Thimbleweed Park trailer shows off 16-bit, with all the grit.

When Special Agent Ray arrived in Thimbleweed Park, she immediately had doubts the dead body in the river would suit her needs. Stuck in the past, the small, strange town stunk of a desperate longing to be what it once was…

No, it’s not an 80’s point-and-click that the marketing department forgot about; it’s retro!

Yeah i’m not fully buying that either… BUT Thimbleweed Park may just be worth a closer look than it’s 16-bit styling suggests.

Served up with sardonic humour that is giving me flash backs to breaking through the age restriction on Leisure Suit Larry, I get the feeling that the creators are intent on reminding us that with 80’s graphics came an often dark and offbeat wit.

Bluntly described as “an indie adventure game with all the charm of the golden age and none of the stupidity. Dead ends? Ha! Ridiculous puzzles? Not in this town. Leave those rose-colored glasses at home, because you sure as hell won’t need them in Thimbleweed Park.”  It may be safe to say the creators aren’t looking to sell nostalgia as a combined package.

Formerly of LucasArts, and the creators of Maniac Mansion, Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick are back together and serving up classic nostalgia gaming after their successful Kickstarter campaign; and we all know how well that always works out. Although seeing as Ron Gilbert literally wrote the script that went on to be used in the majority of LucasArts adventure games, I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt. No official release date has been set, but keep an eye out for this title in the coming months.

At its heart is a slow-boiling, neo-noir mystery. Promising five playable characters, a sprawling world to explore, and a story big enough to get lost in. Paying homage to True Detective, Twin Peaks, and The X-Files (with a little Stephen King tossed in for kicks); Thimbleweed Park harks back to a simpler time, when puzzles were puzzles and story ruled.