If my memory serves me right, it was in November 2014 that we first told you about Thimbleweed Park, a point and click adventure game steered by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the geniuses behind the unforgettable Maniac Mansion. A crowdfunding campaign and two years of work later, Thimbleweed Park is all set to debut in March, and its latest trailer introduces us to Ransome, a clown who insults everything in his path.
Everything we've seen in recent months about graphic adventures boils down to optimized versions for new platforms or reboots trying to revive old glories. This trend started with Broken Age from Double Fine Productions (with Tim Schafer at the helm), which, by the way, is original content. Its $3.4 million raised via Kickstarter led other developers to try their luck, and if there's a title we're eagerly awaiting, it's Thimbleweed Park. Like Broken Age, it's a new story, though a trained eye will quickly detect references to previous titles in the genre. But what matters most is the name attached to its development: Ron Gilbert.
Yes, the same Ron Gilbert of Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken, Indiana Jones, Monkey Island 1 and 2, Day of the Tentacle... let's just say he knows what he's doing. The game bears the name of the town where it takes place, and apparently, the activities of its inhabitants are so strange that a dead body floating near the bridge is the least of the player's problems. Still, you'll control Ángela and Antonio, the detectives in charge of investigating the death, Delores Edmund, who is busy reading her uncle's will, the clown Ransome, who received a curse and can't stop insulting, and Franklin, who apparently... is dead.
In short, Thimbleweed Park will be a mix of The X-Files, Twin Peaks, True Detective and other shows in that vein, always keeping the spirit of the old point-and-clicks we grew up with. Formal work on the game began in January 2015, and they're just about ready to deliver it. All arrows point to March, and it will be compatible with the three main platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS), along with iOS, Android, and Xbox One.
