Game Groups > Monkey Island series

Monkey Island is a series of comedy adventure games set in fictional 18th century-like Caribbean Islands, telling the story of the young wannabe-pirate Guybrush Threepwood. The series was originally envisioned as a trilogy by the main designer Ron Gilbert, but he only completed the first two games; the third and the fourth were made without his participation. The latter signified the conclusion of the original series, being the last one developed by LucasArts.

Like most LucasArts adventures, Monkey Island games are "death-free" (the player character cannot die), have no "dead ends" (the player cannot get irrevocably stuck), and are based on inventory puzzles and branching dialogue. The series' first installment, The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), was also the first adventure game made by LucasArts that answered all of the above requirements, defining the company's adventure game design philosophy.

In 2009, Telltale licensed the property for a five-part episodic adventure game, which eventually became Tales of Monkey Island.

Awards

• Computer Gaming World
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #3 Most Memorable Game Hero (Guybrush Threepwood)
  • November 1996 (15th anniversary issue) – #10 Most Memorable Game Villain (LeChuck)