Death By Scrolling: Ron Gilbert Goes Rogue-like and MicroProse Bets on Mayhem

Why Death By Scrolling Stopped Me In My Tracks

I’ll be honest-the second I saw “Death By Scrolling” pop up at Gamescom: Opening Night Live 2025, my ears perked up for one simple reason: Ron Gilbert. If you’re a gamer who grew up worshiping the sly writing of Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion, the prospect of Gilbert riffing on the rogue-like formula is genuinely surprising and just weird enough to work. When you factor in MicroProse, a publisher best known for hardcore sims but currently undergoing a bit of a creative rebirth, the mix feels delightfully unpredictable. But after years of samey rogue-likes, does Death By Scrolling bring anything exciting-or is this just clever marketing with a nostalgic name attached?

• Ron Gilbert brings his offbeat humor to a genre notoriously light on jokes.
• Fast-paced, vertical gameplay gives the rogue-like formula an interesting new twist.
• MicroProse’s backing hints at more polish than your average indie experiment.
• The premise-a sprint through absurdist purgatory—has true potential for satire and memorable moments.

What Actually Makes This Stand Out?

Most rogue-likes are a war of attrition: you edge downward (or inward), planning every step, death by a thousand careful mistakes. But Death By Scrolling flips the script—the entire game is a frantic race upward, dodging traps and squashing weird underworld monsters while the Grim Reaper speeds up beneath you. I love that sense of constant, vertical momentum. It echoes the tense “the floor is lava” vibe of games like Downwell, just turned upside down and ramped to 11.

The objective isn’t saving the world, but scraping together a ludicrous 10,000 gold to pay the Ferryman’s “outrageous river-crossing fee” and escape Purgatory. That’s classic Gilbert: poking fun at the cosmic bureaucracy of the afterlife just as much as the sheer grind of video game economies. Expect plenty of tongue-in-cheek jabs at both RPG and rogue-like tropes. If even half the writing lives up to his past work, Death By Scrolling could easily become a cult favorite—after all, few designers have ever managed to wring actual laughs out of permadeath.

Industry Context: Why Now, and Why Gilbert?

It’s a little wild seeing Ron Gilbert—who famously reshaped how adventure games tell stories—take on a genre best known for speed, chaos, and player suffering. The irony isn’t lost on anyone who remembers pixel-hunting through Monkey Island’s puzzles. But the industry’s been chasing nostalgia lately, both with classic revivals and fresh experiments; just look at MicroProse’s own resurgence with games like Tiny Combat Arena and the return of old-school flight sims.

Gilbert’s humor and world-building could actually solve one of rogue-likes’ persistent issues: keeping players emotionally invested between runs. If his narrative chops can turn every doomed ascent into a weird, funny story (instead of just another rage-quit), Death By Scrolling might actually lure in folks who usually bounce off the genre’s repetition.

As for MicroProse, their shift into quirky, personality-driven games marks a sharp left turn from pure sim nostalgia. By betting on a genuinely creative voice like Gilbert, they’re sending a clear message: they want to stand out, not just coast on history.

The Gamer’s POV: What’s Hype, What’s Risk?

The premise is strong, but I do have questions. For all the talk of “expanded content” and “refined gameplay,” can it avoid the common pitfalls? Roguelikes thrive or die on feel—will this vertical sprinting manage the tight controls and precise progression that keep games like Hades and Dead Cells endlessly replayable? Or does it risk being just another gimmick with good writing wallpapered over haphazard action?

The early leaderboards and variety of characters sound promising, but success depends on whether each run feels genuinely different and challenging—not just a climb padded with grind. And as much as I look forward to Gilbert’s witticisms, they’ll need to be threaded deftly into gameplay, not just pop up between deaths. Still, if anyone can make permadeath funny, it’s him. I’m cautiously optimistic—this is either an inspired mash-up or the gaming equivalent of pineapple on pizza: surprisingly delicious, or a hard pass, depending on your taste.

TL;DR

Death By Scrolling pairs Ron Gilbert’s offbeat humor with a frantic, vertical rogue-like formula. MicroProse’s backing could mean more polish than the typical indie risk, and the premise has legit potential for both comedy and chaos. I’m excited, but I’ll keep my optimism in check until we see if the gameplay matches the wit. Either way, it’s finally a rogue-like with personality—and that alone is worth scrolling up for.