Monkey Island Creator Is Making a Game That Looks a Lot Like Classic Zelda

[DogOfViolence]

In 2022, fans of the 1990s adventure series Monkey Island finally got another game with Return to Monkey Island, which notably marked creator Ron Gilbert's first time directing a Monkey Island project in 30 years. Now, it looks like Gilbert has another project up his sleeve that's due out just two (or maybe three) years later.


As pointed out by Time Extension, Gilbert has been sharing progress on an untitled RPG that's described as "classic Zelda meets Diablo meets Thimbleweed Park," according to studio Terrible Toybox's website.

Screenshots of the game shared on Gilbert's Mastodon account show off a top-down pixel art style reminiscent of classic Zelda titles, flaunting a few quaint houses in a woodsy area as well as some classic dungeons, spooky forests, and a cemetery full of skeletons.


Earlier this week, Gilbert also announced that Elissa Black is joining the team as a quest designer. "This ups the chance by 37% that I'll finish the game before becoming bored and disillusioned," his post reads.

According to publisher Terrible Toybox's website, the untitled game will be released in "late 2024 (or maybe early 2025, this is gamedev after all)."

IGN gave Return to Monkey Island a 9 in our review, saying Gilbert's return to directing a Monkey Island game "meant a lot to me before I ever clicked to start a New Game, and it meant far more after the end credits rolled." We also crowned it as the best puzzle game of 2022, and it finally made its way to mobile last summer.


Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun, and they're currently developing a game called Garage Sale. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.