Tim Schafer Dreams Of An Open-World Grim Fandango Sequel

A sequel to Tim Schafer and co’s classic skeleton noir LucasArts adventure, Grim Fandango? Be still, my non-beating heart. This is only an idea that’s been kicking around in Schafer’s skull for a while, but it’s an exciting one nonetheless. And it’s inspired by Grand Theft Auto, of all things.

I recently interviewed Tim Schafer at Double Fine’s “Day of the Devs” event in San Francisco. Curious about what the future holds for his newly resurrected land of the dead, I asked Schafer if success for the remaster could lead to a full-blown Grim Fandango sequel. Here’s what he told me:

“Never say never. Grim is something [special], but storywise it’s hard because [main character] Manny went to the land of eternal rest at the end. We’d have to drag him back from there or make a game about another character. It’s tough to imagine a satisfying story about that.”

However, if he were to do it (and that’s a big “if”), it sounds like it’d be a pretty interesting game. Think classic point-and-click adventure mixed with Grand Theft Auto-style open world:

“I’ve had this urge to make a fully 3D version of El Marrow, where it’s more like an open world game. You’re running around the city and stuff. Games like Grand Theft Auto have a lot of the elements of adventure games, and if there was just an inventory that wasn’t guns, you could probably do a full adventure game in one. That’s something I’ve thought about since the ’90s.”

I’d play that. It’s cool, too, to hear someone talking about how classic adventure game tropes could slot—in the same fashion as a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle—into a more modern-style game world. Even if it’s not Grim Fandango, I’d love to see that idea explored.

Our interview covered topics ranging from what it took to resurrect everyone’s favorite stroll through the land of the dead (engineering wizardry, stolen hard drives, aid from fans) to Spacebase DF-9‘s unfortunate end. Look for more tomorrow.

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