DELORES: A THIMBLEWEED PARK MINI-ADVENTURE
DEVELOPER Terrible Toybox PRICE Free RELEASE Out now.
ONLINE https://store.steampowered.com/app/ 1305720/Delores_ A_Thimbleweed_ Park_ MiniAdventure/
Remember Thimbleweed Park, from way back in 2017? I previewed it, reviewed it and wrote an interactive guide for it, on which the developers ultimately based the HintTron 3000. The kids said, “Oh sure, make the *beeping* clown climb the *beeping* ladder,” every time I asked them to do a chore for nearly two years. Emily Morganti, who worked on the game, sent us Reyes and Ransome in cross stitch, that she’d created herself, just because they were the kids’ favourite characters. I’m pretty invested (emotionally) in the game, just so you know.
Delores: A Thimbleweed Park Mini-Adventure is a free, standalone release that took everyone, including me, by surprise. If I’d known it were coming, I’d have insisted on writing another hint guide. I asked Ron Gilbert (do I really need to introduce him?) why the game doesn’t have a HintTron and his reply was blunt; “Time.” I mean, sure, how hard can taking thirty photos of game objects for Natalie, at Nickel News, be? I only got three hints from the Steam forum, after all. The puzzles become surprisingly devious, and hilarious, given their simple premise.
In fact, I found myself similarly stumped on a puzzle that was almost exactly the same as one from the original game, which strikes me as diabolically clever. If you haven’t played TWP, I’d caution you not to mistake Delores for a demo, because it will spoil the ending, not to mention solve the great mystery surrounding why the sheriff and the coroner seem quite so alike. In fact, several loose ends are neatly tied, and not just in narrative terms. If you were frustrated by never getting to use a certain collectible in TWP, your efforts will now be rewarded.
Delores is (genuinely) a love letter to fans of TWP, even as it attempts to masquerade as incidental busywork. Why did the team create it? Interestingly, one reason is that they wanted to connect with players during the pandemic. Gilbert says, “I’ve been working from home for the past five (or more) years, so this isn’t much of a change for me, but seeing how a lot of people are struggling made me want to do something. I guess I could sew masks, but I’m a game designer, so I did what I know.” I certainly appreciate things that are free and fun, right now.
Gilbert continues, “It also coincided with working on my engine, so it was win-win.” And yes, possibly the best thing about this is the idea that the team is actually working on a new adventure game. I did ask, but the answer is, “I don’t know yet. And I’m not being cagy. I really don’t know yet.” Given that Delores is now limited to looking and interacting, does this mean SCUMM-style verbs may be off the table? Gilbert says, “They’re very dated and I think they turned potential Thimbleweed Park players off.” So, probably.
I was interested to know if Gilbert would recommend this kind of small, experimental release to other developers. He says, “It was fun. Since it’s such a short timeline, you get a rush of information and feedback; some regarding the new UI or about tools we need for the future.” I found that even Delores’ structural idiosyncrasies were interesting, including how the game is split into several related chunks, due to the current absence of a save. But when I remember this game in future, easier times, it’ll be as a snapshot of kindness during Covid, first.
I found that even Delores’ structural idiosyncrasies were interesting, including how the game is split into several related chunks, due to