After an illustrious 40-year career defining and redefining the adventure game genre, Ron Gilbert has surprised the gaming world by steering his creativity into uncharted territory: the rogue-lite action-survival genre. His latest release, Death by Scrolling, presents a stark departure from the point-and-click masterpieces he is celebrated for. For female entrepreneurs navigating their industries, especially in Europe, Gilbert’s pivot offers unexpected parallels and lessons on reinvention, risk management, and adapting to shifting markets.
Getting Familiar with Gilbert’s Journey
Ron Gilbert, a name synonymous with timeless adventures like Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion, has demonstrated resilience and relevance in a volatile industry. His transition, from crafting intricate, narrative-heavy puzzles to the fast-paced chaos of auto-shooters, didn't come without challenges. Years into exploring ideas for new projects, Gilbert realized that even legends must deal with declining publisher interest in retro adventure projects. Instead of dwelling on nostalgia, he moved forward, despite the risks.
Why does this matter to women entrepreneurs? Likely, you’ve felt boxed into outdated markets, expected to follow paths dictated by legacy thinking. What Gilbert shows is that leaving comfort zones, even ones you're celebrated in, is necessary when the market changes faster than your strategies.
A New Game with Fresh Risks
Gilbert initially aspired to develop an open-world RPG inspired by The Legend of Zelda. However, overambition collided with sparse resources and reluctant publishers. As he shared in an Ars Technica interview, “You either have to find significant funding or be prepared to spend years of your life on passion projects.” Recognizing these barriers, he scaled back, transforming leftover assets into Death by Scrolling. The game merges rogue-lite mechanics with a darkly humorous critique of capitalism, mocking the exploitative nature of profit in life, and, as he imagines fittingly, in purgatory.
Lessons for Female Entrepreneurs
As a founder of game-centric initiatives myself, I’ve encountered similar crossroads. Whether you're developing new technologies or exploring pivot-worthy opportunities, here’s a guide inspired by Gilbert’s pivot:
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Learn When to Let Go: Gilbert abandoned the open-world RPG idea when it became evident the scale was incompatible with available funding. Entrepreneurs often hold onto projects longer than necessary, investing time and money into salvaging ideas when walking away is the better option. Be willing to course-correct.
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Repurpose What You’ve Built: The purgatory theme and gameplay in Death by Scrolling originated from a side project that hadn’t initially been meant for broader release. For startup founders, take stock of what you already have: materials, connections, datasets, or even old product extensions. Could these dormant resources lead to something new?
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Adapt to Market Changes: If 2023 startup climates have taught us anything, it’s that businesses must evolve. As Gilbert mentioned, Kickstarter’s relevance has declined significantly, leaving creators in need of alternative funding sources. Similarly, don’t wait for conditions to revert, explore new business models or direct-to-market strategies.
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Keep Your Audience in Mind: One of Gilbert’s struggles involved reconciling his love for storytelling with the casual format of rogue-lites, where dialogue often goes overlooked. Female entrepreneurs in consumer-driven industries can relate: what you deliver must align with what audiences truly want, even if it’s not your personal favorite approach.
Avoid These Common Mistakes in a Career Pivot
While it’s inspiring to see someone like Ron Gilbert reinvent himself, some pitfalls are unavoidable without planning. Here are three to watch out for when you're trying to break into a new segment:
- Underestimating Scale: Like Gilbert with his RPG, founders often dream too big too soon. Forecast realistically to avoid burnout.
- Using Outdated Tools: If your approach hasn’t adapted to leverage new tech, such as AI or automation, it’s challenging to remain competitive.
- Ignoring Collaboration: While indie energy can energize some projects, don’t treat your pivot as a solo mission. Bringing in new partners or mentors can illuminate blind spots.
Purgatory as a Metaphor for Entrepreneurship
In the game, players must balance evading their “Grim Reaper” while collecting enough gold to keep moving forward. For me, the metaphor struck home. Entrepreneurs, especially women, often feel exactly like that: running against time, trying to secure funding while avoiding burnout and external pressures. Gilbert emphasizes speed, action, and fine-tuned focus, lessons European women founders can easily apply.
Do This to Mirror Gilbert’s Resilience
Let’s turn Gilbert’s story into tangible advice:
- Test, Iterate, and Test Again: Try multiple prototypes as Gilbert did, staying open to failure.
- Narrative Hooks Are Still Valuable: Even if new businesses create in shorter attention spans, find ways to ground them emotionally (think purpose-aligned marketing).
- Ditch Sunk Costs: Bootstrapping entrepreneurs cling hardest to money they’ve already spent. Don’t pour more into ideas clearly failing.
Wrapping Up
Female entrepreneurs, especially those navigating Europe’s complex startup environment, can take inspiration from Gilbert’s decisions. His departure from his celebrated adventure game past is a reminder: stagnancy equals irrelevance. By learning when to pivot, how to adjust scale, and why lessons from seemingly unrelated disciplines matter, you can turn even roadblocks into opportunities.
Explore what risks you’d take to escape irrelevance. Would you leave your “Monkey Island” if it meant taking a leap into something entirely unknown? According to Gilbert and his scrappy New Zealand studio, the answer should be yes.
And when you’re ready to pivot, don’t forget the biggest secret: the willingness to start with nothing but belief in your reinvention.
FAQ
1. Who is Ron Gilbert and what is his contribution to gaming?
Ron Gilbert is a renowned game designer celebrated for iconic point-and-click adventure games such as Maniac Mansion and the Monkey Island series. His works have left a significant impact on the gaming industry, shaping the narrative-driven adventure game genre. Explore Ron Gilbert’s contributions
2. What is Ron Gilbert’s new game, Death by Scrolling?
Death by Scrolling is a rogue-lite action-survival auto-shooter where players outrun a Grim Reaper while battling enemies and collecting weapons. The game incorporates anti-capitalist satire and fast-paced action mechanics. Learn more about Death by Scrolling
3. What inspired Gilbert’s transition from adventure games to Death by Scrolling?
Gilbert pivoted to rogue-lite action games after challenges with securing funding for an ambitious open-world RPG project inspired by The Legend of Zelda. He recycled elements from the abandoned RPG to create Death by Scrolling. Discover the story behind the pivot
4. How does Death by Scrolling reflect on modern capitalism?
The game humorously critiques capitalism, with players navigating purgatory under the influence of "Purgatory Inc.," a corporation profiting from their survival against Death. Learn about the satire in the game
5. What challenges did Gilbert face developing an open-world RPG?
Gilbert’s RPG project faced significant hurdles, such as a lack of funding, publisher disinterest, and resource constraints, leading him to abandon the project. Read more about the development challenges
6. What does Gilbert think about the current state of crowdfunding for indie games?
Gilbert believes crowdfunding has diminished as a viable funding source, citing his own struggles despite prior successes with Kickstarter. Learn about Gilbert's views on funding
7. How does Death by Scrolling integrate storytelling into its gameplay?
Unlike traditional adventures, Death by Scrolling minimizes dialogue to fit its fast-paced nature, highlighting the divergence in storytelling approaches between genres. Explore how storytelling is adapted here
8. What lessons can female entrepreneurs learn from Gilbert’s career pivot?
Female entrepreneurs can draw parallels from Gilbert’s willingness to pivot, take risks, and repurpose resources when faced with market changes or failed projects.
9. What does Gilbert suggest for the future of adventure games?
Gilbert believes the classic “verb on noun” gameplay of point-and-click adventures needs innovation to remain relevant, with newer models like 3D puzzles and experimental interfaces being crucial. Read Gilbert’s insights on innovation in adventure games
10. Where can I learn more about Death by Scrolling and its development?
You can find additional information about Death by Scrolling and its development directly from Gilbert’s interviews and blog posts. Explore Death by Scrolling on Steam
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.
