This caught my attention while scrolling through the eshop yesterday, even though I don't have a history with adventure games. I buy very few games digitally anymore, but I think I'll give this a shot.

@Brandon
I approve!

I'd say it's similar to when people bought Mega Man 9 or 10 without having played the 8-bit Mega Men before; You'll miss out on the nostalgia, but the game is good enough to make it worth playing anyway. Just bear in mind that it's a very old-school point-and-click adventure game, with all that it entails. Well, except that it's not as obtuse as many of the old games used to be.

A nice touch is that you can turn off the in-jokes in the options menu, in case you can't relate to the self-referential humor and don't want the extra layer of potential red herrings.


This type of reference can't be turned off, though. Fans from back in the day will recognize a thing or two in this screen.

Btw, the music by Steve Kirk is pretty good too. Just the kind of music you need when you're strolling around a mysterious town picking up random crap in the 1980's.

Just thought I'd add that I beat the game a while ago. Took me nearly 20 hours, and was a really solid point-and-click ride while it lasted. Mini review:



As with so many other games of this type, there's little reason to go back once you're done, unless you simply want to relive your favourite moments. Still, 15-20 hours of gameplay is pretty good value, I'd say. I expected half of that, or less.

The game looks great, with the exception of the odd framerate hickup when scrolling through the more detailed areas at certain times.

The game sounds great too, for the most part. Agent Reyes's lines sometimes sound like their tone don't quite fit into the context of their respective situations, but it's a game with pretty good voice work overall.

It was more often amusing and chuckle-worthy rather than laugh-out-loud-funny, but it did manage to keep me smiling all the way through.

I feel that the plot kind of writes checks the ending can't cash in certain ways, but I think that's mostly a matter of me wishing the story had gone in a different direction. I don't think it's a poorly crafted ending, and I don't have a big problem with it, but I can see why it caused a fair amount of fan debate.

I still stand by my initial assessment; if you like point-and-click-adventures you should look into getting this. Just make sure you play it on the harder difficulty to make sure you get the full experience with all the puzzles and content intact.

Wow, that's long! I may pick this up. The trailer was amusing.

The in-joke option is crazy. I wonder if anyone will actually turn them off...

@Anand
Unless I'm misremembering I think the in-jokes were turned off by default. I seem to remember having to turn them back on (as well as turning on the option for the toilet paper in the game to be in the over position) when I started the game. I might be wrong, though.

It is a pretty long game, but it's important to note that you can cut down on the time a lot if you play it on the easier of the game's two modes, and/or if you decide to use the in-game hint phone line. I used hints a couple of times and only got vague hints of what to do, but you can milk the hint line to have it spell out more or less exactly what you need to do if you get really stuck.

I've also come to realise that there are a few optional scenes and events that I didn't see during my playthrough, so there's a bit more content than I gave it credit for initially, but I don't think it's enough for me to want to go back and replay it. At least not yet.

Okay, I am very slowly going through this game. Very enjoyable so far. Quick question. Is the book I need to get through the application on the computer hidden in the library? Or did I miss it elsewhere? I don't really feel terribly stuck yet, and I do understand these games can be pixel hunts, but I figured I'd ask here before I jump back in the game for the next time.

@Brandon
Do you mean when Dolores wants to send in an application? You can go down to the book-finding-machine-or-whatever-tron-3000 in the library and use that to find a book you're looking for.

The game is not quite as much of a pixel hunt (well, apart from the literal one) as some other point-and-clicks thanks to solutions like that, and you've also got the hint line to call if you need it. I'm obviously glad to give you any tip you'd like, and it's more fun figuring these games out by talking to other players - like back in the day - but the hint system works well in case you ever feel that you need it. The first hint on any given subject tends to be quite vague, so you don't have to worry too much about getting anything spoiled when calling.

@r_hjort

I somehow, someway, had trouble 'using' the indextron 3000 the last time I tried. It did exactly what I needed right now. And then it only took a short while to figure out how to get up the stairs to the third level. So simple and stupid. I laughed. My main hurdle might be me getting in my own way. And I will utilize the in-game hint line as needed. All other queries will come here!

@Brandon
I guess there was some small event that you hadn't triggered yet; these games can be kind of particular with that sort of thing. I had the same experience with a puzzle later in the game, where I wasn't aware that I had tried the correct solution, since I had done it a tad too early.

Haha, yeah, the stairs puzzle is pretty neat! It's also one of the game's many retro references. That whole room (well, one screen of it anyway) is more or less an exact replica of a room in Maniac Mansion. Out-of-order stairs included.

Apparently there is some sort of patch or update to the game being distributed right now. Can't seem to find any info on what it does, though.

We finished it yesterday. I enjoyed it a lot overall. Quite a great little world they created.

Ending Spoilers: I have to say though, I wasn't a fan of the ending. I get what they were trying to do but with something like this, I was hoping for a non-meta conclusion to the game. Still, I did feel the need to care about the characters, particularly Ransome and Franklin. Their endings were very sweet.
Mixed reactions about the end though. I feel like....it kind of felt like a cop-out. Just not the direction I wish they went.

That being said, I loved it overall. Graphics and music were just amazing. The game was a bit too hard, but I did play it on hard mode. In retrospect, I would've played it on Casual. There were tons of "How would I EVER think to do that?" moments. Thankfully the game has a forgiving hint system, even if I feel like I wish I solved more of it on my own.

@PogueSquadron
Agreed about the endings. Although I did kind of like Ray's ending too, simply because I've convinced myself that it means there's a possibility that she will return in some form, somewhere. I mean, they could do that with every character anyway, but yeah...

Out of curiosity: Which puzzles gave you the most trouble? One that gave me trouble was one where you need to have Sexy Riker throw up, and then go into his room as Franklin to unlock the door for the others. I did unlock the door the way you're supposed to, but didn't think it worked due to not noticing the tiny light on the door going from red to green.

There were obviously others, but I can't quite remember them right now. Didn't find the game too cryptic though, but I guess I'm subconsciously comparing it to Sam & Max Hit the Road and games like that.

THAT PUZZLE, YES. We got super stuck there. Didn't really equate the door to being electric. Not really a fair puzzle IMO.

@PogueSquadron
Yeah, that's more or less something that you figure out by trial and error. I think in most cases there are enough hints to let you figure stuff out though.

this game looks super cool, so much good stuff on Switch. So. Much!

This looks right up my alley...just too much to play right now! Someday...

@deathly_hallows@ludist210 There sure is a lot to play right now, even when only looking at the Switch, but this is one of the games worth playing! Although I understand if you guys want to wait a bit. At this point I might even think that's the best thing to do, not only because there are other games worth playing, but because Thimbleweed Park deserves a lot of attention when you do play it.

Bumping because the game is 15% off in Europe right now, and it just might have a similar discount in North America. Also so that I can post another pretty screenshot.


Not the most scenic environment, but still damn fine pixel art!

@r_hjort
Yeah, it's also discounted in NA, along with a bunch of other stuff. Check the new Games On Sale tab for all of the current deals, people!

Switch our the best selling console for Thimbleweed Park. https://t.co/wBIonUqOf9

— Ron Gilbert, your digital personal assistant (@grumpygamer) November 22, 2017

Great news about the Switch version of this game, it's a shame Ron Gilbert died of a stroke in the middle of sharing it.

As for me, I still haven't gotten the game. But I will!

I'm finishing off Stick It to the Man on Wii U first, which is somewhat puzzle-adventure-ish. It's coming to the Switch this week, actually. It's not great…