I finished the game on hard mode. What a great game. I enjoyed every minute. Thanks Ron Gilbert and team!!

In hindsight I am wondering who ist this Doug character? There doesn't seem to be much interaction possible with him. Is he a reference to another game?

Regards.
N.

Probably a reference to the classic Dig Dug () or the newer Doug Dug ([url=http://www.dougdug.com/]Game Site) game for mobile phones.

Maybe. But what's the relation to the game? I get the feeling that there was a significance for the shovel, which maybe didn't make it into the game. Maybe to dig up what's underneath the X.

No relation to other games. Doug is Doug. Doug likes to Dig. And he doesn't like Ransome (I think he was traumatized back when Ransome got cursed).

I think the character is merely a joke, technically part of the background. His name is doug, and he likes to dig. That's all there is to him. No need to look for any hidden meaning.

I mean, the game is filled to the brim with red herrings. He's probably there for you to think there's going to be more to him later, even though there clearly isn't.

I assumed he was the groundskeeper.

Podcast #67 partially answers this: https://soundcloud.com/grumpygamer/thimbleweed-park-podcast-67 (within the first 20 minutes or so).

Thanks a lot. Mystery solved.

For anybody who doesn't want to listen to the whole podcast. They had a lot more planned for Doug. He was supposed to use his shovel for all kinds of tasks like dusting the walls and the curtains. His shovel would have been his tool for everything. And there was also a puzzle chain planned involving him and his shovel. But both, the animations and the puzzle chain were eventually cut from the game. So he does not serve a purpose anymore and could have been completely cut from the game. But they left him in the game because they liked him.

He's also a great Dungeon Master!