A new 1980s style point & click adventure gameMany things retro end up coming back in style years after the fact, though what about old school adventure gaming? You know, the point & click variety that was so popular in the 1980s and early 1990s with games like Maniac Mansion, Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, and several others I recall playing on a Commodore 64, and then later on an IBM compatible 286 PC. Well, after years of waiting, I'm happy to report that Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick have teamed up once more to create a point & click adventure game called Thimbleweed Park.
Currently a Kickstarter project seeking $375,000 in funding, Thimbleweed Park is described as the "true successor to Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island," a couple of franchises that occupied hours of my time many moons ago. It's also a brand new game, one that's being developed as a classic adventure title, a trait that might be lost on the modern gamer.
However, I'd venture to guess that there are enough folks like myself who miss the simplicity of titles that Lucasfilm Games (and later, LucasArts) and Sierra were known for 'back in the day' before first person shooters stole the limelight, that it's likely to be fully funded. Already with 28 days to go, nearly 4,800 backers have pledged more than $172,000 to the project.
"Thimbleweed Park is a game for true lovers of adventure games. This is a Kickstarter for fans who loved Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, and everything else that made that era great. It strips away all the cruft built up over the years and is distilled down to what we loved about the genre," Gilbert and Winnick said.
Specifically, it's about two washed up detectives tasked with investigating a dead body laying first first in a river just outside of town. You'll be able to switch between five playable characters at any time throughout "hours and hours of gameplay" en route to multiple endings.
If you miss old school adventure gaming like I do, or simply want to see more of the project, head over to its Kickstarter page.
Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
More...
