Legendary Developer Ron Gilbert Reveals New Game at Gamescom ONL

Death by Scrolling is the name of the latest game by legendary developer Ron Gilbert. Unveiled during the 2025 edition of Gamescom, Death by Scrolling is currently only confirmed for PC.

Ron Gilbert is an American developer best known as the creator of the Monkey Island series. He started his career at Lucasfilm Games in the 1980s and has over 100 credits to his name, including work on Maniac Mansion, Total Annihilation: The Core Contingency, Ollo in the Sunny Valley Fair, and The Big Big Castle. Most recently, the industry veteran co-designed, directed, and wrote Return to Monkey Island, the sixth installment in his most popular franchise, debuted in 2022.

Gilbert’s latest project was unveiled during Gamescom 2025 Opening Night Live in the form of Death by Scrolling. Behind that whimsical name is a chaotic experience that combines elements of roguelike and bullet hell games. The moniker itself refers to the game’s perspective, as Death by Scrolling will have players moving through vertically scrolling environments. Retreat won’t be an option because the Grim Reaper will always be hot on their heels, looking to end their run.

The presence of the Grim Reaper reflects the game’s broader themes, as Death by Scrolling is set in Purgatory, an unusual place that appears to be an amalgamation of different mythologies’ interpretations of death and the afterlife. Souls trapped there must pay 10,000 gold pieces to a Ferryman, described in-game as an “exorbitant” fee, before moving on. To raise the sum, they must undertake multiple runs through the ever-shifting world of Purgatory, establishing the foundation for Death by Scrolling’s roguelike gameplay loop.

Death by Scrolling will feature multiple playable characters, retro pixel art graphics, and online leaderboards. Gilbert’s stamp on the game will materialize in the form of witty, tongue-in-cheek dialogue. While players will constantly be urged to keep running upward, the announcement trailer shows that doing so blindly may not guarantee safety, as the Grim Reaper can also appear from above.

Prior to its Gamescom 2025 premiere, Death by Scrolling was teased by Gilbert himself in late 2024, when he said his studio, Terrible Toybox, planned to launch it in the coming months. While this launch target has clearly slipped since then, the company’s official website presently lists Death by Scrolling as being planned for a late 2025 release. The upcoming title, set to be published by MicroProse Software, has so far only been announced for PC.