Greetings everybody. I originally wanted to take this message and send it personally to the crew behind the game, but I have decided to post it here instead. I hope that is ok and that the devs see it.
I was born in '80, I’m a lifelong PC girl, and in the mid-80s Zak McKracken and Maniac Mansion were two of my favorite and most beloved games. Later on in school I developed a crush on a guy who also played these games (Caleb Buck, whatever happened to you?). When the NES version of MM came out, I had to get it. Adored beating it every which way there is.
Fast-forward to last year. Not only was my life affected by Covid as everyone else’s has been, I also was getting out of an abusive marriage, I had eclampsia with seizures and blackouts and finally brain damage, and my newborn son only lived for a week after birth. So basically there has been little to no joy in my life for the past year. I haven’t wanted to play games until recently. The last game I played and fell in love with was Bioshock Infinite. It’s been awhile! So I started looking, and lo and behold, I come across this Thimbleweed Park game. I was struck first off, immediately, by the fact that the characters looked exactly like I the ones I knew from MM and ZM. At that time I did not know that Thimbleweed was made by the same team. When I found out, I got the game and jumped into it right away. It has been everything I expected and more- so beautifully made, wonderfully written, hilariously acted! And the first time early in the game when I saw the characters that were so beloved to me- Dr. Fred and Nurse Edna, Sandy and Dave, the green tentacle, the Caponian, and Zak and Annie Larris with her purple turtleneck! I was bouncing, literally, in joy and laughter from seeing these characters and playing this fantastic game. This is just what I needed. I am not that far through the game yet, just past the clown (his language had me rolling on the floor). I love the Easter eggs so far (purple meteor’s wanted poster, the report about the phone line hum, Chuck! Tuna can!!). All I can say at this point is that Thimbleweed Park is turning out to be so much fun. It has given me joy that I haven’t felt in a good long time. It has brought much needed smiles to my face, and I just wanted to say thank you. Particularly to Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, but also to the whole cast and crew who brought this amazing game to life. I cannot say enough good about it. It has saved my life!
Dear Lisa,
Thank you for sharing your experience here!
I felt sorry for the dramatic things happened to your life in the past year.
I’m glad that, once again, it’s a videogame made by Ron, Gary, David (Fox) which changed (in better) a life.
It’s incredible how many stories, with happy ending, are bound to these videogames.
Over the past years, from 2015, on the Thimbleweed Park blog first, and this forum after, we have read a lot of life events, from all over the world, unthinkable just a few years ago.
We are thankful to these people, which unknowingly have changed our lives (in better way).
So sorry for you. Although no game is designed and made with that in mind, it is still true that games can transport you to a happier place; even if for just a couple of hours.
If you need to take your mind off more and want to read up on how most of us here met - check out the comments on https://blog.thimbleweedpark.com/archives.html
the wonderful blog that followed the game development from kickstarter until release and great behind the scenes for some of the weird game options or running jokes.
You can also find the wonderful podcasts there and some transcripts or even animated video versions on this forum. That is how much we like these games and their creators we grew up with. Some of us even met or hung out with them.
And once you’re done with the blog, read all the posts here. Or reply to some that have been dormant for years- we don’t mind. No trolls here. Only people who know how to deal with them with a red herring, duh
I think it is their non-violent nature. Except towards hamsters. And goldfish. And ghost pirates.
Anyway, most of the violence in them is entirely optional.
Except towards ghost pirates.
Except towards… everything in Sam & Max.
Never mind, I have no idea what the magic ingredient may be.
I’m just now reading this, Lisa. Thank you for taking the time to share what our old games and Thimbleweed Park have meant to you. So sorry about your marriage, and your recent loss. Congratulations on getting out of the marriage! And I hope if Caleb Buck is out there, he sees this too.
