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A generation of adventure fans grew up with the Monkey Island games, and since the 1990 series debut they’ve held a special place in many hearts. Series creator Ron Gilbert worked on the first two — 1990’s The Secret of Monkey Island, and the 1991 sequel Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge — after which three more Monkey Island games were released. Then, following 2009’s Tales of Monkey Island… nothing. Still no one knew the secret of Monkey Island, not to mention the 30 years of unfinished business since Gilbert’s last dip into the world of self-proclaimed “mighty pirate”, Guybrush Threepwood. 
Shocked, surprised, delighted, overwhelmed — fans were all of these things in April 2022 when it was announced that Return to Monkey Island was sailing through pirate seas to our shores, and that Ron Gilbert was once again at the helm. On the cusp of the game’s release, Intel Gaming Access snuck into the Scumm Bar backroom and distracted Ron and series writer Dave Grossman from their grog long enough to get to the bottom of their piratical plans.
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Piracy Revisited
32 years after the series debut, there’s no doubt in the minds of its creators that Return to Monkey Island maintains the perennial appeal of its forebears. “It’s about the pirate inside of all of us, the one who longs for adventure and treasure and sails full of wind. The one who secretly revels in a bit of mischief, especially in pursuit of a larger goal,” said Dave. “It’s about taking care of unfinished business, by hook or by crook, and what happens when that business isn’t exactly where you remembered leaving it. The game is for anyone who’s interested in any of those things, people with a bit of imagination and curiosity, and a sense of humor.”
But why now? “The end of Monkey Island 2 was a big cliffhanger that we never really resolved. I wanted to go back and deal with that ending somehow,” explained Ron. “It’s been slowly percolating around in my head over the years, so when the opportunity came up to go back to work on the game, I thought about it and talked to Dave. We both felt like we had a good way to address the ending and move forwards.”
For Dave, the chance to re-enter the universe with Ron was something of a no-brainer. “I didn’t take much persuading — Ron asked me if I’d like to make a new Monkey Island game with him, and I said yes I’d like that very much,” said Dave. “In part it was just about working with Ron, which is something I’ve always enjoyed, but there’s also something special about the world of Monkey Island. It feels light and carefree but still meaningful, and I could use more of those things. Couldn’t we all?”
“Then we put together a great team to make the game,” continued Dave. “And although nothing ever goes exactly like you think it will, I was right that it was going to be a joy to do.” The extended team includes original series music composer Michael Land, and artist Rex Crowle, a newcomer to Monkey Island who previously lent his joyful stylings to Little Big Planet among other games.
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Circular Pirates
The much-documented symbiosis between the universes of Monkey Island and Pirates of the Caribbean lives on in the new game. “When Ron was pitching the first game thirty-something years ago, he described it as being able to get out of the boat on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and talk to all the people there,” said Dave. “We also watched a bunch of old Errol Flynn movies to get into the proper mood. Nowadays I think we’re still influenced by popular media, but the menu has expanded. Black Sails, and Master and Commander, for example. But perhaps more interestingly, the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and Monkey Island games made by other people. There’s something satisfyingly circular going on here.”
It’s comforting that Ron’s goal with the very first game is still relevant with Return to Monkey Island. “The original game was trying to capture the feeling of being on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. I wanted to be able to step off that boat and then go live with those pirates. I don’t think that’s really changed,” he said. “Return to Monkey Island is a big world to explore where you can have fun with all these pirates, solve puzzles, and be told interesting stories.”
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Of course, there’s zero hint from either creator as to what players are actually going to discover in the game, but they’re willing to give us a sense of the overall experience. “Foremost, players should look forward to having a good time and laughing a lot. It’s a very funny game,” said Ron. “The dialog is interesting and the puzzles are challenging. You’ll work your way through an interesting story in a deep world that you can explore. Hopefully, that’s all a lot of fun.”
Dave is a tiny bit more forthcoming about the wild machinations that will entangle Guybrush. “You meet and talk with all sorts of interesting characters, and then use and betray them to accomplish your own goals,” he said. “But innocently, even though that sounds paradoxical.”
Point to the Future
The importance of tradition should never be underestimated, especially with a universe as beloved as Monkey island, but like everything else, point-and-click adventure games have evolved since 1990. “We wanted to build a traditional point-and-click game, but we also recognize that there are a large number of people who’ll play on PC with a controller, or on a console,” said Ron. “We spent a lot of time creating a really good controller system that doesn’t have you driving your cursor around the screen. You get to control Guybrush and directly walk him around the environment, but still solve puzzles in a way that feels point-and-click-ish.”
When it comes to performance, just because it’s point-and-click doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care to give the game some grunt to play with. “Because adventure games are visually similar to movies, there’s an expectation that they will be just as seamless and buttery smooth as that 4K film you watched last night,” said Dave. “But everything is happening on the fly — the scene is composed of elements that are being composited in real time, those flames over there are particle effects, there’s a shader making the water look pretty, and the music is changing in response to cues from the player’s actions. All of that is being computed and recomputed constantly, many times per second, and you really notice if it stutters or lags even a tiny bit.” 
“Maybe you don’t need a Lamborghini, but you do want a well-tuned engine for a smooth ride,” continued Dave. “That said, we’ve done a lot under the hood to address all of that, and the minimum spec for the game is not high.”
“The game has a lot of rich visuals, pushing them to the screen is a lot of pixels to move around,” added Ron. “It’s important to have performance that is very fluid and smooth with all the animation going on — that’s where having a good graphics card can really help.”
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Beyond the PC itself, Ron advises playing the game “hooked up to a big screen with a really good sound system. That way you can hear all the voice recording and interactive, live-recorded music at its best. And I do think the best way to play is with a mouse.” According to Dave, however, the absolute best way to experience Return to Monkey Island is simply “with friends and snacks.” 
There has been some speculation about what might follow Return to Monkey Island, but for now the only promise Dave is making about the future is to himself: “Vacation. After that, who knows?” In the meantime, we may finally learn the secret of Monkey Island, and that’s already more than most fans ever dared hope for. 
Return to Monkey Island releases September 19. If you want to grab the completely useless but very attractive horse armor, free with every pre-purchase, you’d better move fast. 
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2060130/Return_to_Monkey_Island/">Purchase Return to Monkey Island now on Steam</a>.

Return to Monkey Island Reveals Its Secrets – Or Does It?