The Secret of Monkey Island

The Secret of Monkey Island was a graphical point and click adventure game released in 1990 by LucasArts (then known as LucasFilm Games). Set deep in the Carribean, you play Guybrush Threepwood and set out on a quest to become a pirate, encountering romance, adventure, comedy, pirate ghosts and, um... monkeys.

The game has gone down in history as one of the greatest ever made, and is a shining example of how well the point and click adventure genre could work. It marked the beginning of the golden age of adventure games, which would all but die out by the end of the 1990s, as the PlayStation helped usher in the era of 3D gaming.

It's famous for it's humour, characters and plot. It's a game that is a good starting point for people playing their first adventure game as the control interface is extremely user-friendly, the puzzles not too challenging and it's (almost) impossible to die or do something wrong which will make the game incompletable. To date, three sequels have been created.

Based on the SCUMM game engine and originally released for the PC, Atari ST and Amiga in 16-colour EGA, it's been updated over the years with improved graphics and sound. The game is now playable on Windows XP with ScummVM which improves the graphics even further.