According to Ron Gilbert, who you might know for creating iconic adventure games like Maniac Mansion, The Cave, Thimbleweed Park, and of course, the first two Monkey Island Games, his next project is a new Monkey Island game. The only problem is that Gilbert posted his new update on his blog on April Fool’s day, all but suggesting that he’s just pulling our tails, or so to speak. What’s interesting here is that Gilbert expressly opposed April Fool’s day, explaining in his blog last year that he hasn’t celebrated the prankster’s holiday in 17 years. Gilbert even went as far as to say that last April 1 was his 18th year, writing, “For 18 years the Grumpy Gamer blog has been April Fools’ Day free because it’s a stupid tradition. So to mix things up a little I’m taking this opportunity to announce I’ve decided to make another Monkey Island.” As one comment put it, Gilbert’s latest post is “either the most complicated and longest prepared April’s fool of all times or a perfectly placed announcement.” The last we heard about the Monkey Island license is that Gilbert was asking Disney to sell it back to him. At the time, he mentioned that getting his hands on the Monkey Island IP will help him make the game he wants to make. If Gilbert is working on a new Monkey Island game, Disney could have sold the IP back to him and he just didn’t announce it to keep his next project a surprise. Disney could have also licensed Monkey Island back to Gilbert and given him free reigns to do whatever he wanted. Hopefully, we can start hearing more about the next Monkey Island game from Disney or Gilbert.
