Thimbleweed Park 2 is happening thanks to a rich fan — here's how Ron Gilbert made it work

Thimbleweed Park creator Ron Gilbert has revealed how the recently announced sequel came to be funded — and the story sounds almost too good to be true. In an interview with Bloomberg, Gilbert explained that the project is moving forward not thanks to a publisher or crowdfunding, but because a friend of his happened to know a wealthy fan of adventure games.

Gilbert said he deliberately avoided working with a conventional publisher, citing bad experiences with their business models. "I don't mind the publisher earning back their money," he told Bloomberg. "It's just that once they have earned back their money and become whole, they still want the majority of the money. Or there are really goofy terms, like you don't make anything unless it's a major hit. I always felt that was unfair."

Publishers were interested in Thimbleweed Park 2, but their terms were unacceptable to Gilbert. He also didn't want to run another Kickstarter campaign, which is how the original Thimbleweed Park was funded in 2014. That left the project stalled — until a friend told Gilbert he knew "a wealthy outsider" who was a big fan of adventure games and particularly loved Thimbleweed Park.

Gilbert was initially dubious about the whole thing, but eventually got in touch with the supposed benefactor, who turned out to be exactly what the friend had described: a genuine wealthy enthusiast willing to back the sequel. The identity of the investor and the specifics of the deal have not been disclosed.

Thimbleweed Park 2 was officially announced in January 2025, but no release window or platforms have been revealed yet. The original game, a point-and-click adventure in the style of LucasArts classics, was released in 2017 to critical acclaim.