Ron Gilbert Lands $1 Million for Thimbleweed Park 2 as Publisher Terms Sour

Q: What bizarre mysteries await returning Agents Ray and Reyes in the Edmund Mansion in 2028?

At this stage, the exact “bizarre mysteries” are intentionally being kept vague, but the confirmed setup is a murder mystery at the Edmund Mansion, where returning agents Ray and Reyes investigate a dead body amid a classic whodunit in which everyone in the house is a suspect. The official description suggests the case will quickly spiral beyond a simple homicide. Ron Gilbert has said the game is “more Thimbleweed Park” and “just as weird,” while the Steam synopsis adds that by the end of the night players will have “more questions than answers” and that, in Thimbleweed Park, “a dead body is the least of your problems.” What is known is that players will again guide Ray and Reyes through point-and-click investigation, interviewing suspects, exploring the mansion, and ultimately confronting the murderer—“if you can find them,” as the promotional text puts it. One teased detail is that “it’s not the butler.” Reports also indicate familiar figures from the first game, including Delores, Franklin Edmund and Ransome the Clown, are expected to return, reinforcing the likelihood of the same offbeat, supernatural-tinged, self-aware mystery tone that made the original a cult hit. So the clearest answer is: a mansion murder, a suspect-filled whodunit, and the promise of the same strange, reality-bending unanswered questions that defined the first game—only now centered on the Edmund Mansion ahead of its planned early 2028 release.

3 articles · Updated · Kotaku · Aug 14

Just over $1 million from an anonymous wealthy fan is funding Thimbleweed Park 2, giving Ron Gilbert a two-year development runway and targeting an early 2028 release.
Gilbert said he rejected both crowdfunding and publisher offers because recent deals were increasingly unfavorable, often leaving developers with a minority share even after publishers recouped costs.
The budget was designed to be "very realistic" and to pay the development team properly, a key factor in choosing private financing over traditional publishing.
Thimbleweed Park's track record helped make the pitch: the 2017 adventure game was funded with more than $600,000 on Kickstarter and has sold over 300,000 copies.
The deal underscores a rare financing path for niche games, with Gilbert arguing the original's continued sales nearly a decade later show the audience still exists.