Games which are in the business of selling nostalgia continue to crop up every now and then, Thimbleweed Park being the latest. The title that was revealed to the public on crowd-funding site Kickstarter in 2014, is now available to buy on PC, Mac, Linux and Xbox One. It has opened to mostly good reviews so far, and is set to hit PlayStation later this year.
The unmistakable prints of Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island fame are all over Thimbleweed Park. This “new classic” point-and-click adventure features graphics in the pixelated art style and some very peculiar characters. It’s priced at $19.99, which might seem a bit high to some folks, though the developers have earnestly promised it’ll be worth your money.
Thimbleweed Park opens to a guy with a teddy bear in hand who ends up dead in the water. Detectives Ray and Reyes are charged with solving the crime, the two being the main characters gamers can start playing as. There are three other unlockable characters that come later on – a ghost dude, a video game programmer named Delores and Ransome the clown.
Investigating the murder while the corpse continues to decompose in the river is the main job the player is tasked with. The puzzles within the title are said to vary between silly and complicated, and the dialogue is packed with humor. Not every review has been kind on the sort of jokes sprinkled within the game, some saying they’re fun and others calling them out for trying too hard.
The game appears to particularly hit a nerve when its characters break the fourth wall, or make old school references. Otherwise, it moves between quirky, sinister and downright ridiculous without any obvious stutters. The end result is that the title may be well worth a weekend of gaming.