Fan Sites

Beyond the Pogo - great site boasting a nearly-exhaustive compilation of fangames, among countless other goodies. In my opinion the very best Keen site ever. Cerebral Cortex 314 - uses a very nice-looking interface and has a moderate amount of information, though not nearly as exhaustive as Beyond the Pogo. There are many other fan sites around, but if you want to learn about Keen's fan-productions without the bother of a forum, Beyond the Pogo is the place to go.

Fangames

The following are my favorite Keen fangames. For an exhaustive list, I recommend visiting Beyond the Pogo. Those with no mark next to them have been finished, those with an asterisk (*) next to them will probably never be finished, and those with a caret (^) next to them might be finished in the near future. Games Programmed from Scratch The Attack of the Cones (Real Keen Player 3) - in my opinion the best of all finished Keen fangames other than certain mods. Very "unoriginal" storyline and concepts, but that just adds to the fun. Tons of levels and fun gameplay mechanics, and even a "trophies" feature that pays tribute to the original Keen games and other fangames. *The Mystery of Isis III - Very well-made game, but "unKeenish" is many aspects, and containing too "realistic" textures. Worth trying, but note that there's not much to play in the unfinished versions, and the atmosphere does not always "feel like" Keen. These are the only fully-programmed Keen fangames that I have played that are worth playing, and trust me, they are worth playing! Games Made with Multimedia Fusion Alpha Manhattan - The controls and physics of this game are probably closer to that of the original Keen 4-6 engine than any other I've played. The level design, however, is rather boring, and the albeit beautiful graphics are very weird. It also includes a fun Frogger-style mini-game called Yorper. All in all, it's a noteworthy engine, but the gameplay suffers terribly. Masked Crusades: Asino's Uphail - Good game, with decent game mechanics, but lacking in variety. Overall, worth playing, and moderately fun. There is a different version of Asino's Uphail available that is very difficult to play and is not nearly as good as the Multimedia Fusion version. Games Made with Click-&-Create *The Rule of a Yorp's Dinner - very creative, Keenish, and fun game. Most of the graphics are original, the storyline is integral and original, and there's very little bad that I can say about this game, except that it's unfinished. The Dream Machine - this game is styled after Keen Dreams somewhat, and has original, mediocre-quality graphics, and a very quality appearance. It plays like a real Keen game, and is very fun. My only "real" gripe is that you can't save your game, and it's incredibly difficult on the higher levels. Spork III - Compared to the above games, Spork III has mediocre graphics and very buggy gameplay mechanics. It is, however, fun and original, and I recommend you play it. Just don't get your hopes up very high, because it gets old fast. Also in this list are games made with The Games Factory, which is essentially the same as Click-&-Create. Games Made with Klik-&-Play School's Out - Though this buggy game features terrible physics, a rather dull story, and no original graphics, the level of creativity seen in the level design kept me playing until the end. The ripped graphics and sounds give it a tiny feel of quality. Overall, it's definitely worth playing simply because it's so fun, though it lacks quality and programming expertise altogether. Also, the game is huge and contains countless different settings so you never get tired of staring at the same types of walls. There are many Keen fangames made in Klik-&-Play and Click-&-Create that play basically like School's Out and have the same level of quality, but they generally lack the creative level design that makes School's Out so enjoyable. 3D Keen Fangames ^Commander Keen 64 - This game is still in the very early stages, but looks very promising. It will have the setting of Keen 1, and will probably be to Keen as Super Mario 64 was to Super Mario Bros. Keen Dreams 3D - This game consists of 3D re-creations of the 2D Keen Dreams levels. What it lacks is playability, largely because Keen's jump height is the same as in the 2D games. The controls are also frightfully awkward, and the play style is very unKeenish. All the characters act the same, and the map screen, among other things, is not recreated as I believe it was intended in the 2D version. Overall, it's worth looking at, but not much in terms of playability. *Commander Keen 4 3D - I heard about this project long ago, but have heard very little about it since. It was apparently abandoned, but I don't know how much work had been done before that. Keen 1-3 Mods "Mod" is short for "modification," and, in this case, refers to a Keen game that somebody modified by making new levels and graphics. There are many good mods available, and even the best of them have their great levels and their dull levels, so I recommend visiting Beyond the Pogo or another site and trying all of them! Commander Keen Episode X - The graphics are all original, and so is the story, but it lacks the bright and cheery atmosphere that I have come to love in Keen. It's a pretty fun game, and it is one of the most highly reputed Keen 1 mods, so it would have been foolish not to place it here. Also known as Xkykeen1, it has two very excellent sequels called Episode Null (Xkykeen2) and Episode Dash (Xkykeen3), which require Keen 2 and 3 to play. The Last Moon - This might be my overall favorite Keen 1 mod. It features graphics and story better than any other mod in this list. The downside is that, in terms of difficulty, it's a killer. Definitely, though, a must-play. Bazooka Wowbagger - Featuring an alien with a springy tail instead of a pogo stick, this Keen 1 mod is excellent. It has great graphics, and the level designs are pretty good too. Its most outstanding characteristic is definitely the creativity seen in the graphics, settings, and cast of characters. Norp the Yorp in Mortimer's Computer - The hero is Keen's pet Yorp, and he's been shrunk to fit inside Mortimer's computer! This game has good concepts and is well made, but there is an annoying "weirdness" pervading the cast of characters. Like Keen X, it has two sequels, Diffusion and Brain Damage, which correspond to Keens 2 and 3. There is also a very good fourth, single-level installment called "The Maze of Doom". LEGO Keen - Beautifully crafted and charming through-and-through, this mod takes you back to the world of LEGO bricks and the mind of four-year-old Billy Blaze. The fun factor is sky-high, and the graphics and game design make it my favorite Keen game and my all-time favorite LEGO game. Keen 4-6 Mods Commander Keen "7": The Keys of Krodacia - This mod of Keen 4 is so good that if someone told me that there was another "lost episode" of the Keen series and it was made with the Keen 4-6 engine, and then showed me this game, I'd believe that person. Seriously, this game has got to be the best mod ever, with totally new (and quality) graphics, setting, and storyline. And there's so much patching done that it's sometimes hard to tell which Keen 4 creatures these ones correspond to! ^CK Guy's Keen 5 Level Pack - These are very fun levels, though a bit frustrating at times. I loved them, and if you own Keen 5, I'm sure you will too. (You have to own Keen 5 to play this. You can buy "Goodbye, Galaxy!" for $10 from iD Software by clicking here.) The only other Keen 4 mods I know of that have been released are Birdman and Torgopolis, both one-level mods. I believe Birdman was the first Keen 4 mod ever, and considering that, it is quite an accomplishment. I believe someone is making a Keen 5 mod called "The Keen Asylum" or something like that, but I don't believe it's been released yet.

Clones

This section uses the same symbols (*,^) as did the fangames section. ^Clone Keen - This clone of "Invasion of the Vorticons" is not perfect, but it comes so close to perfection that I believe it will replace the original EXE's in no time at all. It uses the original data files and enhances the original without changing the gameplay. QB Keen - Made in Quick BASIC, this is also referred to as "Keen 7", though I have no idea why. It is probably one of the most high-quality open-source QB platformers available, but as a Keen 4 clone is meager at best. Flash Keen - An online-play clone of Keen 1, this is very well-made and appears to have been a pioneer in flash gaming, but leaves out many cherished aspects of Keen, such as the map screen. There is news on the PCKF that a new, high-quality Keen 4-6 clone will come into being, but will not use the original files. Only time will tell whether this will be a next-generation Clone Keen or just another QB Keen. :-)

Other

This section uses the same symbols (*,^) as did the fangames section. *Shadowlands - This is a very well-made series of seven-minute TV-like animations. They are quality all the way through, but unfortunately there are only two episodes. My only gripe is that they treat the Shadowlands "creatures" as sentient, which wasn't the impression I got from the game. These movies are fun, funny, and Keenish, and as far as I'm concerned, their creator could have been a professional and there would have been little or no difference in quality. ^Commander Keen: The Comic Strip - This is a very well-made series of comic strips. Like Shadowlands, if it had been made by a professional I doubt it would have been much different. Two Heads are Better than One - This is a very interesting piece of Commander Keen fanfiction. Though it, of course, has the occasional grammar or spelling error, it is very original and very, very interesting. Personally, I was kept captive by it until I finished it!