Monkey Island
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 24 adventure games by recommenders
Recommended for its rich, atmospheric island worlds, humor and classic point-and-click play; critics say the writing is weak and the puzzles too easy.
Recommended for its rich, atmospheric island worlds, humor and classic point-and-click play; critics say the writing is weak and the puzzles too easy.
32 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 29
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 91%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 29 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 9.7 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Among the best point-and-click games
“Monkey Island is (in my opinion) one of the pinnacles of gaming”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “for me the best point and click ever made.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “After 40 years of adventure games, Ron Gilbert pivots to outrunning Death” “Monkey Island is the best adventure game.”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “The science of Monkey Island: can grog dissolve a metal mug that fast?” - Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “The science of Monkey Island: can grog dissolve a metal mug that fast?”
- Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up”
- Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Deus Ex creator Warren Spector is retiring from game development”
Nostalgic childhood favorite
“I fondly remember Myst, Monkey Island and other puzzle games like that.”
Comment from 31 Aug 2026 in “Dwarf Fortress is getting the mother of all magic updates” “good old times of monkey island or leisure suit larry”
Comment from 10 Oct 2026 in “Triple-A Minesweeper” “Such a big part of my childhood and teen years.”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Lucasart's Afterlife” Rich, atmospheric island worlds
“These games definitely felt magical as a kid but I think the feeling of it being this whole rich interactive little world full of characters carried a lot of weak jokes and writing.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “the best thing about it was always the atmosphere and world, less so the writing”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “But I loved how each island was like a unique mini world onto itself”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” Gorgeous art and music
“they're experiencing an inferior redrawn remake”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “the sprites look much better and more colourful in VGA”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “music is just much richer”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Weak writing and jokes
“These games definitely felt magical as a kid but I think the feeling of it being this whole rich interactive little world full of characters carried a lot of weak jokes and writing.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “the best thing about it was always the atmosphere and world, less so the writing”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “The writing and puzzles--not so much.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” Puzzles too simple or easy
“The writing and puzzles--not so much.”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “The puzzles are either too simple or just nonsensical try-and-error, I find the story boring and shallow”
Comment from 25 Nov 2025 in “Roblox is a problem but it's a symptom of something worse” “The last game was still a game, but the challenge wasn't there.”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “The Rise of Computer Games, Part I: Adventure” Remake or EGA looks weaker
“It is a remarkable feat what they achieved despite the limits of EGA, but it can't really compare to VGA.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “the sprites look much better and more colourful in VGA”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” “they're experiencing an inferior redrawn remake”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up”
Other adventure games people recommend
The four most recommended other adventure games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sid Meier's Pirates! | 61 | 11 | 85% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Grim Fandango | 41 | 8 | 84% | 3 | 20 yrs3 owners | — |
| Myst | 31 | 7 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Monkey IslandThis page | 29 | 3 | 91% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Doki Doki Literature Club | 25 | 6 | 81% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
30 of the 35 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“good old times of monkey island or leisure suit larry”
“The Remaster added modern controls and even a point-and-click mode. Worth revisiting.”
“Yes the first 3 games are really good.”
“Monkey Island is the best adventure game.”
“Same for most LucasArt games, Day of the Tentacle, Monkey Islands”
“Such a big part of my childhood and teen years.”
“I fondly remember Myst, Monkey Island and other puzzle games like that.”
“Monkey Island series are great.”
“the thing my friends and I enjoyed the most about Monkey Island was reading the dialog out loud to each other”
“I do appreciate the multi layered aspect, and it's the number one element which keeps me coming back to MI games”
“The writing and puzzles--not so much.”
“These games definitely felt magical as a kid but I think the feeling of it being this whole rich interactive little world full of characters carried a lot of weak jokes and writing.”
“it sucks. I prefer the original continuation of MI3 to the 25-years-late official, canonical sequel”
“iPad is perfect for point and clicks”
“This includes my beloved Monkey Island series including 1,2,3”
“the original MI is still my favorite”
“the best thing about it was always the atmosphere and world, less so the writing”
“music is just much richer”
“But I loved how each island was like a unique mini world onto itself”
“Monkey Island is (in my opinion) one of the pinnacles of gaming”
“It is a remarkable feat what they achieved despite the limits of EGA, but it can't really compare to VGA.”
“The music however, floppy is best and the cd version is the worst.”
“Even the PC speaker version is pretty good”
“the sprites look much better and more colourful in VGA”
“The EGA version is the original version of the game, and is gorgeous.”
“they're experiencing an inferior redrawn remake”
“This is a masterpiece and it keeps on giving.”
“The last game was still a game, but the challenge wasn't there.”
“for me the best point and click ever made.”
“The puzzles are either too simple or just nonsensical try-and-error, I find the story boring and shallow”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.