Return to Monkey Island
Shares rank 10 of 18 adventure games by recommenders
More people criticize it than recommend it. Fans call it a satisfying, well-made point-and-click ending to the saga, with appealing art and characters. Common caveat: critics say the ending repeats an overused trope.
7 people recommended Return to Monkey Island in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
Summary written by Claude from the comments below.
21 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- mixed feelings
- 2
- warn against or regret it
- 12
The record
Recommended in 4 of 12 months
In 5 different threads.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 0.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 4 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
- Recommended in 5 threadsNeeds 5 or more, met.
- The biggest thread supplies 43% of its recommendersNeeds half or less, met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 22 of the 24 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Ending retcons or ruins series
“Also it completely retcons the ending of Monkey Island 2.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “After the endings of Thimbleweed Park and Return To Monkey Island, I lost a lot of respect for Ron Gilbert.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “he coldly murdered it in the long-awaited "official" sequel, Return”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “Monkey Island for Commodore 64 Ground Up” - Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “After 40 years of adventure games, Ron Gilbert pivots to outrunning Death”
Overused ending trope
“The issue is that it's ok the first time, but after the third time it's an overused trope”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “He repeated the same trope in Return to Monkey Island. At this point, I expect all of his endings to be abstract and meta.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “yet another game Gilbert ruined with this tired trope”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” Lazy puzzles and few interactions
“the flat humor, the lazy puzzles (like clicking multiple times on multiple objects to open the porthole) and the meagre number of interactions”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “sadly felt like a puzzle-free story for children and their parents to sit together to play”
Comment from 14 Dec 2025 in “The Rise of Computer Games, Part I: Adventure” Weak story and flat humor
“I liked the art style and the characters. The story wasn't amazing.”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2”
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Satisfying, bittersweet ending
“It felt like a fitting conclusion to me that neatly tied a bow on the whole saga.”
Comment from 5 Dec 2025 in “After 40 years of adventure games, Ron Gilbert pivots to outrunning Death” “the ending of Return to Monkey Island actually was pretty satisfying to me”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” “I truly appreciated the bittersweet finale of RMI which told us all”
Comment from 31 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2” Well-made point-and-click adventure
“Now THAT's how you make a point-and-click adventure game!”
Comment from 21 Sep 2026 in “Grim Fandango Puzzle Document (1996) [pdf]” “Monkey Island 5 was really really good”
Comment from 30 Jul 2026 in “Ron Gilbert started production on Thimbleweed Park 2”
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 | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sid Meier's Pirates! | 41 | 16 | 10 | 80% | 3 | — | — |
| Grim Fandango | 30 | 10 | 6 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
| Myst | 22 | 8 | 7 | 76% | 9 | — | Approved |
| Doki Doki Literature Club | 22 | 1 | 6 | 79% | 3 | — | — |
| Return to Monkey IslandThis page | 7 | 2 | 12 | 37% | 4 | — | — |
Also compared with Monkey Island, SOMA and The Secret of Monkey Island.
What people said
22 of the 24 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I thought Return to Monkey Island did a very good job with it”
“I decided it wasn't for me”
“Now THAT's how you make a point-and-click adventure game!”
“I truly appreciated the bittersweet finale of RMI which told us all”
“The issue is that it's ok the first time, but after the third time it's an overused trope”
“the ending of Return to Monkey Island actually was pretty satisfying to me”
“He repeated the same trope in Return to Monkey Island. At this point, I expect all of his endings to be abstract and meta.”
“I felt that Return to Monkey Island was a bit of a cop-out.”
“Monkey Island 5 was really really good”
“After the endings of Thimbleweed Park and Return To Monkey Island, I lost a lot of respect for Ron Gilbert.”
“I liked the art style and the characters. The story wasn't amazing.”
“Also it completely retcons the ending of Monkey Island 2.”
“the flat humor, the lazy puzzles (like clicking multiple times on multiple objects to open the porthole) and the meagre number of interactions”
“yet another game Gilbert ruined with this tired trope”
“Return to Monkey Island was corpo art and meta.”
“I thought Return was a genuinely good games and miles better than the other MI sequels after 2”
“he coldly murdered it in the long-awaited "official" sequel, Return”
“sadly felt like a puzzle-free story for children and their parents to sit together to play”
“RtMI feels like Ron Gilbert telling me to go away and do something else with my life.”
“it felt like a nostalgia tour and retreading of old ideas”
“It felt like a fitting conclusion to me that neatly tied a bow on the whole saga.”
“fumbling the ending of Return to Monkey Island”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.