These games, including the whole Monkey Island series, are considered to be part of the adventure game genre. You use a mouse pointer to indicate where you want to move, what you want to interact with, and what items you want to use with other items. With the exception of Full Throttle, you cannot lose these games. They are puzzles with a story attached. Sometimes the puzzles were quite tricky, while others were silly in their simplicity. There are only so many uses for a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle, for example.
The Secret of Monkey Island is a blessing in this sense. The heads of the project, as mentioned in the title, are responsible for the creation of a great, hilarious experience. I want to tell you about it without spoiling too much. Money Island puts you in the shoes of Guybrush Threepwood, a wannabe pirate whose name nobody can ever remember. The first game sets the story: Guybrush goes through three trials to become a pirate (treasure hunting, thievery, and sword fighting). As he progresses through the trials, he falls in love with the local governor. When the trials end things go wrong at the hands of Lechuck, a ghost pirate who seems to have a problem with Guybrush. The rest of the game involves a trip to Monkey Island to take the fight to Lechuck. Chaos Ensues.
I want to highlight one particular gem in the game: Insult Sword Fighting. As a satire on pirating stories, Monkey Island suggests that sword fighting has absolutely nothing to do with actually swinging a sword. The best pirate sword fighters out there fight with words, insulting their opponents into defeat. I could go through all of the insults but figuring them out is part of the fun. I’ll leave you with the first given out: “You fight like a dairy farmer!”
What are the creaters of this gem doing now? Tim Shafer is heading a company called Double Fine which just finished a game called Brütal Legend. Ron Gilbert has been working on a game called Deathspank, and helping the Penny Arcade boys with their game. Dave Grossman works with Telltale Games, who are recently responsible for reviving the Monkey island series with Grossman as their Design Director.
The accessibility is what made this game such a great starting point for a budding gamer. The Secret of Monkey Island in particular was not a difficult game, the fun came from the experience. Last year it even get itself a remake, you can buy it now for 10 bucks off of the Steam distribution service.
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