Legendary Game Designer Returns with Innovative Vertical Survival Experience
In one of the most hyped reveals of the Gamescom 2025 Opening Night Live, Ron Gilbert – the genius behind the classic Monkey Island series and Maniac Mansion – pulled the curtain off his totally wild new game: Death by Scrolling. This crazy rogue-like, vertically scrolling RPG is a giant leap from Gilbert’s famous point-and-click puzzles, but you can still spot his trademark humor and clever twists the second you look at the screen.
Published by the iconic MicroProse, Death by Scrolling drops players into Purgatory™ – but not the one your grandma warned you about; this one’s “under new management,” and it’s even weirder. The core idea is brutally simple: you climb straight up through never-ending, randomly generated levels. The catch? You’ve got to zap wacky underworld monsters, dodge fiendish traps, and stay a few pixels in front of the Grim Reaper, who’s constantly hawking the game over screen.
The Mechanics of Mortality: How Death by Scrolling Works
At its core, Death by Scrolling is a thrilling experiment in tension-based gameplay. The trick– and the game’s signature– is the screen that keeps on scrolling. Players are stuck in a never-ending race upwards. Stop for even a brief moment and the screen’s bottom erupts in flames, devouring anyone who dares linger too long. 47
Choose from five quirky characters, each one packed with special perks that reward different tricks and strategies. The big goal is to gather 10,000 shiny gold pieces so you can cough up the Ferryman’s ridiculous toll and slip out of the afterlife. Each run loads you up on a tiny boost, making the next attempt a bit smoother. Figuring out how to snag cash and stay alive becomes a dizzying, addictive puzzle. 24
The game adopts a Zelda-style top-down view, but speeds the frame rate to a blur. Players must stay in constant motion, darting from enemy to enemy. Chests, gems, and cheeky power-ups spill from enemies and from offbeat vendors who pop up in the wild, turning the chaos into a mad, colorful menu of choices that keeps every run feeling fresh—and frantic. 37
A Development Journey Through Purgatory
The making of Death by Scrolling has been almost as chaotic as the game itself. On his personal blog, Gilbert shares that he kicked off the idea in 2019, and the first prototype actually looked promising. But the project got shelved as soon as he joined the Return to Monkey Island team.
After that project wrapped, Gilbert switched gears to an open-world RPG codenamed RPGTBD. Turns out that was way too big for his tiny crew at Terrible Toybox, so Gilbert decided to dust off the prototype for Death by Scrolling. He and designer Elissa took the game apart, removed all the extra junk, and focused only on the idea that really sparkled.
The result of their labors is the sleek Death by Scrolling demo we saw at Gamescom 2025. The game is proof that sometimes the best plan is to learn, refine, and keep the parts that keep you awake at night.
Signature Style: Gilbert’s Humor in the Afterlife
True to Ron Gilbert’s DNA, Death by Scrolling is way more than a simple action romp. More like an amusement park ride than a treadmill, it’s loaded with the developer’s classic wink-nudge style, so it’s no wonder MicroProse calls it “a tongue-in-cheek tour of afterlife red tape, written by the same guy who convinced the Grim Reaper to reroute his GPS.” The dialogue sizzles, the narration smirks, and, honestly, you half-expect the ferryman to hand you a punch card.
That same spirit of goofball bureaucracy lifts Death by Scrolling above its rogue-like peers, turning arcade-button-mashing into a semi-reliable résumé for the sadly departed. The trailer spills the beans: bright, chunky pixel art splashes cheerfully against the gloomy theme of, you know, dying and paperwork. It’s like a dentist’s waiting room painted by a mascot who snorts candy.
MicroProse’s Role in Bringing Death by Scrolling to Life
When you pair Terrible Toybox with MicroProse, the combo is less cross-over, more crossover salad with a cherry on top. Terrible Toybox already specializes in the kind of games that make you snort soda, and MicroProse—yup, the place that let you stare at spreadsheets and call it fun—steers the ship with a treasure chest of support and know-how. So you’re not just getting developer heart; you’re getting publisher GPS, Wi-Fi, and a snack bar. It’s like having Gordon Ramsay about to cook your childhood in pixel form and your alma mater’s football team to shovel it out the window.
Davide Pessach, CMO at MicroProse, can hardly contain his excitement: “Teaming up with Ron Gilbert on Death by Scrolling is a privilege. He’s infused his signature wit, keen design sense, and offbeat universe into a genre he’s never tackled before. We’re counting the days until gamers can jump in.” Thanks to MicroProse’s support, the title will debut with bonus content, smoother controls, and a worldwide release.
Behind the Scenes: The Testing Process for Death by Scrolling
In a candid blog piece, Gilbert pulled back the curtain on the rigorous testing Death by Scrolling is undergoing. The team rolled out a detailed beta program, inviting groups of 25 players at a time to rate the game’s systems. He pointed out that around 25% of testers never used their Steam keys, and one-third of those who did booted it up just once or twice before wandering away, a byproduct of the game’s tough rogue-like design.
Yet the players who stuck around turned into a devoted community, crafting clever tactics the creators never expected. That wave of feedback helped the team fine-tune the balance and pacing of the final build, shaping Death by Scrolling into the edge-of-your-seat experience gamers will soon get to explore.
Platform Availability and Release Timeline
Right now, Death by Scrolling is only confirmed for PC on Steam, and wishlisting is open. The trailer that dropped at Gamescom 2025 didn’t give a hard-launch date, but Gilbert mentioned on his blog that the goal is a late 2025 launch, so keep an eye out for that.
Interestingly, the devs have also started prepping the title for Nintendo Switch. They’re tackling console quirks like limited memory and making sure small-screen fonts are still readable. This multi-platform strategy hints at a future where Death by Scrolling isn’t a PC-exclusive experience, and console players outside that community may join the scrolling adventure.
The Legacy of Death by Scrolling
As a cross-genre experiment from one of gaming’s most iconic creators, Death by Scrolling feels like both a departure and a welcome back for Ron Gilbert. While the mechanics pull away from his trademark adventure style, the careful design and wry narrative tone are still signature Gilbert.
If you’re itching to dive into Gilbert’s twisted, reimagined Purgatory, the wait isn’t long. The Gamescom 2025 reveal and MicroProse’s heavyweight backing show the title is in capable hands. The final stretch of the journey through scrolling hell is almost ready for players, so keep wishlisting and watch for launch details.
Source: https://gamerant.com/ron-gilbert-death-by-scrolling-gamescom-2025-publisher-microprose/