This game's main strength lies in its interface and puzzle design. The inferface is highly innovative and really pushes the boundaries of what types of actions you can perform compared to most other titles in the same genre. This leads to a great sense of freedom in what kind of approaches you can try to approach the puzzles the game throws at you. Unfortunately it often leads to situations where you come up with a solution that would seem to make perfect sense, but the game won't respond to it because the developers apparently didn't anticipate anyone trying that particular combination of actions. On the other hand, it is really impressive how many possible actions they DID anticipate, and the sheer wealth of possible things you can try or do in the game is positively staggering. Where the game really falls short of being a true classic, though, is in its somewhat harebrained plot. Without going into detail, the entire plot is logically hinged upon the philosophical position of materialistic determinism - that, given enough data about the material state of things and sufficient computing power, you can actually predict everything that wil ever happen. Unfortunately, this notion - all but taken for granted as truth in the game - was discredited as extremely problematic long ago, with the discovery of Heisenberg's uncertainty principle. This makes suspension of disbelief and full immersion in the story much harder for any player reasonably well-versed in the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics. Apart from that, the story, although interesting, is convoluted and really quite dark, but these are all intentional choices by the writers, lending an atmosphere of brooding paranoia to the whole experience. Finally, the aesthetic production qualities. There is certainly nothing to complain about here. The pixel-art graphics and animations are about as good as you can possible expect from a low-res adventure. Voice acting and sound design are actually quite solid.
Your appreciation of this game will depend very much on what type of person you are, and which you appreciate more in your "story driven" adventures (a term I use loosely in this case, as any player who has finished the game will understand): humor, or immersion? If you think humor in a point-and-click adventure is more important than immersion, this game might be your fix. Because it is a joke. I do not say this to derogate. This game is LITERALLY a joke. It is its own bloody punchline. It couldn't take itself, its characters or its story less seriously if it tried - which it certainly does not. If, however, you think, like me, that immersion and quality in storytelling is more important than slapstick humor, I feel obligated to warn you that if you go into Thimbleweed Park expecting a truly story-driven adventure of quality, you will be sorely disappointed. Do not get attached to these characters. Do not bother trying to understand the world and its logic. The game will punish you for this. I can't really say much more about it without spoiling the ending so I will just leave it at that. For players that tend to care about the characters in the games you play or are looking for a story-driven adventure that takes itself even slightly seriously, I cannot emphasize enough that you should keep looking. Thimbleweed Park will not scratch this itch, and will leave you feeling hollow when you finish it, even if you found the game itself up until that point enjoyable. Fortunately there are many other adventures out there that blow this game out of the water in this regard (which, I admit, isn't saying much because it doesn't even try). One quality series I can recommend a closer look at is the Blackwell series, a masterwork of supernatural fiction which is somewhat similar in atmosphere and setting.
