Thimbleweed Park hits crowdfunding goal in one week

Thimbleweed Park

Thimbleweed Park has very quickly become the latest big videogame success on Kickstarter. Just a week after it went live, the collaboration between veteran developers Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick on a new adventure in the style of the LucasArts classics of the 90s has easily blown past its not-insubstantial goal.

It's really not a surprising outcome. Kickstarters by established developers seeking a return to the days of old have traditionally done well, and that's a paradigm Gilbert and Winnick, whose past credits include Maniac Mansion, Day of the Tentacle, and The Secret of Monkey Island, fit very well. Thimbleweed Park also came out of the gate very strongly, raising more than $71,000 in its very first day.

The upside for backers, aside from the fact that the game will get made, is that it leaves lots of time left to hit stretch goals, which were announced over the weekend: translations into other languages (including a German version by Boris Schneider-Johne, who did the German version of Monkey Island), mobile versions of the game, and full voice acting.

"The support has been overwhelming and it's making us giddy," Gilbert wrote in the latest update. "Before launching this Kickstarter, Gary and I debated endlessly if people would want a game that felt like it was made in 1987. A game made at the beginning of the golden era of point & click adventures. I think we have our answer."

Thimbleweed Park is currently sitting at $403,000 on a goal of $375,000, and there's lots of time left: The Kickstarter doesn't end until December 18.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.