The Secret of Monkey Island released for MS-DOS in 1990 was nothing short of a revelation for the point-and-click adventure genre. Developed by Lucasfilm Games (now LucasArts) and helmed by Ron Gilbert, with contributions from Tim Schafer and Dave Grossman, the game set a new benchmark in interactive storytelling, humor, and player-friendly design.
At its core, The Secret of Monkey Island follows the misadventures of Guybrush Threepwood, an eager but hapless wannabe pirate who arrives on the fictional Mêlée Island™ with dreams of becoming a legendary swashbuckler. His journey takes him through a series of trials, including dueling sword masters with wit rather than skill, deciphering cryptic treasure maps, and ultimately facing off against the ghost pirate LeChuck. The game’s writing is razor-sharp, filled with comedic dialogue and memorable characters like the wily used-ship salesman Stan and the mysterious Voodoo Lady.
There were several innovations that made this game better than most of it’s type. Ron Gilbert’s SCUMM (Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion) engine had been refined to eliminate frustrating dead ends and unwinnable states that were common in other point and click adventure games like King’s Quest. Players could experiment with different actions without the fear of making the game unwinnable which made the user experience much better.
Graphically, the original EGA version was limited to 16 colors, but its VGA counterpart—featuring 256-color visuals—was a stunning upgrade, bringing the Caribbean-inspired setting to life with lush backdrops and expressive character sprites. The MIDI soundtrack, composed by Michael Land, was absolutely amazing for it’s time.
Perhaps the greatest achievement of The Secret of Monkey Island was its ability to blend challenging puzzles with humor and storytelling in a way that felt organic rather than forced. It avoided the frustration of illogical puzzle solutions that plagued many adventure games, ensuring that players could progress through logic and wit rather than sheer trial and error.
Decades later, The Secret of Monkey Island is still a fun and satisfying game. I highly encourage you to play it.