# What makes classic adventure games (and old telephones) so special? **URL:** \ **Category:** General\ **Created:** [November 24, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087 "2017-11-24T15:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nor\_Treblig](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/nor_treblig/32/216_2.png) [@Nor\_Treblig](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Nor_Treblig)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/21 "2017-11-28T14:52:40Z")
> [@LowLevel](#): > > not because pixel art reminds me of the classic games but because I like pixel art Then the question is: Why do you like pixel art? For me it’s probably that it’s a kinda non-specific, “blurry” art style allowing me to interpret my own details into it. ---
**Author:** ![ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/zakphoenixmckracken/32/41_2.png) [@ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/ZakPhoenixMcKracken)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:24pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/22 "2017-11-28T15:24:51Z")
> [@Nor\_Treblig](#): > > Why do you like pixel art? In a nutshell, because it leaves free space to fantasy. ---
**Author:** ![LowLevel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/lowlevel/32/48_2.png) [@LowLevel](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/LowLevel)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:14pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/23 "2017-11-28T17:14:45Z")
> [@Nor\_Treblig](#): > > Then the question is: Why do you like pixel art? I’m not sure, but the reason could be very similar to the one you provided. I have always been a fan of minimalistic art and maybe my brain appreciates pixel art because the quantity of visual information is limited. ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 7:27pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/24 "2017-11-28T19:27:06Z")
Asking why do you love pixel art is like asking why we love this. ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/4/4ecad07b7035274f023defa3c92ea924635d8a78.JPG) or this… ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/a/a461e1ed2f30458c5f71e5a4442947a39f57221e.jpg) They don´t look hyperrealistic or even remotely like real people, but they are cute and have charm and can express so much with so little. For that exact reason this will also never loose it´s appeal to me… ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/4/487652fc10759837f09c659aecfa77acb7eb9b11.png) ---
**Author:** ![Nor\_Treblig](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/nor_treblig/32/216_2.png) [@Nor\_Treblig](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Nor_Treblig)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/25 "2017-11-28T21:53:51Z")
> [@milanfahrnholz](#): > > They don´t look hyperrealistic or even remotely like real people, but they are cute and have charm and can express so much with so little. But I like Indy 3 and Indy 4 too. They look like real people, and not in a cute way. There are also some disturbing scenes/animations. ---
**Author:** ![Someone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Someone](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Someone)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 9:55pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/26 "2017-11-28T21:55:00Z")
> [@Nor\_Treblig](#): > > There are also some disturbing scenes/animations. In the sesame street or in Indy 3 and 4? ---
**Author:** ![Nor\_Treblig](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/nor_treblig/32/216_2.png) [@Nor\_Treblig](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Nor_Treblig)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/27 "2017-11-28T22:01:53Z")
I don’t know, I don’t watch Sesame Street and a safety mechanism in my mind prevents me from looking it up. ---
**Author:** ![Someone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b77776/32.png) [@Someone](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Someone)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/28 "2017-11-28T22:06:12Z")
> [@Nor\_Treblig](#): > > But I like Indy 3 and Indy 4 too. They look like real people, and not in a cute way. But they are not very realistic. Other than in the movies Indy is smaller and more “cute”, especially in the EGA version of Indy 3: ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/2/24fe61dd411602cda4cd7934d53163c9b5f8933b.png) ---
**Author:** ![Guga](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/guga/32/14476_2.png) [@Guga](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Guga)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/29 "2017-11-29T06:47:23Z")
> [@Nor\_Treblig](#): > > Why do you like pixel art? As @ZakPhoenixMcKracken says, it leaves space to fantasy, but also because the inherent limitations make some pieces of art stand out even more. It’s always cool when you see a bunch of squares with few colors and you can recognize what it’s supposed to represent. I get the same sense of awe when I draw a couple of lines and my 2yo daughter correctly guesses what I drew. It’s fascinating how human perception works, and pixel art plays with it in a wonderful way. _Partial off topic on pixel art and perception: yesterday my 4yo was playing Thimbleweed Park, when Ray and Reyes come back to the hotel and have to listen to their messages. She wanted Ray to leave the room but she refused, so I explained, “you have to listen to the phone message”. She kept trying to use Ray’s cell phone, so I explained further, “not your phone, the room’s phone”. She spent a lot of time looking blankly at the room and then she said “there is no phone in the room!”. Then it hit me._ ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/f/fb2a99f51fe6eceb9ed3c24779aaf9106cbc0aac.jpg) _This thing looks like **anything but a telephone** to my daughter. Because that’s not what telephones look like since decades. I felt old, very very very old._ ---
**Author:** ![ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/zakphoenixmckracken/32/41_2.png) [@ZakPhoenixMcKracken](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/ZakPhoenixMcKracken)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 8:08am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/30 "2017-11-29T08:08:14Z")
> [@Guga](#): > > there is no phone in the room! Poor little girl, she is right… even the word “telephone” is already old, nowadays! 😂 ---
**Author:** ![rarog4k](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/rarog4k/32/1359_2.png) [@rarog4k](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/rarog4k)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:38am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/31 "2017-11-29T11:38:29Z")
> [@Guga](#): > > This thing looks like anything but a telephone to my daughter. Because that’s not what telephones look like since decades. I felt old, very very very old. Explain today’s kids why a save button usually looks like a floppy. And what a floppy actually is. Some things like pictograms will still be the same decades away, though most people will have forgotten, why they are that way. At least a telephone receiver is more memorable (as it remained for longer) than these models, trying to make a pictorgram out of it would be more hard and mysterious. [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzAwWDMwMA==/z/krcAAOSwR0JUNg6S/$_35.JPG?set_id=2) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MzAwWDMwMA==/z/krcAAOSwR0JUNg6S/$_35.JPG?set_id=2) ---
**Author:** ![kaiman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a698b9/32.png) [@kaiman](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/kaiman)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/32 "2017-11-29T19:54:43Z")
> [@Guga](#): > > This thing looks like anything but a telephone to my daughter. So that makes TWP essentially an educational game 🙂 . ---
**Author:** ![LowLevel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/lowlevel/32/48_2.png) [@LowLevel](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/LowLevel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 8:08pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/33 "2017-11-29T20:08:56Z")
> [@kaiman](#): > > So that makes TWP essentially an educational game 🙂 . TWP is a puzzle game on many meta levels. Somebody should organize a competition and give prizes to those people who guess what those strange things are. ---
**Author:** ![Marco74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@Marco74](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Marco74)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/34 "2017-11-29T20:32:39Z")
Since I played the game some time ago and again now I know to me it is the overall atmosphere and this comes from the graphics and the humour. I wondered why I enjoyed MI 1+2 so much less in the SEs and thought it‘s just nostalgia but since TWP was an totally new game, I know for sure it‘s the graphics and that very special humour and how the world and puzzles are layed out. The only thing I would have appreciated was a more detailed overview map like the Melee Island or Monkey Island top views … those views and the music still do magic for me - dunno why. ---
**Author:** ![Nor\_Treblig](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/nor_treblig/32/216_2.png) [@Nor\_Treblig](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Nor_Treblig)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 4:24am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/35 "2017-11-30T04:24:40Z")
> [@kaiman](#): > > So that makes TWP essentially an educational game 🙂 . David tricked me into buying an educational game **again**! > [@Marco74](#): > > I would have appreciated was a more detailed overview map Since it’s an educational game it needs to stay somewhat realistic: What you see is an actual drawn map (drawn in this game universe) so you can’t use the in-game real world graphics (like you see from the vista). Also it was quicker/cheaper to make. (And don’t mind that small character running around, it’s just the finger tracing the route…) ---
**Author:** ![Guga](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/guga/32/14476_2.png) [@Guga](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/Guga)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:05am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/36 "2017-11-30T06:05:17Z")
> [@Marco74](#): > > The only thing I would have appreciated was a more detailed overview map You’re not the only one who complained about this, but still I don’t agree. It’s supposed to be an actual map, not a “game map”. ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/2/2a6074c16b976177017895e6d9a216e378567295.png) This is what the map for a small village in Sardinia looks like on the website of the most famous Italian map maker from the '80s. Seriously, Thimbleweed Park’s map looks even better 😛 What I would have liked in TWP’s map is some more branching. The whole county is along a straight line, and it doesn’t need to be so. It could have been something like this (pardon my drawing skills) ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/5/5d6b29fd3f3b1d977f9419c5cf71551e7ddb49a0.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 11:26am UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/37 "2017-11-30T11:26:37Z")
> [@Guga](#): > > (pardon my drawing skills) Could be worse… ![](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/uploads/thimbleweedpark/original/2X/3/3ee9d31d09446a48ee8b6a7c21e0f9942f0ddf23.gif) ---
**Author:** ![RonGilbert](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/rongilbert/32/7_2.png) [@RonGilbert](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/RonGilbert)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:17pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/38 "2017-11-30T15:17:15Z")
> [@milanfahrnholz](#): > > I would also like to add the sound, which is something TwP didn´t have. I loved the steps and door sounds in the old games. All the doors in TWP had sounds, and the main characters had footsteps (they even changed based on that they were walking on). ---
**Author:** ![milanfahrnholz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@milanfahrnholz](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/milanfahrnholz)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 3:34pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/39 "2017-11-30T15:34:19Z")
> [@RonGilbert](#): > > All the doors in TWP had sounds, and the main characters had footsteps I know that, but that´s not what I´m talking about. ---
**Author:** ![LogicDeLuxe](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/forums.thimbleweedpark.com/logicdeluxe/32/15335_2.png) [@LogicDeLuxe](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/u/LogicDeLuxe)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087/40 "2017-11-30T22:53:36Z")
> [@Guga](#): > > The whole county is along a straight line, and it doesn’t need to be so. More like a curvy line resembling hairpin turns. After all, there are several mountains in that terrain. [Previous page](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087.md?page=1) [Next page](https://forums.thimbleweedpark.com/t/what-makes-classic-adventure-games-and-old-telephones-so-special/2087.md?page=3)