Double Fine sets Hack 'n' Slash release for the first half of 2014

Today Double Fine announced Hack 'n' Slash, a "hacking-themed puzzle action game" for Windows, Mac, and Linux, due in the first half of 2014.

Today Double Fine announced Hack 'n' Slash, a "hacking-themed puzzle action game" for Windows, Mac, and Linux, due in the first half of 2014. In the game, you'll play as a young elf who uses her computer hacking skills to cheat her way through a classic action adventure game. According to the announcement, the game's intention is to subvert old-school gaming tropes by allowing non-programmers to experience something akin to hacking.

If that name and concept sounds familiar, it may be because we've reported on it when the game appeared as a candidate in Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight. The event is kind of like an internal studio game jam, where all Double Fine employees take two weeks to quickly prototype any and all wacky game concepts that come to mind. It's how the studio decided on previous projects like Costume Quest, Stacking, and mobile game Middle Manager of Justice.

A little over a year ago Double Fine partnered with Humble Bundle, opened the process to the public, and invited anyone to vote on their favorite prototype. It's how we got Spacebase DF-9, and now, Hack 'n' Slash.

Production of the game was funded by Indie Fund, Humble Bundle, Hemisphere Games (makers of Osmos), The Behemoth (makers of Castle Crashers), Morgan Webb (of X-Play fame, RIP), and others.

"When I first discovered a hex editor in an emulator, it dawned on me that I could be a kind of digital treasure hunter," Hack 'n' Slash project lead Brandon Dillon said of the game. "No game could keep even its deepest secrets from me if I adventured long enough in its code and memory.”

Double Fine says Hack 'n' Slash will be DRM-free when it releases in the first half of 2014.