Welcome to Kentucky Route Zero, a Netflix-exclusive game that promises a thrill of adventure, existentialism, and bizarre experiences. It’s a narrative-driven story game told in five short acts while exploring debt, loneliness, and tragedy themes, and it’s one of Android’s best games. In Kentucky Route Zero, there’s no need to worry about guns, magic, and power fantasies in a game deeply rooted in realism (with a few twists) and everyday life.
Netflix brings a lot of chilling games to your favorite Android phone or tablet that feel truly unique to any game you’ll find on the Google Play Store. So if you’re looking for a game that breaks the mold, look no further, which is why we’ve compiled a guide that’ll examine the gameplay while providing the best tips and tricks to get you started on your epic adventure.
How to play Kentucky Route Zero on Netflix Games
Kentucky Route Zero is classified as a single-player point-and-click adventure game, and it’s now available through Netflix Games. This means we can finally play the renowned adventure on our Android devices with controls that are entirely touch-based. Seeing that the Netflix version is the only version that offers touch controls, let’s explore how to play this specific edition.
Movement is restricted to 2D surfaces, forcing you to control your character horizontally. Touch any on-screen location will place the cursor; your character will automatically move to the following location.
Tapping on objects for clues
Objects that can be interacted with will become displayed on the screen. Tap on the icon to view or use. Most of the puzzles in Kentucky Route Zero will require interacting with objects. New items may pop back up at old spots, so it’s a good idea to backtrack after learning a new piece of information or receiving instructions from another character. Don’t be shy to tap on everything you see since that’s how you progress through the chapter 90% of the time.
Overall, the story progression sees a linear cadence as everything becomes split between scenes and acts. As a result, it should take players eight and a half hours minimum to complete a playthrough of Kentucky Route Zero. And since you won’t uncover everything in one go, multiple playthroughs are definitely encouraged.
How choices impact your playthrough
Fortunately, choices don’t impact the overall ending; all choices are subjective to the story being told. The best analogy is that a script unfolds the story, but as an actor and director, you determine the possibilities that can be played out from the script, much like a choose-your-own-adventure book.
For example, in Act I, your dialogue choice determines your dog’s name for the rest of the game.
But how you interact with the characters may unlock different paths through the story. It’s up to you to piece everything together.
Reading dialogue offers plenty of hints
This is a very dialogue, text-heavy game. The characters you meet might ramble on about their possessions or tell you about places to visit. But make sure to pay attention and exhaust all the dialogue options provided to ensure you won’t miss out on any extra scenes or critical info.
Kentucky Route Zero is interpersonal as much as intrapersonal, where the characters you meet and gain control of will offer connecting storylines. So pay attention to every name you see; you may see them pop back up in a later act.
Consulting your in-game book for directions
When playing as Conway, you’ll drive around in his truck from place to place by moving around the main highway or driving around the streets. To avoid wandering aimlessly, you can open your field notes to view the written directions; street names briefly pop up as you drive, so you may need to slow down while driving — just like in real life!
Saving your progress
Be careful with how you quit the app or leave your app idling in the background for too long. Auto-saving only occurs when there’s a scene or act change. Otherwise, once you have control over your character, you can tap “quit” to leave the app. But we recommend finishing all dialogue sequences immediately present before leaving the app; this way, you won’t lose your progress!
Kentucky Route Zero is a thrilling tale on Netflix Games
The lack of puzzles and action-oriented gameplay may discourage some people from trying Kentucky Route Zero on Android. Instead, it’s better consumed as a short, interactive novel while you have a few hours on your hands (it should take you at most 10-12 hours to complete).
Despite the simple click-and-point mechanics, the introspective story depicted by the artistic choices and the deep dialogue sequences carries this unique experience. So any Netflix subscribers interested in trying out one of the best adventure games on Android should grab the download below or head over to Netflix Games through your Netflix app.
