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Episode 538: Thimbleweed Park (Patreon)

Published:
2023-06-02 07:00:05
Imported:
2026-06
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After leaving LucasArts in 1991, Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion creator put traditional adventure games behind him in favor of making point-and-click experiences for the younger set. But after the passing of two decades, the power of Kickstarter—which made the return of this very podcast possible—allowed the veteran developer to create a new adventure game completely on his own terms. The result was 2017's Thimbleweed Park, an adventure that certainly feels like a classic Ron Gilbert game—and one that ended up being just as polarizing.

On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey and Thimbleweed Park cover artist Nina Matsumoto as the two walk the Twin Peaks-y streets of Thimbleweed Park to determine if it's worthy of the LucasArts legacy. You'll believe a clown can curse!

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Comments

David Louis

Wow congratulations Nina! Tis a real honor to collaborate with da greats. :^) Abit more brooding and mysterious, but a tantalizing chill color choice and style of things to come. Glad to see Bob back for some more adventure games! Hopefully we'll get a Zork-Athon going one of these days.

littleterr0r

I absolutely loved this game, but I also hadn't played a LucasArts game since Maniac Mansion. I played it on the Switch and finished it on a plane, so no complaints from me on playing it that way. I must have blocked the ending out of my head, but interestingly, it won "Best Ending" in Game Informer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards.

Andrew Eikum

Good episode! It could be fun to hear a Humongous Entertainment episode.

Brian Silvers

Geez, this was a lot harsher than I was expecting from people relatively close to the creator and production. I appreciate the honesty, as I didn’t end up liking TP as much as I was hoping based on it’s pedigree, and having gotten into classic LucasArts adventure games the year prior to release. That ending is a big bummer, and the knowledge that Ron Gilbert puts that style of finale into statistically half or so of his major games really sucks!

Nigel G

I enjoyed Thimbleweed Park. I got frustrated by the end, but most of the experience was a lot of fun. The twist didn't bother me, but it didn't recontextualize the rest of the game, so IMO it doesn't justify itself. A straightforward ending would've been better. OTOH, it justifies the mechanic where knowledge gained playing as one character helps another character advance the story. Broken Age did that too, and it really bugs me as a player, especially if the characters don't know each other.

Jason J

I love these adventure game discussions with Bob and Nina. I’ve played through half of Thimbleweed Park and loved the atmosphere but got a bit overwhelmed juggling the multiple characters. I’m glad the podcast spoiled me on the twist ending because I would be a little disappointed to discover that in game. I’m not sure I’ll ever finish the game but I’m glad it exists and that adventure games are still a thriving genre.

Dave Dalrymple

It never bothered me that there were times I had to "wait" for a puzzle solution to be available, because it's an adventure game trope I'm familiar with. (It's especially common in adventure games where the story advances over time, like "Hotel Dusk 215" or "Under a Killing Moon" or "Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney".)

Wood Duck [Legacy Edition]

Despite being a PC kid in the 90s I don't think I ever touched a classic adventure game. As such I found the casual/easy mode of TP to be bizarrely simple (yet you still would find all the items for the complex solution without needing to use them) yet the normal difficulty was just a bit too esoteric, meandering and trial and error to enjoy as a newcomer to the old-school of adventure games.