Ron Gilbert posted on Grumpy Gamer today that Thimbleweed Park 2 is in production, aiming for early 2028. Polygon framed it as a follow-up flavored by The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and Monkey Island, with agents Ray and Reyes back in the Edmund mansion. That is 18 months to two years of waiting, at minimum. These Thimbleweed Park alternatives for PC are the games worth playing in the meantime, all point-and-click adventures with the verb-driven UI, quirky small-town cast, or LucasArts DNA that made the original click in 2017.
We picked seven from what is actually on Steam and GOG in 2026, ranged across price, tone, and how modern they feel. Every one is on Windows, macOS, and Linux (through Steam Play or native), and every link goes to the game’s real storefront page.
Quick comparison
| Game | Best for | Length | Voice acted | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return to Monkey Island | Closest spiritual sibling from Gilbert himself | 10 to 12 hours | Yes | $24.99 |
| Day of the Tentacle Remastered | Same SCUMM verb interface, sharper comedy | 6 to 8 hours | Yes | $14.99 |
| Broken Age | Modern Double Fine, painterly art | 8 to 10 hours | Yes (Elijah Wood, Jack Black) | $14.99 |
| Grim Fandango Remastered | Cinematic peak of the genre | 15 hours | Yes | $14.99 |
| Full Throttle Remastered | Short, punchy noir | 4 to 5 hours | Yes | $14.99 |
| Sam & Max Save the World Remastered | Episodic, joke-per-minute | 12 to 15 hours | Yes | $19.99 |
| Machinarium | Wordless, hand-drawn, non-LucasArts flavor | 5 to 7 hours | No dialogue | $19.99 |
Why people search for the next Thimbleweed Park
Thimbleweed Park wasn’t a nostalgia costume, it was a whole approach. The threads on r/adventuregames, GOG forums, and Ron Gilbert’s own comment section keep pointing at the same handful of things people want more of.
- The verb coin, or something like it. SCUMM-style verbs (Open, Look at, Talk to, Push) as the entire interface. Not a hint button. Not a wheel of contextual actions. A grid that makes puzzles readable at a glance.
- A cast that owns the tone. Five playable characters with real personalities, private-eye Ray, agent Reyes, clown Ransome, ghost Franklin, and game developer Delores. Party-of-oddballs adventures are rare now.
- Small-town weirdness without cynicism. The Twin Peaks influence was baked in, and the game leaned into the strangeness without pushing into edgelord territory.
- Puzzles you solve by thinking, not by clicking every hotspot. Inventory combinations that are logical when the answer lands, with fair hint systems on the friendly difficulty.
- Pixel art that reads on a 4K monitor. Mark Ferrari’s backgrounds and the whole visual language belong on modern hardware, not tucked in a ScummVM window at 320x200.
The alternatives
Return to Monkey Island, best for the closest spiritual sibling
Return to Monkey Island is the Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman reunion that came out in 2022, a full 30 years after Monkey Island 2. It swaps the pixel art for a stylized flat look that split fans on release, but the writing is the tightest the series has ever been, and the puzzle design is unmistakably Gilbert. If Thimbleweed Park was a warmup for what he wanted to say next about Monkey Island, this is where that thinking landed.
Where it falls short: The art style is polarizing, especially for players who wanted the 1990 Steve Purcell look. It resolves a lot of series mysteries in ways that not everyone will love. No local co-op or party structure like Thimbleweed Park.
Pricing:
- Free: no, though it goes to $7.49 in Steam and GOG seasonal sales
- Paid: $24.99 base
- vs Thimbleweed Park: a bit longer, more polished, from the same designer
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: No save transfer, obviously, but the UI conventions are familiar. The hint system is more generous, and the two difficulty modes (Casual and Hard) mirror Thimbleweed Park’s approach. Give yourself a weekend.
Bottom line: Pick this first if you want the closest thing to a Gilbert follow-up that already exists. Skip only if the flat art style is a dealbreaker.
Day of the Tentacle Remastered, best for the SCUMM verbs you actually remember
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is the 1993 LucasArts classic in a 4K coat of paint by Double Fine, with the original pixel art togglable at any time. The three-character time-travel structure (Bernard in the present, Laverne in the future, Hoagie in the past) is the party-of-oddballs template Thimbleweed Park iterated on. The verb interface is here in its cleanest form, and the whole thing runs about 6 to 8 hours.
Where it falls short: The commentary track is worth it but adds nothing to the base game. A few puzzles rely on 1993-era logic that hasn’t aged perfectly. No native controller support in the cleanest sense.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $14.99, drops to under $4 in most Steam sales
- vs Thimbleweed Park: shorter, funnier per minute, cheaper
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: The verb grid is the same shape. If you played Thimbleweed Park you already know the controls. First-time adventure players get a small on-boarding.
Bottom line: The cheapest way to scratch the exact itch. Anyone new to point-and-click should start here.
Broken Age, best for modern Double Fine flavor
Broken Age is Tim Schafer’s Kickstarted return to adventures, split across two acts starring Vella (fighting a monstrous ritual) and Shay (trapped on an overprotective spaceship). The hand-painted backgrounds by Nathan Stapley and the voice cast (Elijah Wood, Jack Black, Wil Wheaton, Masasa Moyo, Jennifer Hale) push it toward animated-film territory. It is Thimbleweed Park’s tonal opposite in a lot of ways, more earnest and less noir, but the puzzle sensibility from the same LucasArts lineage runs underneath.
Where it falls short: Act 2 doubles back on Act 1’s puzzles in a way that some players find fatiguing. The interface is a contextual click model, not a verb grid, which will feel modern rather than classic. No pixel art.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $14.99, regularly drops to $2.99 or less
- vs Thimbleweed Park: comparable length, more accessible on-ramp
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: Interface is more streamlined (single-click actions, no verb grid), so lean on the hint dialogue if you get stuck on late Act 2 puzzles. Cloud saves work across Steam and GOG.
Bottom line: Pick this for readers who liked Thimbleweed Park’s writing but bounced off the verb interface.
Grim Fandango Remastered, best for the cinematic peak
Grim Fandango Remastered is the 1998 Tim Schafer Land of the Dead noir, remastered by Double Fine in 2015. Manny Calavera works off his afterlife debt at a travel agency, and the four-year journey through the Ninth Underworld is still the closest a point-and-click has come to a genuine film noir. Peter McConnell’s score alone earns the price. If Thimbleweed Park’s Twin Peaks flavor pulled you in, Grim Fandango’s Casablanca-in-purgatory take will land.
Where it falls short: The original tank controls are toggleable but still awkward under the modern point-and-click scheme. A couple of puzzles (the beavers, the racetrack) are notorious. Save the manual for those.
Pricing:
- Free: no, though GOG has offered it free during major giveaways
- Paid: $14.99, sales bring it under $4
- vs Thimbleweed Park: longer, denser, more melancholy
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: New control scheme to learn. The developer commentary and concept art unlocks in the remaster are worth staying for a second playthrough.
Bottom line: The cinematic ceiling of the genre. Skip only if noir isn’t your register.
Full Throttle Remastered, best for a short, punchy weekend
Full Throttle Remastered is the 1995 LucasArts biker-gang noir, again polished by Double Fine. Ben, leader of the Polecats, gets framed for a murder and has to clear his name across the last stretch of American highway. It is short (four to five hours), heavy on cutscenes, and the Gone Jackals soundtrack still holds up. Roy Conrad’s voice as Ben is the reason a lot of adventure fans still bring the game up.
Where it falls short: The action minigames (the demolition derby, the Corley scrap) are the weakest part and cannot really be skipped. Short enough that some readers will feel it ended too fast.
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $14.99, often $3 to $4 in sales
- vs Thimbleweed Park: much shorter, more linear, single protagonist
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: Contextual verb wheel instead of a grid, easy to pick up. Ideal for a Saturday night with no bandwidth for a 20-hour puzzle box.
Bottom line: Pick this when you have one evening and want a complete story arc.
Sam & Max Save the World Remastered, best for episodic joke density
Sam & Max Save the World Remastered is Skunkape’s 2020 rebuild of the Telltale 2006 season, now running natively at widescreen with new lighting, controller support, and the original voice performances by David Nowlin and William Kasten. Six episodes, roughly two hours each, following the freelance police duo through mind-control cults, sock puppet talk shows, and a moon base. The rhythm is closer to a sitcom season than a single game.
Where it falls short: The episodic pacing means some episodes drag before they land the joke. Puzzles are on the easier side, so seasoned adventure players will breeze through. No pixel art option (the original was 3D).
Pricing:
- Free: no
- Paid: $19.99, or $34.99 for the Complete Trilogy bundle with Beyond Time and Space Remastered and The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered
- vs Thimbleweed Park: episodic, joke-per-minute higher, puzzles softer
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: Modern context-sensitive interface, no verb grid. Save between episodes if you want the sitcom rhythm to breathe.
Bottom line: Pick this when you want laughs on a schedule and a cast you’ll happily spend 12 hours with.
Machinarium, best for a different genre lineage entirely
Machinarium is the 2009 Amanita Design puzzle adventure about a small robot named Josef trying to rescue his robot girlfriend from a scrapyard gang. There is no dialogue, only thought-bubble comics. The hand-drawn art by Adolf Lachman looks like nothing else on Steam, and the puzzles are more logic-based (mini-games, hidden object logic, spatial reasoning) than inventory-based. It sits outside the LucasArts tradition Thimbleweed Park comes from, which is exactly the point.
Where it falls short: No spoken dialogue means the tone is set entirely by art and music, which won’t suit players who want writing to carry the story. Some puzzles (the Rubik’s cube, the sliding-block variant) fight the mouse controls. Shorter than the other picks.
Pricing:
- Free: no, though it appears in most Amanita bundles
- Paid: $19.99, sales bring it near $5
- vs Thimbleweed Park: wordless, puzzle-forward, single character
Migrating from Thimbleweed Park: No verbs, no inventory grid in the traditional sense. If you liked the puzzle-solving muscle Thimbleweed Park exercised but want a total palette change, this is it.
Bottom line: Pick this when the last thing you want is another LucasArts-flavored game. Perfect palate cleanser between the other six.
How to choose
Do not try to play all seven. Pick two, one comfort choice and one stretch.
- Pick Return to Monkey Island if you want the closest thing to a real Ron Gilbert follow-up. It is the safest recommendation and the one most likely to make the wait for Thimbleweed Park 2 easier.
- Pick Day of the Tentacle Remastered if price matters and you want the exact verb-grid muscle memory. Under $4 in most sales, and it is the game Thimbleweed Park is quietly in conversation with.
- Pick Broken Age or Sam & Max Save the World Remastered if the verb interface was the part of Thimbleweed Park you tolerated rather than loved. Both are modernized and softer on new adventure players.
- Pick Grim Fandango Remastered if you want the writing and tone ceiling and are willing to fight the controls a bit.
- Pick Full Throttle Remastered if you have exactly one weekend evening.
- Pick Machinarium if you want a full genre reset. It is the least like Thimbleweed Park on this list, which is why it earned the last slot.
Stay with Thimbleweed Park itself for a replay on Hard difficulty if it has been more than a couple of years. The puzzle solutions rearrange enough on subsequent runs that it holds up.
FAQ
Is there a Thimbleweed Park 2? Yes. Ron Gilbert announced Thimbleweed Park 2 on his Grumpy Gamer blog in July 2026, with the original team (Gary Winnick, David Fox, Mark Ferrari, Octavi Navarro, and others) returning. The target release is early 2028, and confirmed platforms include Windows, macOS, Linux, and GOG. It is being self-published with a private investor.
What is the best point-and-click adventure like Thimbleweed Park on PC in 2026? Return to Monkey Island is the closest match because it comes from Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman, the same design lineage. Day of the Tentacle Remastered is the closest match in interface (SCUMM verb grid) and comedy tone.
Can I play Thimbleweed Park alternatives on Steam Deck? Every game on this list runs on Steam Deck. Return to Monkey Island, Broken Age, and the Sam & Max remaster have native controller support. The LucasArts remasters (Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle) work well with the touchpads mapped to mouse. Machinarium is playable but the tighter puzzles are easier with a real mouse.
Are any of these free? None of the seven has a permanent free version, but Grim Fandango Remastered has been offered free during GOG giveaways in the past. Most sit under $5 during major seasonal sales on Steam and GOG. Broken Age is the cheapest of the set at sale prices.
Where should someone new to point-and-click adventures start? Day of the Tentacle Remastered. It is short (6 to 8 hours), fair, funny, cheap, and the verb interface is the clearest example of the tradition Thimbleweed Park and Return to Monkey Island come from. Anyone who bounces off it is unlikely to enjoy the rest of the genre.
Do any of these games support Linux natively? Return to Monkey Island, Broken Age, and Machinarium ship with native Linux builds. The three LucasArts remasters (Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, Full Throttle) run through Steam Play (Proton) with no meaningful issues. Sam & Max Save the World Remastered is Windows-only officially but runs well under Proton.
