Ken's Innocent Labyrinth

Ken's Labyrinth Title Screen. Taken from MobyGames.

A lot of influential first-person shooters were released in 90s. While people would like talk about popular titles like Quake and Blood, I would like to dedicate this post to a lesser known game that ended up being more important to that time period and genre than you would think. The release of Wolfenstein 3D inspired many developers around the globe, including young Ken Silverman. CuteFloor's "The History of Ken Silverman's Build Engine" mentions that he decided to make his own engine after seeing his brother Alan play Wolfenstein 3D, and it took me some time to confirm it by opening a certain page on Ken's website that's still available in its retro glory.

Despite some impressive features at the time, Ken's Labyrinth doesn't get nearly as much attention as it deserves. While my silly "article" definitely won't change that, I'll use this opportunity to dive deeper into this curious little game's story and what it left behind in gaming industry, perhaps encouraging someone to actually play and leaving a note for myself to do so in the future as well since I'm following my shameful tradition of writing about video games I haven't personally touched for whatever reason.

Walken The Way.

During its Beta development phase, Ken's Labyrinth was known as Walken. This title was created as a result of combining word "walk" with name "Ken", which is nice and simple. He shared the game with some friends and then decided to try getting attention from a few software companies... I think at that point the first version of Ken's Labyrinth (1.0) was already released and distributed by his brother's company named Advanced Systems.

Speaking of which, they weren't able to find a suitable publisher for some time. Of all the companies, only 3D Realms, known as Apogee Software at the time ("The Name" segment of Joe Siegler's historical piece makes the most sense in this very stupid and confusing situation, so I'm going with that as I always tend to use companies' current name), was reportedly named as being impressed by Ken's Labyrinth. According to an interview from RGB Classic Games, 3D Realms wanted Ken to rewrite the game entirely. Silverman didn't want to do that as he was finishing high school and his parents hoped that this thing won't extend to the college... Yes, he was 17 years old at that moment.

Ken's Labyrinth Screenshot. Taken from MobyGames.

Meanwhile, Epic Games contacted him one week after first version of Ken's Labyrinth got its official release and haven't ask for too many changes. In fact, the game itself updated to version 2.0 as Ken got additional help with level design, artwork and some sound effects from a member of demogroup Future Crew Misko Iho and his friend Andy Cotter. Mark Rein, who is currently a vice president and co-founder of Epic Games(?), is credited by Ken as "voice of Sparky". Both versions of Ken's Labyrinth received shareware and registered versions. This newer 2.0 version got three more levels and various new features.

Built By Silver.

There's a huge chance that your first impression from seeing the screenshot or short video of Ken's Labyrinth might give you an impression that this is just your simple Wolfenstein 3D-like game made by a kid with small help. In fact, this is what I like the most about this title. While Silverman isn't the only person who contributed to its artwork (both Andy and Misko helped him out), it all seem to be consistently childish. In a good way, mind you. While I would like to talk about this more at the end, but I'll note that this can (and will) be said about the entire game.

Let's not forget about the story. I got to talk about it, even if nobody cares about it... Including Ken. We gotta thank Alan, his friend Mahesh and Mark for all the narrative. That doesn't mean he didn't contribute to this creative process as the game is named after both its creator and antagonist, who is both an evil Zogarian leader and "infinitely ugly creature"... Another game with kind of relatable plot within in a little over a month? Huh. So yeah, aliens from Zogar are collecting all sorts of creatures from galaxy and put them in labyrinth for fun. If someone isn't able to get out of it, their world gets repurposed for carbon that used in red jelly production. Sparky, protagonist's dog, was taken by them and dogs are just too smart for aliens. So protagonist is the one being tested in labyrinth. This backstory is truly glorious, unironically. It is a joke and it works.

Ken's Labyrinth Screenshot. Taken from MobyGames.

If you're familiar with Silverman's project after Ken's Labyrinth, you'll immediately notice its interactive elements. As you go through levels and fight some alien creatures, you can collect coins (don't forget to press Enter if you're playing version 1.1 to pick them up). You can also try your luck with a slot machine. Coins are used soda machines, where you can purchase health items, power-ups and armor. I also just have to mention how great the music is: Ken made it all by himself, which only adds to the game's vibe.

Conclusion.

Even after Ken went with Epic Games as a publisher for this game, 3D Realms remained interested in Silverman and his talent. Especially since he wished to create a DOOM-like engine. Obviously, this leads to Build Engine and you can check Ken's page & CuteFloor's video (both of which were linked in this post previously) if you want to know more or refresh your memory. MobyGames' page of Ken's Labyrinth mentioned in its Trivia that Epic Games gave Ken its permission for freeware release while his own site says that it's free because they "no longer sell its older titles". I'm not sure which one it is, but Epic's recent treatment of Unreal franchise make both scenarios viable.

That's not the end for this series though. A sequel to Ken's Labyrinth is on its way, even though its development has started somewhere around 2017. It used GZDoom engine, which is alright I guess. Would've been nice to see Voxlap engine getting picked up for it though. I get where project's lead is coming from with sticking to what he's familiar with. He mentioned that Ken gave his blessing and did some voice acting for the title, but beyond that he's just an observer. Development process was pretty tough and slow, as you might've guessed. Recent update on Twitter, however, seem to be a positive one. All the gameplay footage and screenshot I can find is probably too outdated. It does look nice and interesting though. Hopefully, they will stay true to the original and find the success.

I would like to talk more about game's nature as that's the most appealing aspect of Ken's Labyrinth to me. Silverman developed this game when he was a 17 year old kid in early 90s... Wait, the game reached its 40th Anniversary this year! Anyway, I think this title is the perfect example of "a product from its time" with its innocent childhood aesthetic and it really doesn't seem like something you would get from recent releases. Jakub Cislo, developer of Project Warlock, was 18 years old when he created that game and it's much more grim in comparison. While Project Warlock does look kind of interesting to me and I don't mean it, but this comparison just makes me really sad.

To be fair, it's not all dark and bloody out there. From what I can see, releases like Frogun & Lil Gator Game still deliver on that front and this is very good. These title seem to be more of an exception to the rule though and more games and such tend to land closer towards this dark, edgy and "serious" atmosphere. Not to mention that there's too much bitterness and such out there... Seriously, I feel like I'm thinking (and maybe talking) too much about it. In this case, Ken's Labyrinth is a breath of fresh air from distant past that just hits you differently. Especially if you're not in good place mentally. It feels nice.