Two detectives with secret motives, a clown cursed for life, a young heiress, and a ghost with an unresolved past. These odd characters and more make up the cast of the cheeky new adventure puzzle game, Thimbleweed Park.
Thimbleweed Park was created by Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the genius behind point-and-click classics Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island (Gilbert). The game released on March 30 for Windows, Xbox One, MacOS, iOS, and Android.
The game is considered a spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed Monkey Island. But is it even worth a mention from the critics?
GamesRadar+
David Roberts of GamesRadar+ described playing the game similar to "uncovering a time capsule." He liked Thimbleweed's hint of nostalgia as it evoked feelings of classic point-and-click adventure games. He gave props to the unconventional pacing of the plot - unpredictable, which made sense for the murder-mystery theme. If one doesn't mind the kooky characters that is, which for Roberts helped move the narrative and gave it twists and surprises.
But despite the funny dialogues and interesting premise, Roberts found the relationship between the characters arbitrary. Gameplay-wise, he found it "logically consistent" with the game's world, despite minor issues with the graphics making it hard to find some objects.
IGN
Ryan McCaffrey of IGN liked the fact that the retro feel of the game suited nicely with the year it was set in: 1987. Despite the average voice acting, he found the diverse characters, challenging puzzles, and conversation trees satisfying. For him, Thimbleweed is a "deep and memorable" adventure game.
The gameplay is littered with "pixel hunting" and weird puzzles endemic in many point-and-click games, but for McCaffrey the game embraced these flaws with self-awareness, not unlike the meta humor and breaking-the-fourth-wall moments that abound in the game, which made the game enjoyable.
Kotaku
Jason Schreier of Kotaku believed that the game's charm comes from its vibe. He described Thimbleweed Park as a blend of "creepiness of Twin Peaks with the humor of Monkey Island in one stylish, successful package." The game is full of fourth-wall breakers, meta humor, in-jokes, and references to old games (which tend to be heavy-handed at times). The cast of weird characters and dialogues were a blast.
Gameplay-wise, Schreier found the puzzle-solving typical of most point-and-click games, which involves clicking on anything onscreen. The difficulty level is high though fair and rewarding. As the game goes on, these puzzles grow "increasingly silly and complicated."
Polygon
Whitney Reynolds of Polygon thought Thimbleweed Park is a "point-and-click adventure game about point-and-click adventure games." She liked the game's total self-awareness, as in-jokes, nods to old games, self-referential humor, and overall kookiness reminded everyone that it knows it is an adventure game that you must play.
Underneath the thicket of meta humor is a stellar gameplay. The puzzles were challenging, clever, and creative, with some requiring multiple characters working together. Reynolds admitted she got stuck at some levels, most of the time because of objects lost in the myriad of pixels in-game. Overall, she found the game a blend of old and new. For someone who loves classic puzzle games, Thimbleweed Park "feels like coming home."
