The harmony between these two components-the fourth-wall breaking humor and the deep, yet not so obscure puzzle designs-is part of what makes Thimbleweed Park shine. This is in stark contrast to poorly designed adventure games that can often reside so deeply within a creator’s mind that the player has a hard time figuring out their intentions with a specific puzzle design. I worried that it would fail to balance its own self-referential humor with puzzles that actually made sense, but never once did I find myself so baffled by a puzzle that the solution didn’t provide a “duh” moment when I finally figured it out. You may end up picking up an item early on that has no relevance until far later, or visiting a location that will only have meaning to a different puzzle. This is a puzzle game that encompasses five characters and a full map, requiring each of their individual relationships and skills to solve a variety of puzzles in a very non-linear design. You need to click to get around the screen, use the right verbs to combine items or use them in the right places, and there will be a lot of trial, error, and cavorting back and forth from location to location as you figure out each puzzle. Thimbleweed Park forgoes modern amenities, and opts for that classic adventure game style. Headliners Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick take the stage once more, all their classic moves in tow. Think of it like a reunion tour of a classic band. Instead it becomes a time capsule, allowing younger players a glimpse into games of the past through the mind of a man who was key in creating them, and older players can get nostalgically wistful about the puzzle games of yesteryear. Had there not been a surge of modern interest in these old LucasArts games-not to mention Telltale’s entire business model revolving around a modernization of the genre - I might have said that Thimbleweed Park falls into a pretty niche category. A game developer and a ghost are just two of the characters you’ll play as. It embodies a kind of silly depth that mimics the kinds of games that have been re-popularized through remasters and re-releases, like Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango. And yet, even while it parodies, references, and makes fun of itself nearly every step of the way, Thimbleweed Park remains quite an incredible and engrossing adventure game to its own credit. Thimbleweed Park is the Scary Movie of point-and-click adventure games, most notably those of Lucasfilm Games fame, the likes of which Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer might have had their hands in.
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