No More Monkey Business: Ron Gilbert Leaves Double Fine

Well, this is slightly unexpected. Ron Gilbert's always kinda done his own thing, but sharing a colorful roof of pure, shining whimsy with partner in pirate-y crime Tim Schafer just sort of, you know, made sense. It is, however, like they say: all good things must come to an end. Also, The Cave was actually only kind of all right, so maybe this is for the best. But what's next for the man they call "RonnyG" (and I guess also Grumpy Gamer)? Solve a series of increasingly obtuse puzzles to get past the break for more. Hint: the first one involves clicking. And also a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle.

Gilbert took to his blog to explain the sudden upheaval:

"Now that The Cave is done and unleashed on an unsuspecting world (ok, we did do a bunch of PR, so it wasn't exactly unsuspecting), it's time for me to move on from Double Fine and plot my next move. So many games left to be designed."

"I want to thank all the amazing people at Double Fine for all their hard work on The Cave.  It was a true pleasure to work with every one of them over the past two years.  So much fun.  I will miss them all.  And of course to Tim for creating the opportunity to come there and make The Cave."

In the short term, he's working his brand of darkly humorous giggle voodoo on incredibly named iOS "side project" Scurvy Scallywags in The Voyage to Discover the Ultimate Sea Shanty: A Musical Match-3 Pirate RPG. I desperately want to see exactly what it entails. That, however, will apparently only take him a few months.

And beyond that? It's a mystery. There will be games and the designing thereof, but who knows where Gilbert's wayward brain will take him next? Maybe Disneyland! I mean, hey, it might not be such a terrible idea.