Ron Gilbert reveals first images of new project Scurvy Scallywags
The game he left Double Fine to make.
The Cave creator Ron Gilbert has revealed the first screenshots from his new game, Scurvy Scallywags in The Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty: A Musical Match-3 Pirate RPG.
Gilbert announced his departure from Double Fine last month to work on the iOS game with DeathSpank co-creator Clayton Kauzlaric. It's a concept he's had knocking around for some time.
"A few years back, Clayton and I made a match-3 game called Realms of Gold that had a interesting way the board collapsed," Gilbert explained in a post on his blog.
"The game was a RPG, but we were told by the publisher that no one wanted to play a match-3 RPG, so that part of the game was watered down. Of course, a year later Puzzle Quests comes out and sells a billion copies."
"Clayton and I screwed around with it for a bit, then he hit upon a way to make the collapsing work a lot better. Rather than the type of match you made dictating the direction the board collapsed, have the board collapse in the direction you swiped. I made this change and it felt fantastic and very intuitive."
Gilbert told Eurogamer earlier this month that the game's comedic plot centred on the search for the "ultimate sea shanty." This Monkey Islandian plot will see players pick up different verses and culminate in a giant song-based finale.
"Unlike Puzzle Quest - and just about every other match-3 RPG that sprang up after it - in Scurvy Scallywags you actually move your hero/pirate around the board and position her/him next to enemies to do battle. It creates this new layer to the matching that is a lot of fun," Gilbert continued.
"With any luck, it will be out in the next month or so."