Maniac Mansion/Mansion layout

This is a "locations walkthrough" which describes what must be done in each room, not reflecting the order of actions.

Outside

Items: package (stamps), door key, film

Watch the brief introduction and walk to the left. Feel free to READ the warning sign. You arrive at the front of the Mansion with the mailbox.

Feel free to PUSH the door-bell, however this will make Ed come to answer it.

PICK UP door-mat and the key. UNLOCK the door with the key and you can enter the Mansion at the #Ground floor hall.

At some random point the doorbell will ring; the postman delivers Ed's package under the mailbox. You will see a sequence with Ed leaving his room. You must hurry a kid outside and PICK UP the package. Either have a kid waiting outside to gain some time, or have a kid intercept Ed, who will run after him/her. That way Ed will forget about the package and you will have plenty of time to go and get it.

Under house

Items: developer fluid

Notice the bushes to the left of the stairs. PICK UP the bushes and you will reveal a grating. If you have a kid worked out at #Ted's Room, you can get him/her to PULL it and enter the Underhouse. Walk to the right and you will find a water valve which you can OPEN to drain the #Pool.

Notice that as soon as you drain the pool, you have a limited time before the Mansion explodes (the pool serves as a cooler for the nuclear reactor), so it is adviseable to have already a kid waiting at the pool. Also the Purple Tentacle moves out to check the #Basement to prevent the meltdown so it's adviseable to remove any kids from there.

Once you have the other kid do the job at the pool, switch back to the kid at the Underhouse and restore the valve to refill the pool and cancel the alarm.

If you want to win the Michael scenario, have the sponge from Ted's Room, and USE it to collect the developer fluid puddle.

Ground floor

When you enter the Mansion you see a large hall with the grandfather clock and a staircase. It is adviseable to not have any kids waiting there as the Edisons might encounter them.

A point of interest is the door on the right which does not open as it has no knob. It leads to the #Cellar. You need to bring two kids there. Have one to PUSH the right gargoyle at the stairs to see the door open, then switch to the other one and enter the door to the cellar. Notice that the kid in the cellar can return even if the other kid leaves and the cellar door closes.

Library

Items: blank cassette

The Library is the rightmost room, entered from the #Living Room.

Once you enter it, it will be dark. Use the WHAT IS to locate the lamp and TURN ON.

The room is dominated by a stairway which is "out of order", but you have no way to fix it, as it is only a red herring. Notice also the insignificant "Chuck the Plant" who reappears in several Lucasfilm games as an in-joke.

Locate the loose panel at the right of the library. OPEN it and PICK UP the blank cassette inside.

There is also a telephone which is broken.

If you have Bernard or Jeff and the tools from the #Garage, USE them to FIX the telephone. Dial the number you found at the #Ted's Room (randomized among 1547, 2275, 3444, 5235, 7537) and call Edna to distract her for some limited time. Then have another kid enter her room.

Living Room

Items: radio tube, rusty key

This room has an exit to the right which leads to the #Library.

To win the scenario with Bernard, OPEN the old radio and PICK UP the radio tube.

OPEN the cabinet door and find the cassette player there. Having the cassette with the recording of the "tentacle mating calls", you can USE it in the player and TURN ON. The sound will cause the chandelier to break and you can collect the rusty key.

Kitchen

Items: cheese, can of Pepsi, lettuce, cheese, broken bottles of ketchup, flashlight

The Kitchen is the leftmost door of the main hall. If you enter it at the very beginning of the game, Edna will be there looking in the fridge. So make sure you walk slowly to the right, and as soon as you see her, go ASAP to the left and exit the kitchen. She will disappear (!). If she catches the kid, she will send him/her to the #Dungeon.

The chainshaw is a red herring, like the blood stains which turn out to be ketchup.

PICK UP the flashlight. OPEN the fridge and PICK UP the can of Pepsi. You can also take the cheese, lettice and ketchup if you want to feed Green later at the #Second Floor although it's not important. You can also take the old batteries to USE in the flashlight, although they soon deplete and you can find fresh ones later.

At a later point, if you have Edna's envelope and the jar, TURN ON the sink, USE jar on water and OPEN the microwave oven. USE the envelope and the jar in the microwave oven, CLOSE it and TURN ON. You can then PICK UP the envelope and OPEN it without damaging it (or else the game will be winnable only with Bernard and Michael). The envelope contains a single quarter which you can use in the #Arcades. Notice that if you use radiated water from the pool instead of sink water, the kid who opens the oven will die.

Syd/Razor can kill Ed's hamster in the oven.

Have in mind that at some point in the game you will see a cutscene with Ed going to the kitchen to fetch cheese. As mentioned, the cheese is used to feed Green, so if you miss it, you can substitute it with something else.

Dining Room

Items: old rotting turkey, week old roast

The Dining Room connects the #Kitchen to the #Storage Room to the right. As you traverse the room, feel free to PICK UP the pieces of meat from the table in order to feed Green later although they are not needed.

Storage

Items: fruit drinks, tentacle chow, canned goods, glass jar, developer

You are in a small storage room with a locked door which leads outside to the #Pool.

From the shelves PICK UP the glass jar and the fruit drinks. Feel free to take also the other stuff in order to feed Green later, although they are not needed.

To win the scenario with Michael, PICK UP the bottle of developer. It will fall and break in the drain. The liquid can be collected later from the #Underhouse.

The locked door can open with the silver key found in the #Cellar.

Pool

Items: radio (batteries), glowing key, radioactive water

The pool is found at the backyard. You reach it from the #Storage Room.

It is actually the Dr's nuclear reactor cooler. USE the glass jar on the pool to collect some radioactive water.

In order to access the bottom of the pool, have a kid waiting there, and another enter the #Under house. Having opened the valve, you have some time to SWITCH back to the kid, descend the ladder and PICK UP the glowing key and the radio. ASAP climb up, SWITCH to the other kid and CLOSE the valve.

Notice that if you close the valve while the kid is not safely to the ground, s/he will drown.

The radio has working batteries so OPEN it and USE them in the flashlight. The glowing key opens the door to the Dr's #Control Room.

There is a fence door which leads further to the #Garage.

Garage

Items: tools, faucet handle

You reach the garage either from the #Pool or at the very end from the #Meteor Room.

At first it is closed. You can OPEN it with a kid who has worked out at #Ted's Room. Inside there is Edsel, Ed's car.

PICK UP the faucet handle from the shelf. UNLOCK the trunk with the yellow key from #Green's Room and PICK UP the tool box. If you USE the yellow key on the car it will start off, so be careful.

You can use the car at the end of the game. USE the Meteor in the trunk and then start the car with the yellow key.

First floor

Climbing the main staircase brings you to a closed door flanked by the portraits of the Edison couple. The other two doors lead to the #Music room and #Painting room.

The door is usually the copy-protection for the game, but in some versions you can open it freely.

Copy protection will ask you to enter a code found in the game package. Entering a wrong code will make the Mansion's alarm go off. It will give you a limited time to type in a correct code before blowing up.

Bernard has a strange trait at this point: if he READs the warning sign, he will attempt to crack the security system and the Mansion will explode.

The main door leads to a blue hallway which has other doors and leads to the #Second floor.

Music Room

A room with a piano, a Victrola and a TV.

Syd/Razor/Wendy: TURN ON the TV and watch Mark Eteer's advertisement. The kid who is present will memorize the address given.

The following process is to acquire the old rusty key which opens the #Dungeon door and makes gameplay easier; if you think you don't need it, this is purely optional. Having the "tentacle mating calls" record from #Green's Room, USE it on the Victrola and now you can play it. USE the blank cassette tape (from the #Library) in the recorded, TURN ON and RECORD. You will hear a screaming sound which breaks the crystal vase. TURN OFF the devices and PICK UP the tape, which now you can use in the #Living Room to take the key.

After this process, and if you want to win the Syd/Razor scenario, return to this room, and set the cassette on RECORD as above. Then have Syd or Razor USE the piano and place some music song. After they finish, TURN OFF the recorder and PICK UP the cassette which you can show to Green. Note that if you do this, you can't record the "tentacle mating calls" any more, so if you need the old rusty key, make sure you get it before you give your tape to Green.

Painting Room

Items: wax fruit, paint remover

This room is where Dr. Fred attempted to make a portrait of the Meteor. Just PICK UP the bowl of wax fruit which Green's favorite food, and the paint remover.

Note that if you USE the paint remover on some object you will waste it.

Medical Lab

Items: manuscript

There is no need to visit this room unless you want to win the scenario with Wendy.

The room is dark so use WHAT IS to locate the lamp to TURN ON.

OPEN the desk and PICK UP the manuscript. You find the Meteor's memoirs which Wendy can improve and make a book.

There is a locked cabinet which is actually a red herring. Feel free to READ the Doctor's diplomas for some humor.

Arcade

At first there is nothing to do at the Arcade room, since there is no power and you have no quarters.

When you have a kid fix the power at the #Wire room and have the quarter from Edna's #Safe Room, the games are useable but you don't have to do anything.

Wait for a cutscene at some random point where Dr. Fred is seen playing the "Meteor Mess" game. This scene will be seen only after you have fixed the wires and there is no kid in the arcade room. After this, you can go to the room and USE quarter in the coin box of the "Meteor Mess" game. The game is of course not playable but after the kid finishes playing you will see a high score screen. Notice the high-score achieved by Dr. Fred (randomly varies among 3301, 5858, 7572, 8640). The number is the combination to his #Control Room.

You may see again another cutscene with Dr. Fred playing. This means that the combination has been changed (unless you have already opened the secret door) and you must repeat the procedure.

If you need more quarters for whatever reason (eg. used it in a wrong game or want to see the new code), USE the small key from #Edna's Room on the game's coin box and retrieve your used quarter.

Basement

Cellar

Items: silver key

When you first enter the cellar it is dark so use the WHAT IS command to locate the switch and TURN ON. There is Fred's nuclear reactor here. Whenever you drain the #Pool or turn off the power, the Purple Tentacle will come here to check.

To the left there is a silver key which you must PICK UP as it opens the way to the backyard with the Pool and the #Garage.

There is also a fuse box which you can TURN OFF with a kid, and have another repair the broken wires at the #Wire room.