore creating suspense but not giving you a great deal of motivation to assist your new client. It’s obvious that more shall be revealed in coming instalments, however little relevance is given to the cryptic book which is supposedly crucial to the story.
Despite it’s similar use of folk lore and caricatures to “Grim Fandango,” I was mainly put in mind of “Mamago Garage” in “Beyond Good & Evil” as run by the wheeler-dealing West Indian rhino family. Certainly, “The Journey Down” has no problem with wearing its influences proudly as for the effect is a well-rounded and entertaining tale that does well by its forebears.