The Secret of Monkey Island is a point & click adventure game from 1990. It also launched a series of sequels. And it should be everything I’m looking for in this genre. It has pirates and it has ghost pirates, and that’s all I should need. And yet, when I think about this genre, I’m drawn to the horror elements. I like the unique elements that sea monsters can bring to a story (as opposed to the “land” monsters of the Weird West genre). Unfortunately, this game leans into the comedy aspect and that’s where it loses me. I’m not against point & click adventure games in general but this aesthetic is just too silly for me. Don’t get me wrong, replacing sword combat with insult battles is a clever idea for a point & click adventure game, I’m just not here for the jokes.

The series is about a random person who starts the first game by declaring “I want to be a pirate!” and then proceeds to do just that. Along the way he crosses paths with a ghost pirate who kidnaps his girlfriend so he has to rescue her. The creators of this series have said their primary inspirations were the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland and the novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, so it should fit perfectly in this Lemmy community. And while I won’t argue with anyone who loves this game or has fond memories of this series, it just isn’t for me. So I felt obligated to include it here even though I’ve never played any of the games.

If you’re curious about it though, you can play the game for free in your browser at archive.org (and plenty of less-reputable sites too).

  • fprawn@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    21 days ago

    I’ll never forget the Christmas I got both the VGA version of this game (on 5 1/4” floppy disks which I still have somewhere around here) and a sound blaster pro. The intro music to this game will always make me smile.

  • e0qdk@reddthat.comEnglish
    4·
    21 days ago

    It’s not pirates, exactly, but maybe Return of the Obra Dinn would be more up your alley?

    • JerichoCross@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      3·
      21 days ago

      Actually, that’s a really good idea… I’ve heard great things about that game but haven’t played it myself. Does it not have pirates though? It’s just regular sailors?

      • Wrufieotnak@feddit.orgEnglish
        2·
        21 days ago

        It doesnt have pirates, but mutineers. But since y9u like sea horror, its still up your alley.

      • e0qdk@reddthat.comEnglish
        1·
        21 days ago

        It’s not a pirate story, but it is a tall tale of the sea set in roughly the right era (1807) on a ship, and it’s got the horror elements you’re looking for.

        Basically, the Obra Dinn returns to port as a ghost ship – no one left aboard. At the opening of the game, you receive a mysterious watch that lets you observe someone’s last moments just before death, and you need to work out the fates of all who were aboard the ship based on the clues present in the observable death scenes.

        Hope you enjoy it if you give it a try!