Late January is a special time for the Canadian devs at Extremely OK Games: it’s when their critically-acclaimed hit Celeste came out. And now, for the game’s sixth anniversary, the developer is celebrating with a surprise release for fans—a new free game available now.
Celeste has quite a backstory. Originally made for PICO-8 in a game jam in 2015, the platformer was later expanded and released worldwide as a full game on Linux, macOS, NS, PS4, Windows, and Xbox One. Met with universal acclaim, it became one of the most critically-acclaimed indie titles of all time. It’s also a success among speedrunners and indie fans, as well as the LGBTQ+ community, which relates to the main character’s story arc and supports transgender creator Maddy Thorson.
In September 2019, Extremely OK released the free DLC Farewell, a new chapter in the story of Madeline and the Celeste Mountain. And now, on Jan. 30, the developer announced on X that it’s celebrating the sixth anniversary by launching Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain for free on itch.io.
Unlike the original game, which is two-dimensional, Fragments of the Mountain is a 3D platformer. This short story was made in about a week, according to what the team stated in the itch.io page for the project. A free download, its source code is also available on GitHub.
Though some fans have said it’s a rough build (and devs have already squashed a few bugs after the release) or had trouble with crashes, the overall response of the community for the new mini-game has been positive. A few guides are up and screenshots are all over Twitter. It really does feel like a celebration.
Celeste 64: Fragments of the Mountain is available on Windows and Linux, with a MacOS release coming soon. Celeste is available on Linux, macOS, NS, PS4, Windows, and Xbox One.
