Ghost Town

Something strange is going on in the town of Thimbleweed Park.

- Andy Kelly

Federal agents Ray and Reyes are investigating a murder in the remote rural town of Thimbleweed Park. A body was found under a railway bridge on the edge of town, but none of the locals seem to know anything about it, or even who the victim is. The agents have a checklist of tasks to complete, including identifying the body and finding the murder weapon. But fingering the killer won’t be easy, because this is a point-and-click adventure game.

One of the first puzzles is taking a photo of the body, which covertly serves as an introduction to the concept of switching characters and swapping items between them. Ray has a Polaroid camera, because it’s the 1980s, and Reyes has the film. You get the idea. But this gentle start soon gives way to the elaborate puzzle chains the genre is famous (or perhaps infamous) for.

Untangling a single problem can span several hours, and the objects you need are often small pieces on opposite ends of a huge, elaborate jigsaw.