Amazing puzzles: very challenging, long, intricate, but logical. You will need to pay attention to all details and getting to a solution will take time, but the whole process is highly rewarding. There is no need for pixel hunting, random object combination or the silly "moon logic" that way too many adventure games rely on. This is how the puzzles on a classic adventure game should be designed. Excellent voice acting and many great lines. The visuals serve the purpose and the low-res pixel art are not a distraction. Highly recommended. One of the most rewarding adventure games I have played in quite a while.
I have been playing adventure games for three decades, including all the major titles created by Ron Gilbert. As such, I could not have skipped Thimbleweed Park, which I actively backed during its crowdfunding phase. I am also used to Gilbert's style of storytelling and his ability to create great memorable games from a silly narrative. But Thimbleweed Park is far from becoming a memorable or great game. It starts with an engaging and atmospheric story that leaves plenty of options to build a great adventure. Soon, several story arcs and questions start opening. But when the game is expected to get deeper and more interesting it is exactly when it starts falling apart. The story starts losing cohesion and no effort is made to create meaningful relationships between the characters. As a result, the game premise and narrative become secondary, and the player is left with nothing but a sequence of random puzzles to solve. As the game reaches its ending, the initial premise, the story, and all questions that the player faced during the whole game are simply left open. I am aware that silly and/or disappointing game endings are a kind of Ron Gilbert's trademark, as recently demonstrated again in the “The Return to Monkey Island". But TP's ending is just lazy and manages to ruin the whole premise. In my case, this is a game that I will not play again because the quality of the puzzles is far from being sufficient to compensate for the disappointing narrative. Anyway, Thimbleweed Park should be tried by all point-and-click adventure game lovers because of its graphics and design. But if you are new to adventure games then look elsewhere and pick a game with a satisfying narrative.
Excellent adventure game. The game's storyline is inspired in several fairy tales from the Brothers Grimm. Although some of the themes might not sound adequate for a younger audience at first, they were actually children's stories in 19th and early 20th century Europe. I played this game with a young girl and the game actually opens the door to tell the original fairy tales. The voice acting, characters and puzzles are all very rewarding. Only negative point is the ending, which seems rushed and fails to connect all the dots of previous chapters. Nevertheless, excluding the very end, this game will provide +15 hours of solid gameplay and challenges. If you enjoy point-and-click adventure games with a good storyline this is highly recommended.
Fun, nice graphics and with very rewarding puzzles, some of them quite challenging. The story is simple but very well put together and the ending leaves no loose ends. The game is linear and each task is solved in a few connected areas with minor backtracking. Only negative point is that some dialogues are unnecessarily long and, although they are usually fun, they can become a distraction since most do not add to the story itself. This is also a fun game to play with kids, although they will need adult help with the puzzles. This is a solid recommendation for point-and-click adventure gamers.
Wonderful indie game, with beautiful hand drawn graphics and animations. However, the game is very short and the ending is a major letdown. The game is divided into ten levels. Each level requires the completion of a set of linear point-and-click tasks and puzzles. Lilly has the ability to alternate between the present and the past using her goggles, which is required to complete the tasks. This ability opens the door to very interesting game dynamics, but, unfortunately, the developers did not explore it sufficiently. Most puzzles are straightforward but somewhat rewarding, although they become repetitive. The colour puzzles in the last levels, arguably the most difficult in the game, are logical once the mechanics become clear, but that requires annoying and time consuming experimentation due to lack of feedback. In any case, I completed the game with a kid in ca. 3h without any walkthrough. So, the game is very short. The alternation between past and present makes for an engaging story that could have been completed in multiple satisfactory ways. The major issue with this game is that it abruptly stops on a cliffhanger that adds absolutely nothing to what was experienced so far. Even if this game was meant to be the first part of a series, the ending would have been a complete disappointment. But this game was funded in Kickstarter as a single title, not as a series. To make matters worse, the developers got double the funding they requested in Kickstarter, so the unfinished ending is simply unforgivable. I rate this game 2 starts because it is somewhat rewarding, especially if you play it with a kid. But even the kids will be disappointed with the ending. Only buy this game at a major sale.
