The Adventurer

Issue #97: Kiln It

Remi A. Olsen — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 15:05:36 GMT

Welcome to The Adventurer!

We have, weirdly enough, been pretty on time with our reviews as of late. Poker Night Remaster, Death by Scrolling… even Keeper hit the web the day of release – and that was when Mojo experienced one of its infamous downtimes. Worry not, though, as we have broken that kind of uncharacteristic timeliness with last Thursday’s release of Kiln. Will we ever review it? Maybe! It looks like a lot of fun, but online multiplayer games are generally not Mojo’s “thing.” I’ll try to get to it myself if need be.

If you are playing it and are looking for opponents, we have a few forumites jumping into the fray. You, too, can clobber Tim.

Anything else? Is anything stirring in the world of Mojo? Doesn’t look like it. Whatever, we’re not gonna make up news or anything1.

Until next week then!

– Remi

This Week’s Trivia

Psychonauts 2: Hollis Forsythe – Employee of the Year. Sort of.

After the end credits, Hollis Forsythe will tell you she received the “Employee of the Year” award. A quick glance will reveal that it is likely not real, but rather Dr. Loboto’s “award” from the beginning of the game. (Raz even comments, “That thing’s real?”) The text reads:

“this goes to the guy who is the best at doing the thing that is the thing of which you could be doing for a year.”

Additionally, the date reads “12-4” – that is, not the summer time in which the game takes place.

Brütal Legend: Mount Rockmore

The Hammer of Infinite Fate DLC adds Mount Rockmore effigies in the shape of Razputin from Psychonauts and Tim Schafer himself.

Psychonauts 2: Accessing the Waterfall and Finding Lili’s Fungus

Use the Time Bubble on the logs in the Questionable Area to reach a hidden area behind the waterfall. Here you’ll also find one of Lili’s fungi.

Find more trivia in our games database.

Soundtrack of the Week

Keeping with the Double Fine theme, here is the original Grim Fandango soundtrack. I.e., not the superior remaster, which you should pick up on vinyl. (I realize it’s sold out, but keep checking – they’ll probably restock it at some point.)

This Week’s Poll

We asked, “I’m running out to buy Death by Scrolling on…” – 44% said Steam, 33% Xbox, 11% Switch, and 11% “More than one platform.” PlayStation? 0%.

Today’s question is what you’d expect…

Historical Moments in History

31 years ago this week, Full Throttle wroomed into the world.
44 years ago this week, LucasFilm Games was founded sometime in May ‘82.

Merch for the People

Only the best! The Adventurer has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo, though be warned: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear – or display – these masterpieces.

Full News Roundup

23 Apr: Kiln Is Out There and Killing It: (Presumably.)

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

20 Apr: “magic##” – There’s a ton of magic in the Monkey Island games. And in Loom. Probably elsewhere, too.
21 Apr: “shock##” – Culture Shock -- Sam & Max episode.
22 Apr: “moai###” – Moai Better Blues -- Sam & Max episode.
23 Apr: “soda###” – ... Poppers. Is it obvious I have the Sam & Max wiki open?
24 Apr: “flint##” – ... Paper. Y’know.
25 Apr: “paper##” – Flint Paper. Y’know.
26 Apr: “stink##” – ... y. She owns a diner.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Your Daily Challenges

Mojole too easy? Too hard? (Probably too hard.) Here are other daily challenges to get the brain cells firing on all cylinders.

Monkey Island Frantic: A Monkey Island scene-guessing game at a frantic pace. Image updates at midnight Pacific time. Brag about your results on the Mojo Forums!
Guess That Tune: Each daily game features a clip from Monkey Island music. Guess the tune in up to 6 tries, and return each day for a new challenge! Here, too, you can post your results on Mojo Forums.
Return to Monkey Island Trivia Card Game: The card-guessing game, now in your browser.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

Hey, kids, do you want to become one of us? Why not join our Patreon? One single dollar will make you a Friend of Mojo. And for the privileged few, there’s the $5 Diamond Club tier, which will earn you a special mention in The Adventurer. Join now! Our interns are hard at work finishing up the special mention section!

The Mojo Network

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Yet.

Issue #96: Death Becomes Us

Remi A. Olsen — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 02:40:51 GMT

A Mini Review-ish of the Death by Scrolling Update

Not so much a “this is what we think” review, but rather a “what’s new in Death by Scrolling” review. And what we think about those things in particular. Splitting hairs, I know, but you get the point. My original Mojo review is still out there, as fresh as ever if you want a more traditional take.

So, to get on with it, what’s new in Death by Scrolling? Quite a bit as it turns out, and most importantly, you can play it on consoles now: Xbox, PS5, and – just for our Jason – Switch. More about the consoles in a bit.

What is quickly apparent is that each biome – each world – now has its own unique music track. Since the repetitive soundtrack was my only misgiving with the original release, I consider this a big win. The music is also excellent. Frantic, but pleasant, each cue suited to its biome.

And speaking of biomes, there is a brand new one for you to play, with a fresh character that belongs to it: “Lava World” and Demon Debbie. In my mind, those are the two most important additions to the game.

The long lava biomes are fiendish – fiery floors and fast-moving demons make the levels noticeably more difficult than the other worlds. Right on the line of being frustrating, without stepping over it.

Demon Debbie, meanwhile, is a colorful addition. Here’s a character that can both fly and summon a helper – a feature set that feels very different from that of the other characters. Frankly, she’s just weird enough to fit into the oeuvre of oddball Ron characters.

Neither of those is a minor addition – they downright change the game.

So, those are what I consider the biggest enhancements, but apparently, people who are “good” at these types of games have their eyes elsewhere.

Readers of my original review (all of you, natch) will undoubtedly remember (because you memorized it) that run-and-gun games typically aren’t my thing. Too stressful, with Death by Scrolling being a suitable exception to the rule. My strategy in the game is to pick up whatever weapon or power-up I find right in front of me and run like hell.

Apparently, I’m just a dirty amateur.

Based on this Steam post, real players go into Death by Scrolling with real strategies. Like, no blind power-up pick-ups or anything. For them, the biggest addition is – and I will have to take Terrible Toybox’s word on this – the power-up removal system. I’d explain to you why this is an important mechanism, but hell if I know… I just run and collect coins. A “full” stats section has been added, too, which people like – I didn’t remember there being a stats section at all. What do you want from me, a proper review? Surely there are real gaming sites out there for that.

Let’s just end on the consoles. I have no issues playing Death by Scrolling on a computer, but man, does it feel better on an Xbox hooked up to a large-screen TV. I’m not sure if the count-up embedded below is new, but since the console loads more slowly than a Mac, I noticed it for the first time:

22? Get it? You get it.

I haven’t tried the game on Switch, but I can imagine it’s an enjoyable handheld experience.

And “enjoyable” is the operative word. The original release was an excellent game – Mojo Game of the Year 2025 – and this elevates the experience even further.

Check out Death by Scrolling on these fine platforms:

– Remi

This Week’s Trivia

A quick two-and-done Death by Scrolling trivia entries for today. Our Trivia Database has a couple more for your perusal.

Boybrush is a Chad

Granted, it might be Guybrush, but… “Spoiled rich kid”? “Daddy got him the best gear”? No, that’s definitely Boybrush, and he is quite literally a Chad.

Guybrush’s Dress

Guybrush’s pink dress – with pockets – makes an appearance.

Death by Polling

OK, fine, last week’s poll wasn’t really a poll, and as you apparently prefer that we beat the drum of democracy…

Historical Moments in History

21 years ago this week, The most excellent Psychonauts was unleashed.

Merch for the People

Full News Roundup

16 Apr: Death Scrolled onto Consoles: $8, come on, get a couple of ’em.
10 Apr: Death Scrolls onto Consoles: Mojo’s GotY 2025 gets the console treatment.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

09 Apr: “tomi###” – Tales of Monkey Island. In my mind, TMI makes more sense.
10 Apr: “tmi####” – Much better than ToMI.
11 Apr: “yoho###” – ... and a bottle of rum!
12 Apr: “sybil##” – ... Pandemik. An unfortunate name these days.
13 Apr: “space##” – Games like The Dig take place in space. Also, space bar.
14 Apr: “bar####” – The SCUMM Bar, for example. Also, space bar.
15 Apr: “mack###” – Mack Salmon. If you don’t know Mack Salmon you’re probably dead to us.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Your Daily Challenges

Mojole too easy? Too hard? (Probably too hard.) Here are other daily challenges to get the brain cells firing on all cylinders.

Monkey Island Frantic: A Monkey Island scene-guessing game at a frantic pace. Image updates at midnight Pacific time. Brag about your results on the Mojo Forums!
Guess That Tune: Each daily game features a clip from Monkey Island music. Guess the tune in up to 6 tries, and return each day for a new challenge! Here, too, you can post your results on Mojo Forums.
Return to Monkey Island Trivia Card Game: The card-guessing game, now in your browser.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The Mojo Network

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #95: From Your Head to Your Feet

Remi A. Olsen — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:12:30 GMT

Welcome to The Adventurer – Sometimes Things Happen, But Not Always

I know it’s trite to start these newsletters with “there’s not much going on right now,” but… there’s not much going on right now. Not in our corner of the digital universe, at least. Part of me wishes there were, though, as that would mean more work for me, it’d be a bit of a double-edged sword.

Looking back, this was a somewhat action-packed week during the aughts. Bone: The Great Cow Race hit the streets twenty years ago, a game I gave a pretty decent score, probably not expecting I’d be sitting around doing this while stumbling toward 2030.

Nineteen years ago: Sam & Max Season 1: Reality 2.0 released to a 4.5-skull applause. (Remember when we scored games? Those were innocent times.)

And a mere eighteen years ago, “What's New, Beelzebub?”, the Sam & Max Season 2 finale also got a 4.5 rating. We didn’t know how good we had it.

About the only thing I can dig up for you this week is the cover for “Pajama Sam 3 jazz vinyl,” which was sent to us by the artist, “Tim the Curator.” It looks pretty sweet.

We’ve mentioned the OST earlier, but in case you missed it, you can procure the vinyl for a cool $35 – $75 if you want it signed.

Finally, Double Fine kicks off its Kiln open beta today, so check it out on Steam.

Love and hugs,

Remi

Return to Trivia

Let’s toss in some fun courtesy of our (somewhat in need of a good sprucing up) trivia database. Did I only take the time to visit one page? Sure, but c’mon, this is the stuff you crave, maybe.

Return to Monkey Island: The Big Whoop Meat & Cheese Shop

Deep in the concept art, you can find a depiction of what looks to be a meat and cheese shop. Was it to be located somewhere in Big Whoop? Note the digital register.

Return and Secret: The Chef’s Dad

In The Secret of Monkey Island, it’s fairly apparent that there is a picture of the Pillsbury Doughboy in the Scumm Bar kitchen. In Return to Monkey Island, you can steal the painting—of a rather bad boy-looking Doughboy—after you give the Chef the cookbook. Later, the Chef will tell you the picture is of his father. Which puts forth the question: Is the Chef actually Pillsbury Doughboy’s son?

Return to Monkey Island: Prologue With Original Audio

Return to Monkey Island had lines recorded using Guybrush and LeChuck’s voices as opposed to Boybrush and Chuckie’s. This is what it would have sounded like.

Return to Monkey Island: Missing Evidence

An unused close-up from the resource files shows Guybrush grabbing a key, shovel, and a map(?). This scene was completely cut from the game.

The Four Mop Heads and Rose’s Reactions to Them

Show Rose the four different mops, and she’ll have a different reaction to each of them. Bonus: You will also receive the “Mop Top” achievement by doing so.

DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue

For no particular reason, let’s toss in the OST from Ronzo’s super-fun DeathSpank.

This Week’s Poll

Last week, we threw out some non-LEC+ recommendations and asked if you’d be interested in checking out any of them. 33% jumped straight to Lamplight City, and 13% on Life is Strange. Another 13% might check both out, while another 13% had no interest in either. The rest of you had already tried ‘em all.

I completed the latest Life is Strange last week, and I will say: aside from some bugs, it is an excellent game. Emotional, fun, all the feels. I highly recommend it.

Semi-related, it looks like Broken Sword Smoking Mirror: Reforged is imminent – Thrik is already excited.

So, today’s poll is particularly inspired:

Historical Moments in History

20 years ago this week, Bone: The Great Cow Race released.
19 years ago this week, Sam & Max Save the World: Reality 2.0 released. (Technically released Mar 29, but who the hell subscribed to GameTap?)
18 years ago this week, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: What’s New, Beelzebub? released. (One day earlier on GameTap, but who subscribed to that?)

Merch for the People

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

02 Apr: “ozzie##” – Ozzie Mandrill -- a cherished villain in EMI.
03 Apr: “lucre##” – Starbuccaneers -- a cherished location in EMI. It’s EMI week here at Mojo!
04 Apr: “miss###” – ... Rivers. Voiced by Edie McClurg herself.
05 Apr: “three##” – The three trials. C’mon.
06 Apr: “pedro##” – ... Pascal. I thought he was in the new Indy film, but turned out it was Antonio Banderas.
07 Apr: “story##” – A Vampyre Story. Also, most LEC games have stories.
08 Apr: “crew###” – You need that crew to sail the ship.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Your Daily Challenges

Mojole too easy? Too hard? (Probably too hard.) Here are other daily challenges to get the brain cells firing on all cylinders.

Monkey Island Frantic: A Monkey Island scene-guessing game at a frantic pace. Image updates at midnight Pacific time. Brag about your results on the Mojo Forums!
Guess That Tune: Each daily game features a clip from Monkey Island music. Guess the tune in up to 6 tries, and return each day for a new challenge! Here, too, you can post your results on Mojo Forums.
Return to Monkey Island Trivia Card Game: The card-guessing game, now in your browser.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The Mojo Network

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #94: On the Horizon

Remi A. Olsen — Thu, 26 Mar 2026 19:26:47 GMT

A Week of Silence…

It’s been a slow week, and our only real news story is one we created ourselves. If you’re interested in sitting through half-an-hour of the Monkey Island 2 Special Edition commentary, here ya go:

Hardcore Mojo followers will remember we have an interactive commentary browser, too, all for your pleasure. Yes, we treat you well!

Over on our editorial Slack, The Curse of Monkey Island was a topic of conversation, particularly the small details you may have missed during your playthroughs. Specifically, running around before visiting the Voodoo Lady is a nice touch…

And the return of the stump joke – fun, hidden reference!

Yeah, no, that’s about what we got for you today. More news to come soon, or so one would hope. And, we even have a couple of recommendations to tide you over.

– Remi

Games You Will Like, Probably

Once in a while, not always, but once in a while, we will toss out some recommendations that may interest you. To wit…

Karim: “Lamplight City“

Lamplight City is a gem that more people should have played. You’re a 19th-century detective, hunting criminals and kidnappers in an atmospheric point-and-click adventure set in an alternative, gaslight-inspired world with a touch of steampunk.

Its willingness to let you fail—and then recover—gives weight to your decisions, making it stand out. The characters are compelling, its puzzles sensible, and it has a strong sense of place.

Try it, and its excellent sister game, Rosewater.

Lamplight City is available for Mac, Switch, Linux, and Windows.

Remi: “Life is Strange“

Specifically, the Max Caulfield games.

Existential YA might not be my jam – lovely as I’m sure The Fault in Our Stars is – but Life is Strange gets me in the weirdest way. For being high-concept time-travel stories, the series does, for whatever reason, feel incredibly real to me on an emotional level. Games filled with teenage friendship, love, and drama – they’re games highly indebted to Telltale’s game mechanisms, and are hugely story and dialogue-driven, with some simple puzzles thrown in for good measure.

As an observation, “life is strange” isn’t particularly profound, but within the context of these games? I don’t know, it vibes with me, and after playing the first game in 2017, I truly don’t think a week has passed without it humming in the back of my mind. Maybe it’s aging, who knows?

Life is Strange: Double Exposure references the classics.

I just finished the second Max Caulfield game, Double Exposure, and it lived up to the original. The (supposed) final entry in the trilogy – Reunion – was released today. Square Enix only handed out reviewer copies a few hours before it dropped, which isn’t a great sign, but we shall see. I’m here for it. Find appropriate purchase links over on the official website.

Thrik also threw in a bonus recommendation – Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. Developed by Don’t Nod, the game shares many similarities to the O.G. Life is Strange – a game they also developed – and, if Thrik is to be believed, it’s a very good romp. (And who would not believe Thrik?)

This Week’s Poll

Last week, 53% of you said you preferred seeing our features exclusively on Mojo; 20% exclusively in the Adventurer, and 27% picked both.

This week, we check the temperature on your interest in Lamplight City and Life is Strange.

Merch for the People

Full News Roundup

24 Mar: Those Monkey Island 2 Commentary Tracks: Your next thirty minutes – planned out for ya.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

19 Mar: “jack###” – Jack Sparrow: Referenced in Return to Monkey Island.
20 Mar: “play###” – ... Station. ReMI is hitting the PS5!
21 Mar: “xbox###” – Frequent platform for Double Fine games.
22 Mar: “captn##” – Capt’n. Captain. It just makes sense.
23 Mar: “penal##” – The Penal Zone: An on-the-nose episode name from The Devil’s Playhouse.
24 Mar: “mole###” – There are many molemen in Sam & Max.
25 Mar: “zone###” – The Penal Zone: An on-the-nose episode name from The Devil’s Playhouse.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Your Daily Challenges

Mojole too easy? Too hard? (Probably too hard.) Here are other daily challenges to get the brain cells firing on all cylinders.

Monkey Island Frantic: A Monkey Island scene-guessing game at a frantic pace. Image updates at midnight Pacific time. Brag about your results on the Mojo Forums!
Guess That Tune: Each daily game features a clip from Monkey Island music. Guess the tune in up to 6 tries, and return each day for a new challenge! Here, too, you can post your results on Mojo Forums.
Return to Monkey Island Trivia Card Game: The card-guessing game, now in your browser.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The Mojo Network

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #93: Psssssssst

Remi A. Olsen — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 16:59:22 GMT

Cripes almighty, I just noticed The Adventurer is about to turn four. Four! Years! Not months! I can’t remember the last time I put such a long-lasting effort into anything.1

Anyway, let’s have a look at this week’s news…

First and foremost, Double Fine’s next game, Kiln, has a release date: April 23rd. A beta “throwdown” is set to hit Steam from April 9th through the 11th – the former date is when the pre-orders open:

You’ll even get a pre-order bonus, so put the date on your calendar. $19.99 for the standard edition; $29.99 for the “Fired Up Edition.”

Meanwhile, the potential SCUMM documentary is facing some challenges. Their goal is to hit a thousand signatures, and they’re only at eight hundred as of a few days ago. Should they not hit a thousand, the documentary will likely not happen.

So: Be a mensch and sign the dotted line. Who doesn’t want more SCUMM in their lives? Steve Purcell, Collette Michaud, and Brad Taylor have all confirmed they’d be part of the thing. Can’t get much more promising than that. Here’s that link again: scummdoc.com.

(For future budding project signature gatherers, I would gently suggest not to use a newsletter sign-up as a measuring tool. Not everyone wants to receive even more email.)

In the movie realm, you can find Ron Gilbert’s 1979 directorial debut on Vimeo:

And if videos are your thing, we've got links to a bunch of recently released interviews. Chuck Jordan, Oliver Franzke, Noah Falstein, Aaron Giles… You know and love ‘em all.

Yeah, I don’t know, maybe not earth-shattering content today. So, let’s make up for it with some fun: Trivia! I felt the need to jump into The SCUMM Bar’s trivia section – lord knows why – and plucked out a few gems for ya. That’s just how I roll.

– Remi

The Secret of Monkey Island: Ignoring the Psssssssst:

If you choose to ignore Fester Shinetop’s "pssssssst" and go see Otis, the dialogue will change fairly significantly.

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: The Deleted LeChuck/Big Whoop Scene Voiced

Strangely, voices were recorded for the deleted LeChuck/Largo scene in Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge Special Edition. The scene doesn’t appear in that version of the game, either, but through the magic of reconstruction, here’s what it would have sounded like. (Video taken from VGHF’s fireside chat video.)

The Curse of Monkey Island: Happy New Year!

Visit Domingo in January, and he will wish you a happy New Year. (Note, you can change your system date/time to January and this will still work.)

Escape from Monkey Island: The Inaccessible Harbor

You CAN access the harbor in Escape from Monkey Island—it just requires you to download the demo. (Or watch this informative video!) You even get a couple of lines of extra dialogue. Note, too, the placeholder music from The Curse of Monkey Island. You can download the demo from Mojo and play it in DREAMM.

Tales of Monkey Island: The Two CEOs

In “Episode IV: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood”, portraits of Telltale co-founders Dan Connors and Kevin Bruner can be seen in the courtroom.

Return to Monkey Island and The Secret of Monkey Island: Bob and Conrad’s Sprite Flipping

In the grand tradition of sprite flipping: In The Secret of Monkey Island, Bob’s pegleg would famously switch from the left to the right side depending on which direction he was facing. This was a result of the sprite being flipped in code as opposed to being properly redrawn. In Return to Monkey Island, Conrad, the museum curator, gets the same treatment – and, additionally, his “Melee” shirt flips, too. Fitting for a location that is a nod to the minuita of the previous games.

And Even More!

I run a series of articles on Mojo called ICYMI with a bunch of trivia like this. The type of stuff only a truly sick and perverted Monkey Island fan would care about. In case you did miss the ICYMIs, here ya go:

The Secret of Monkey Island
LeChuck’s Revenge (It has now reached eight pages, so take some time if you’re interested in reading it.)
The Curse of Monkey Island (Now sitting at a healthy five pages.)
Escape from Monkey Island
Return to Monkey Island
- “The Many Epilogues of Return to Monkey Island”
- “The Secret of Cogg Island”

Tales coming soon, possibly.

So, how many of you came to The Adventurer from Mojo? A healthy (and not unexpected) 83%.

9% came straight to The Adventurer and never read Mojo (what’s wrong with you?), while 8% of you came to The Adventurer first and are now (sensibly) Mojo readers.

Let’s dive further into what stands on the intersection of The Adventurer and Mojo.

(To be clear, this is all in the name of morbid, hypothetical curiosity, not an indication of anything to come. But, y’know, who knows how things will pan out in the distant future.)

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo, though be warned: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear – or display – these masterpieces.

Full News Roundup

18 Mar: Double Fine Announces KILN Release Date…: It’s pre-order time! (Almost.)
18 Mar: SCUMM/LucasArts documentary gagging for sign-ups: It may not come to fruition if more people don’t make their support known.
16 Mar: Ron Reveals His Directorial Film Debut: Pretty sure you can find the original secret of Monkey Island in there.
13 Mar: A Vampyre Story: A Bat’s Tale chugging along nicely: The latest developer update reveals all. Or enough.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

13 Mar: “hint###” – ... line. Also, not something we like to give here at Mojole
14 Mar: “big####” – ... Whoop. Ron wasn’t kidding: Big Whoop? Big whoop.
15 Mar: “lrg####” – Limited Run Games. They make collector’s boxes.
16 Mar: “box####” – What the old LucasArts games came in. And also the new collector ones.
17 Mar: “boxes##” – Hell, sometimes you need more than one box in your collection.
18 Mar: “boxer##” – Hurley does some boxing in Grim.
19 Mar: “jack###” – Jack Sparrow: Referenced in Return to Monkey Island.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

I kid, it’s Mojo, closing in on twenty-five years, good grief.

Issue #92: Poker Face

Remi A. Olsen — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 15:43:47 GMT

Putting out a quick one this week, mostly to remind you that Skunkape’s Poker Night at the Inventory Remaster has been released and got a much sought-after thumbs-up review from Mojo. To quote the bard/myself:

I doubt Poker Night at the Inventory was the Skunkape remaster most of us were clamoring for, but you know… maybe it is the right game for the right time? We all need some simple fun these days, and sitting around playing poker with a group of amusing friends isn’t a bad proposition. And, with the bugs fixed and the polish applied, Inventory comes off as a better game than I had expected it to be. It’s also $10, so what are you, some kind of cheapskate that is not going to get it? C’mon.

You’d better just go read the whole thing.

Elsewhere, a bunch of interviews dropped on the ‘tube…

Ron’s Computer Videos sat down with Hal Barwood.

As did TechJesse…

… who also sat down with one Ron Gilbert.

Apparently, a console version of Death by Scrolling is still “on the way,” so keep an eye out right here for when that happens.

Speaking of Ron, his Maniac Mansion was used in academia, where eight-hundred people had four hours to complete the game in the name of science. Two people managed to do so.

Maybe Mojo’s 1-out-of-5-skulls review from 2001 had something going for it after all, though I don’t think it really speaks for our 2026 opinions. Go read it if you like.

Alright, I’m calling it for today.

Your friend,

Remi

Last week, we asked: Did you grab the updated “Duke Grabowski: Mighty Swashbuckler!”? Only 25% of you did, but hey… you’ll have more chances as the game probably will hit consoles or whatever soon (maybe).

This week might sound like a random poll with a duh answer, but this is in the name of market research. If you take a literal second to respond, there will be a special part in where-our-hearts-are-supposed-to-be for you.

Full News Roundup

05 Mar: Poker Night at the Inventorey Not Just Remastered, But Also Reviewed: That’s right, Mojo is all about timely reviews.
05 Mar: Hail Holy Hal: Another Barwood interview unlocks: Your life is a series of LEC interviews with occasional interruptions.
05 Mar: Ron signals that Death by Scrolling ports are nigh in new interview: Not that you were guilty of losing faith.
05 Mar: Smug weirdos launch arbitrary and invasive Maniac Mansion challenge: And nothing of value was learned.
03 Mar: The Wolf Keeps Being Among Us: Alternatively: Wolf in New Clothing
02 Mar: DREAMM Hits 4: 4.0 at that.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

28 Feb: “talk###” – Hey, it’s a verb!
01 Mar: “dave###” – Grossman. Also a tuna head?
02 Mar: “bill###” – Eaken, LEC artist extrordinaire. And the other Bill, too, Bill Eaken, voice of Sam.
03 Mar: “open###” – A famous verb.
04 Mar: “close##” – A not quite as famous verb, but pretty famous either way.
05 Mar: “walk###” – Shouldn’t have been an interface verb. I mean, come on. Just point and click and call it good.
06 Mar: “mire###” – ... Island. Will the adventure continue?

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #91: Duck Duck Guybrush

Remi A. Olsen — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 16:41:16 GMT

They can’t all be great, something that applies to this week, but let’s see what we got.

First, the promised Duke Grabowski improvements have started to trickle in – Tiller Heads, rejoice! 4K looks to be the headliner over on Steam, but for some of us, the upcoming renewed macOS support might be more welcomed. Actually being able to play the game is always helpful. From the “coming soon” files:

Restoring MacOS support - the game will run natively on modern Intel and Apple silicon Macs
Cloud save syncing
Fixed multiple cases where on-screen text didn’t fully match the voiceovers, as well as a few missing subtitles
Fixed aspect ratio issues and incorrect text shadow offsets in subtitles

And, if Steam isn’t your jam, you can find Duke on GOG and ZOOM. Jason also hints at an upcoming console release, though I think that was already more or less wink-wink-confirmed in his interview with publisher Cateia and Bill. Either way, relive the re-release trailer.

Not even remotely related – if you want to see Greg Hammond play Loom with Albu, here’s your chance.

That’s basically it… They can’t all be gold. I suppose you can join in some Sam & Max SCUMM U recreations if that tickles your fancy. Hell, it’s a good excuse to check out our SCUMM U article again, because why not? Oh, and iam8bit has reissued their Psychonauts 2xLP (20th Anniversary Edition) – pick one up, it’s great.

Also, a good reminder to play Monkey Island Frantic.

‘til next time,

Remi

Reddit: Mostly a pit of despair, but now and again, the source of interesting tidbits. Like this little detail discovered by one Technical_Pass7714:

Search for Guybrush Threepwood on DuckDuckGo, and the logo will turn into a duck version of Monkey Island’s protagonist. Try it yourself. Real fans will notice that issue #66 of The Adventurer is the first non-Wiki hit, because of course we are.1

“In a hypothetical world, which TTG remaster would you like to see next from Skunkape?” It was a no-contest question, with Back to the Future at 59%(!). Strong Bad clocked in at 24%, and Puzzle Agent at 12%. Tales from the Borderlands – an under-appreciated game, but what can you do? – bottomed out at 6%.

A simple question for this week:

Full News Roundup

24 Feb: Duke Grabowski now sailing on GOG and Zoom Platform: If Steam isn’t good enough for you.
22 Feb: Daniel Albu plays Loom with producer Greg Hammond: “Ask me about Loom” has never been less innocent an invitation.
20 Feb: Duke Grabowski gets 4K liberation in first of several planned updates: Cateia Games starts delivering on its agenda for 2026.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

20 Feb: “bare###” – -bones Island is where you find Ned.
21 Feb: “bella##” – ... Fisher. Legendary angler.
22 Feb: “xyzzy##” – Cheat code from Colossal Cave and also the escape phrase from the Terror Island cave.
23 Feb: “dee####” – Chucky’s friend.
24 Feb: “push###” – ... is a verb.
25 Feb: “pull###” – ... is also a verb.
26 Feb: “look###” – ... is another verb.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

I’m sure this is location-dependent or whatever, but we take what we can get.

Issue #90: The Great Frame-Up

Remi A. Olsen — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:01:16 GMT

Well, things keep happening, so let’s see what we got.

Winnick is Framed

First, a bunch of framed Gary Winnick art made its way online. You got some Maniac Mansion, and you got some Loom, all rolled up into pure awesomeness. The images originally showed up on Reddit.

I tried using this AI we hear so much about to extract the images, with mixed results. This one could’ve looked worse…

… but, that aside, my attempts put me in Mojo timeout…

… which takes a lot. So, I’m not gonna try that again. (Unless it would give me the sweet relief of firing, but that sounds overly optimistic.)

And Jason is Also Framed

This is as good an excuse as any to reread Jason’s gripping story of framing his Maniac Mansion poster.

In Other Non-Frame News…

Chris Miles is still playing Escape from Monkey Island with Albu…

(I’d argue Escape is 26 years old, but who am I to split hairs?)

Looking for some Pajama Sam music? A vinyl release is on the way. And, if you’re interested in reading more about the artist (The Fat Man), check out our Maniac Mansion retrospective.

Oh, and you can combat diabetes, which, hey, is always a good thing?

I don’t know, it’s been a long week, and that’s all I got. What do you want from me?

– Remi

(You may remember that El Pollo Diablo appeared in a frame.)

Well, I guess Poker Night at the Inventory wasn’t the most sought-after remaster – only 38% of you said yes, you were going to buy it. The same number said straight out nope, while 25% of you are wisely waiting for Mojo’s review. (We’ll have one, ye of little faith.)

Today’s poll:

This Week in Mojo History

9 years ago this week, Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin was released. It’s probably good, but as none of us have VR headsets, we can’t say for sure.

Mojo Merch

(And you can frame the art, too.)

Full News Roundup

18 Feb: Daniel Albu and Chris Miles play EMI together, The Sequel: They’ve shared more screentime at this point than Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, and frankly I prefer their chemistry.
17 Feb: Cressup confronts Jake for Firewatch anniversary: Other sins, he’ll just have to answer for in separate interviews.
16 Feb: Pajama Sam 3 OST to get a vinyl release: Who saw that one in their tea leaves?
13 Feb: Get sweet deals on video games, help combat diabetes: Games include Thimbleweed Park, Tales from the Borderlands, and Sam and Max.
13 Feb: A special edition haircut for a very special boy: Apologies to Guybrush.
13 Feb: A special edition haircut for a very special boy: Apologies to Guybrush.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

12 Feb: “head###” – Something of the head.
13 Feb: “#x#####” – X always marks the spot! (It probably will be, indeed.)
14 Feb: “scalp##” – Though that was where the dandruff came from.
15 Feb: “mop####” – Mop trees: One meets an unfortunate end in ReMI.
16 Feb: “stapl##” – Acronym for the Marley scurvy foundation -- she also has a staple remover on her desk. What can it all mean?!
17 Feb: “odina##” – The queen of Brrr Muda. Former queen. Y’know.
18 Feb: “lime###” – You need a lime if you’re going to Brrr Muda.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #89: Mojo Takes You to School

Remi A. Olsen — Tue, 10 Feb 2026 19:36:54 GMT

Let’s just jump into it, shall we?

The big one from us this week is the launch of Jason’s epic tome on SCUMM University:

If you’re not familiar with SCUMM U, it was simply a way for new LucasArts developers to learn the SCUMM scripting language.

You’ll find all kinds of weird little factoids within the article, alongside interviews with Jennifer Sward, Tami Borowick, Mike Stemmle, and many others. There’s even art in possibly haven’t seen before. For example:

Go check it out.

SCUMM: VM Style

ScummVM is smacking it down with an interesting update…

Read the official update. Interestingly, this means you can play Monkey Island 2: Special Edition in classic mode with both speech and MT-32 music. For some – many? – that might be the ultimate way to enjoy the game.

And, what’s all this MT-32 business? Check out our article on the subject. It’s DREAMM heavy, but also has a SCUMM section.

Speaking of DREAMM, version four is on the way, so keep an eye out on that.

Jake Speaks

Firewatch apparently turns ten this year. What on god’s green earth? Setting aside that we’re all ancient, let’s focus on the positive: Laura Cress sat down with Mojo alumni1, Jake Rodkin, to talk about the game:

And, in other Jake-related news, Skunkape will be releasing a Poker Night at the Inventory special edition on March 5th.

Lookin’ good!

This Week in Mojo History

18 years ago this week, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Night of the Raving Dead. (One day earlier on GameTap, but who subscribed to that?)

Last week, we asked if you were excited for Double Fine’s new title, Kiln. 64% probably weren’t, while 14% needed more information. 21% gave a resounding Yes!

Today, let’s ask the (more or less) same question about Poker Night:

Merch!

Full News Roundup

08 Feb: SCUMM U alumni regale us with their campus hijinks: Imagine going to college with Sam and Max.
04 Feb: Skunkape selects dessert, now tackling Poker Night at the Inventory: The ex-Telltale restoration artisans push in their chips on the next remaster.
04 Feb: Cress SCUMMs It, Documentary Style: Twenty-nine years in and coming up with pun-y headlines is becoming difficult.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

03 Feb: “drown##” – Guybrush can only hold his breath for so long.
04 Feb: “lila###” – A new pirate leader.
05 Feb: “chums##” – The ‘secret’ angler society.
06 Feb: “cogg###” – Cogg Island -- the hidden, easter-egg island in ReMI.
07 Feb: “cava###” – Coronado de Cava, from Tales.
08 Feb: “body###” – Something of the body.
09 Feb: “ibm####” – ... compatible. The platform of choice for many gamers back in the day. And even now. You swine should have gotten an Amiga instead!

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Technically he never resigned, so change that to “staffer.”

Issue #88: For Your Eyeballs

Remi A. Olsen — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 00:01:38 GMT

It has been a video-centric week, but let’s kick off with the biggest piece of news: Double Fine has announced its next game, Kiln. This is a multiplayer party brawler, starring… pots. Yes, it’s weird, which is what we like to see from Double Fine. Here’s the trailer:

And if the game looks familiar, it’s because it is an Amnesia Fortnight graduate. (Amnesia Fortnight being Double Fine’s annual two-week-long game jams.)

Want to give the game a go before the proletariat? Go sign up for beta access – and, for more Kiln, check out the official announcement.

Over to those videos…

First, a 1998 episode of the Swedish tech show Sajber has resurfaced on YouTube. Notably, it features five minutes of LucasArts, specifically Grim Fandango, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, and Star Wars: Behind the Magic. Go watch some vintage LEC goodness:

Meanwhile, YouTube channel TechJesse has posted two Mojo-related videos:

Peter Langston might not be an instantly recognizable name, but he was, for all intents and purposes, Lucasfilm Games’ employee number one. Rescue on Fractalus! and Ballblazer – Langston oversaw both of ‘em.

And, just yesterday, TechJesse sat down with David Fox, who… well, you know who David Fox is and that he is always a gentleman.

There are a bunch more TechJesse interviews to peruse through, and Sierra is well represented for the depraved amongst you. We can only assume Jason ran and watched Al Lowe’s Larry video multiple times.

Grickle Hits Substack

You know and love Graham Annable from LucasArts, Telltale, LAIKA, and more, and we’re happy to see that he has moved1 his Grickle series to a daily newsletter. I was going to say he joined Substack because of us, but… actually, seeing there isn’t really any proof of the opposite, we’ll just take that credit.

Last week, we asked, “Which LEC game would you like to see get the SE treatment next?” 55% of you picked The Curse of Monkey Island, while 19% wanted to see a new version of The Dig. Maniac Mansion hit 13% and Loom 6%. Zak, too, limped in to 6%, which can only mean this newsletter is doing poorly in Germany.

Today’s question – are you excited for Kiln?

This Week in Mojo History

12 years ago this week, Tim returns to adventure gaming with Broken Age.

Full News Roundup

23 Jan: A visit to LucasArts by Swedish television forever preserved: Learn about the hottest N64 games the studio has in the pipeline.
22 Jan: Double Fine Is Kiln It: Kiln being the new title, natch.
21 Jan: Peter Langston imparts the origins of Lucasfilm Games: And he’s the guy to do it, since he basically created the company.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

19 Jan: “stew###” – Food featured in the SCUMM Bar kitchen. Will it return in Return?
20 Jan: “high###” – ... Street: The street with the jail, church, etc. in MI1/Return.
21 Jan: “low####” – ... Street: The street with the Voodoo Lady -- and Wally! -- in MI1/Return.
22 Jan: “ten####” – Seems like it’s always ten o’clock on that island.
23 Jan: “holy###” – ... crap, ReMI releases on Monday!
24 Jan: “whooo##” – ... oooooo! Return to Monkey Island releases tomorrow!
25 Jan: “today##” – ... is the release day of Return to Monkey Island!

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

It might also be posted to other socials, I don’t know. Checking sources isn’t “my thing.”

Issue #87: In Case You Missed the ICYMI

Remi A. Olsen — Thu, 15 Jan 2026 21:42:00 GMT

A slow week isn’t enough to keep a good newsletter down, so let’s just jump straight into it, shall we?

If it’s new to us, it’s new to us, and maybe it’s new to you? “Ron’s Computer Videos” is, as one might expect, just that: Videos about computers from Ron (just not that Ron). Turns out that between fixing up Apple IIs and Macs, Ron takes some time to chat with old-time LucasArts+ alumni. Like Brad Taylor:

And, many others:

Jason has already given the channel his seal of approval, so you know there’s gold at the end of this particular rainbow. Go check it all out yourself.

ICYMI Marches On

Our ever-evolving Monkey Island 2 ICYMI article keeps expanding like a bloated corpse, and it has now reached eight pages. The additions:

The Line Changes from the Special Edition: White slavers, we hardly knew ye.
Tim’s Tweets: Schafer basically provided live commentary for his Special Edition playthrough.
The Phatt Library Books: All the books with descriptions and Guybrush’s commentary on them.

We posted this video here a while back, but, hey, it’s always worth a rewatch.

Let’s go crazy and add the music comparisons, too.

Soundtrack of the Week

Alright, that was a lot of Monkey Island videos – let’s cleanse the palate with the Gone Jackals’ Full Throttle mini soundtrack.

In the tradition of the many LucasArts special editions – which one would you like to see next? (Substack only allows five choices, so my apologies to Indy.)

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs. For example:

T-shirts! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo. Warning: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear these masterpieces. (Merch also available as stickers, magnets, etc. Void where prohibited.)
Magnets! Stickers! Does your fridge look too plain? Your laptop lid too empty? Dress them up with vintage maps of Phatt, Scabb, and Booty.

Full News Roundup

12 Jan: Your life is no longer your own as Ron’s Computer Videos interviews LucasArts vets: You haven’t a moment to lose, but you do have hours to lose.
08 Jan: In Case You Missed the ICYMI Changes to the Monkey Island 2 Article: Line changes! Tim tweets! Books!

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

08 Jan: “shirt##” – Commonly used as a prize both in The Secret of Monkey Island AND Mojole.
09 Jan: “smart##” – Get Smart! Sixties TV show where ‘That’s the second-biggest [insert item here] I’ve ever seen!’ originated.
10 Jan: “whoop##” – Big Whoop: Another way of saying ‘so what?’
11 Jan: “bone###” – Bone Master and sort of a Telltale game.
12 Jan: “chan###” – Peter Chan -- famed LEC, Double Fine, etc. artist.
13 Jan: “###x###” – X still marks the spot! (No whining about this one, please.)
14 Jan: “plaid##” – Like Stan’s coat.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #86: Old Is the New New, Part II: The Trivaing

Mixnmojo — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 16:40:44 GMT

It was a wild ride, the social media train, and while it probably will never completely stop, it’s interesting to see old-school publishing having a moment. Out goes 280 characters, in comes actual content – at least in some corners of the world.

Maybe the most notable shift is Ron “Ronzo” Gilbert’s return to blogging on his Grumpy Gamer website. Particularly, “Making New IP” has some fairly explosive information:

Thimbleweed Park cost around $1.1M to make. $600k came from Kickstarter backers and $500k came from private investors I found later. Kickstarter for digital games is all but dead. I could not raise the money to make Thimbleweed Park 2 on Kickstarter today. I couldn’t even raise the full amount back then.
I have spoken to publishers and they have been willing to fund Thimbleweed Park 2, but they get rich and I get very little and have to do most of the work.
I am done with that.
From now on I’m going to make the small games I want and have fun doing it.

Hey, it’s all good, and his Death by Scrolling recently took home Mojo’s “Game of the Year” award1.

Mojo never stopped being old school – it’s in our lifeblood – but some things have sort of, kind of fallen by the wayside. Our RSS feed still works, just with some dents here and there. So, consider this a pledge to get it (and some other stuff) cleaned up very soon. Google Reader’s untimely death was a bad blow to syndicated reading, but even it (RSS, not Reader) seems to be having a second coming. And we’re here for it.

Let’s not stop there, though.

Forums + Trivia = ❤️

Once in a while, not often, but every now and again, our forums reawaken from slumber. As we enter 2026, it looks like they might again have a new lease of life, and several threads have gotten some action. A couple of new ones have made their way in, too. For the latter, user Walmaker has recreated some “lost” Monkey Island 2 scenes, where LeChuck’s voodoo room might be the coolest one:

Nice! You might also recognize that scene from the Video Game History Foundation’s Monkey Island fireside chat – work courtesy of Marius, Jake, and Zaarin. (You know them from Mojo. And probably many other places.)

Meanwhile, “The Details of Monkey Island” is hopping-ish again, showing off old and new trivia. These little tidbits are always compelling, as different people will have missed different details in the games. Others might have missed something that was obvious to some. Having one place to find it all – like the MojoDB trivia section – is always helpful, and so is this thread where, for example, you can learn that LeShip’s paintings are very much alive.

Continuing down the Monkey Island road, Walmaker (yet again) points out a LeChuck’s Revenge nugget I was not aware of: You can give the “Big Book of Fish” to the fisherman on the Phatt Island wharf.

Hey, those small things are fun.

That thread kick-started “References to LEC adventures in other games“ with an ill-advised Loom joke(?) from Sierra.

Scroll down for some Darkside Detective nonsense and even a small nod courtesy of the disturbing Darkseed. (Those two games have two very different takes on “dark.”)

… and, in case you missed it…

This week, I learned that Quick and Easy Ben did not know that “ICYMI” is an abbreviation for “in case you missed it,” which means he – and presumably others – quite literally missed the meaning of our four “ICYMI” articles’ titles. (“The Secret of Monkey Island,” “LeChuck’s Revenge,” “Escape from Monkey Island,” and “Return to Monkey Island.“) Make that five: This week, we published an ICYMI on The Curse of Monkey Island. A fitting example from it is this little New Year’s dialogue snippet:

Play the game in January, and Domingo will wish you a happy New Year. Hey, again, it’s all about the small things.

This Week in Mojo History

19 years ago this week, Sam & Max Save the World: Situation: Comedy released. (Technically released Dec 20, 2006, but who the hell subscribed to GameTap?)
18 years ago this week, Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: Moai Better Blues. (One day earlier on GameTap, but who subscribed to that?)

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs. For example:

T-shirts! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo. Warning: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear these masterpieces. (Merch also available as stickers, magnets, etc. Void where prohibited.)
Magnets! Stickers! Does your fridge look too plain? Your laptop lid too empty? Dress them up with vintage maps of Phatt, Scabb, and Booty.

Full News Roundup

04 Jan: Ron Keeps on Blogging: And bless him for that.
02 Jan: ICYMI Continues with The Curse of Monkey Island: Get ready to fill your mind with useless trivia.
31 Dec: We Deem 2025 Surprisingly Acceptable: … plus, we reveal our Game of the Year.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

30 Dec: “alien##” – They bend minds in Zak.
31 Dec: “carlo##” – Aka ElCarlo: LeChuck’s brother got bumped from MI2
01 Jan: “part###” – 1, 2, 3, etc.: LucasArts games were sometimes divided into parts.
02 Jan: “act####” – 1, 2, 3, etc.: LucasArts games were sometimes divided into acts.
03 Jan: “rex####” – ... Crowle: Art director extraordinaire on ReMI.
04 Jan: “fox####” – David Fox. LucasArts stalwart and all round gentleman.
05 Jan: “noah###” – Noah Falstein. LucasArts stalwart and all round gentleman.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The award was a place in our hearts.

Issue #85: “Surprisingly Acceptable”

Remi A. Olsen — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 20:23:54 GMT

Just a quick issue today to wish y’all a happy new year, and, more importantly, to announce the winner of our Full Throttle Bonanza. For those in need of a reminder, we put out a Game of the Year poll here and on Mojo Proper, and one lucky winner was set to receive a Full Throttle bundle. As luck would have it, an Adventurer reader took home the prize. Without further ado, the winner is…

Eduardo N!

Congratulations! We shall contact you within the next few days to ensure you receive the prize in a timely-ish manner. (Last year’s winner, Sushi, can testify to how “timely” that was. 🤗)

Our 2025 recap – “Surprisingly Acceptable” – has posted over on Mojo, but to peruse some highlights:

Mojo Proper named Ron Gilbert’s (in my mind, surprisingly) excellent Death by Scrolling Game of the Year, while The Adventurer’s readers went with Double Fine’s Keeper. It is fitting, really, as both were excellent games deserving of the GOTY accolade. Some may remember our Keeper review posted in The Adventurer first, because of Mojo’s server issues, so give it another read if you so like.

For the stats nerds amongst you, that was also our sixth-highest-visited issue of the year. The top five reads:

That aside, I think we’ll call it good for this week and for 2025! Thanks for being an Adventurer subscriber – if you know someone else who might be interested in the LucasArts+ nonsense we publish, please feel free to share the newsletter with them.

And, yes, for those looking for a special place in our hearts and minds, consider upgrading your subscription to a paid one! It will help us keep publishing The Adventurer and keep Mojo running. In fact, get 20% off, just for being you!

Get 20% off forever

And that’s it: Happy New Year!

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs. For example:

T-shirts! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo. Warning: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear these masterpieces. (Merch also available as stickers, magnets, etc. Void where prohibited.)
Magnets! Stickers! Does your fridge look too plain? Your laptop lid too empty? Dress them up with vintage maps of Phatt, Scabb, and Booty.

Full News Roundup

31 Dec: We Deem 2025 Surprisingly Acceptable: … plus, we reveal our Game of the Year.
23 Dec: Celebrate Festivus with Autumn Moon holiday card: Another seasons greetings from Bill Tiller.
22 Dec: Mojo’s AdventureX representative returns with expanded palate: An old series rides again! Sorta.
21 Dec: SCUMM documentary in the works, with your help: Both pointing and clicking are referred to, so it’s safe to say they know their stuff.
16 Dec: Jonathan Ackley unveils “Blackout on Oasis Station”: …on LinkedIn.
15 Dec: Celebrate five years of Bill Eaken’s artwork [for our Sam & Max 2 article]: And sure, check out the article if time permits, too. It’s your life.

16 Days Worth of Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

15 Dec: “##x####” – X still marks the spot! Mojole is a treasure hunt, y’all.
16 Dec: “craig##” – ... Derrick. Craig Derrick. Craig. Derrick.
17 Dec: “cobb###” – Ask him about Loom.
18 Dec: “lili###” – Lili Zanotto from Psychonauts.
19 Dec: “spade##” – Aka shovel. Guybrush uses one a lot
20 Dec: “death##” – There aren’t many deaths in LEC games. Plus! DeathSpank!
21 Dec: “spank##” – DeathSpank!
22 Dec: “crow###” – Crow’s nest -- particularly a ‘thing’ in MI1.
23 Dec: “crate##” – LeChuck’s presumed henchman in ReMI famously carries crates.
24 Dec: “remi###” – ReMI: Preferred abbreviation for Return to Monkey Island according to Mojo’s Manual of Style.
25 Dec: “zak####” – ... McKracken: Generally considered the patron saint of Germany.
26 Dec: “ron####” – ... Gilbert. Former #monkey-island visitor.
27 Dec: “####4##” – Sometimes, you just need to feel the calm nothing of nothingness.
28 Dec: “bob####” – Set to make a glorious return in ReMI.
29 Dec: “dinky##” – Dinky Island; also the name of the engine powering ReMI.
30 Dec: “alien##” – They bend minds in Zak.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #84: The Winter of Our Content

Remi A. Olsen — Tue, 09 Dec 2025 19:10:35 GMT

Look, don’t get used to this. That we’re ending the year on a barrage of content, that’s more or less a once-in-a-lifetime thing. But, in this year of our lord, 2025, content is what we bring: A chat with Cateia Games and Bill Tiller; a new Monkey Island-centric ICYMI article; a deceivingly in-depth feature on Wally’s fate in LeChuck’s Revenge… and more is coming soon. Very soon.

For now, let’s have a quick look at what we’ve got thus far.

First, Cateia Games and Bill Tiller chatted with us about the surprise Duke Grabowski revival. For fans of Autumn Moon’s short Ghost Pirate of Vooju Island prequel, there should be plenty of things to look forward to – higher-resolution backgrounds, console and mobile support, and some news of a potential Vooju sequel. It’s all in there. Even a tidbit about A Vampyre Story 2: A Bat’s Tale, too, which seems likely to see a (Halloween?) 2027 release. Read the whole interview at Mojo Proper.

I call this “deceivingly” in-depth because, while it might initially read like another one of Jason’s angry manifestos, it does examine “hidden” assets, and features some reconstructed scenes.

Sure, the normies won’t see the big deal, but you will. Go read the damn thing – I didn’t make that animation just out of the goodness of my heart. (Have a look at the comments, too, where Dave Grossman (probably) has the last word on the matter (maybe).)

Escape from Monkey Island is still twenty-five, and the celebration keeps going with our ICYMI article. We dig into the wild and bumpy cover-art ride and investigate the Giant Monkey Robot. Go check it out if you’re interested in (good grief) quarter-of-a-century-old history.

Game of the Year and that Full Throttle Contest

The poll is closed, and while a lot of you voted for your Game of the Year, only a handful of you posted your name/nickname/whatever in the comments. Which is perfectly fine, but if you want to be part of the Full Throttle drawing, we will need that comment – there is no way to look up who actually voted in the poll. Comment if you haven’t already.

This Week in Mojo History

16 years ago this week, Tales of Monkey Island: Rise of the Pirate God releases.
15 years ago this week, First episode of TTG’s Back to the Future launched.

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs. For example:

T-shirts! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo. Warning: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear these masterpieces. (Merch also available as stickers, magnets, etc. Void where prohibited.)
Magnets! Stickers! Does your fridge look too plain? Your laptop lid too empty? Dress them up with vintage maps of Phatt, Scabb, and Booty.

Full News Roundup

09 Dec: ICYMI no. 3 for EMI at 25: A convoluted headline for a convoluted history.
08 Dec: Keeper Goes Colorless: It’s just weird enough for it to make sense.
08 Dec: Mojo talks Duke Grabowski’s future with its new custodians: What do you mean you’re surprised we still do interviews?
05 Dec: “Justice for Wally!” cries Jason in unsolicited Monkey Island 2 investigation: Stubborn whispers of a sinister fate planned for Wally are breathlessly examined in this bright bit of, uh, “journalism.”
03 Dec: Dom wins hearts and minds with AdventureX oration: We might have brought it up two weeks ago, but we needed proof he wasn’t A.I.
02 Dec: Duke Grabowski improbably rides again: Remi’s favorite game gets adoption papers and a new shine.
02 Dec: Watch Daniel Albu and Chris Miles play EMI: Notice how this was not phrased as a recommendation.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

02 Dec: “midi###” – MIDI music. You know what it is.
03 Dec: “cmi####” – Common abbreviation for The Curse of Monkey Island.
04 Dec: “efmi###” – Mike Stemmle has stated this is the preferred abbreviation for Escape from Monkey Island.
05 Dec: “emi####” – But this is the more common abbreviation for Escape from Monkey Island.
06 Dec: “tales##” – Tales of Monkey Island. This is all very thematic.
07 Dec: “fred###” – Dr. Fred, from Maniac Mansion and DOTT. Come on.
08 Dec: “zzzzz##” – Those poodles? Only sleeping.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #83: End of Year Polls Brings “Full Throttle” Prizes

Remi A. Olsen — Tue, 02 Dec 2025 17:55:14 GMT

2025, what a year. And I mean that in the glass-half-empty type of a way. There were some bright spots, too, and the Mojoverse saw some glimmers of hope. Two excellent games, for example, from Double Fine and Ron Gilbert, respectively.

As we do almost every year, we want to end the year with a bang, not only with our Best of… polls, but also with a contest. This year, a random winner will receive a Full Throttle Remaster collection pack:

That’s the Xbox One and PS4 version, and, most importantly, the “PC Limited Edition” box. The latter includes a bandana and possibly other stuff. (I’m not sure what the “possibly other stuff” is (if anything), as I haven’t opened my own box. 🤷

Here’s how to enter: First, sign up for a Mojo Forums account if you don’t already have one. Then, vote in the following polls:

That’s all you need to do – each vote gives you an entry in the contest. And, as a valued Adventurer subscriber, you get an additional chance to win by voting for “Game of the Year – The Adventurer’s Pick”:

Make sure you leave a comment on this post if you voted. Substack polls are anonymous, so if you don’t, your chance to win the Full Throttle prize package will be null and void. (And, if your choice is “Other,” sound off in the comments.)1

Looking at our forum polls, they were literally just posted, so there’s little to speculate from. Death by Scrolling has already seen a couple of votes for Game of the Year, and Jason is deservedly in the lead for Snarkiest Mojo Updater. “Investigating Debug Mode in Telltale Games” may take home the Awesome-est Mojo Feature – not surprisingly, seeing our readers like a good hacking article. In fact, for those who need a reminder of the features we’ve posted this year, here ya go:

And, finally, that Ron is showing interest in developing a Blue-Prince-style game seems to excite people the most about the future. Hey, it makes sense – Blue Prince is a favorite around the Mojo offices.

Now, go vote, and good luck to all of you!

This Week in Mojo History

34 years ago this week, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge released sometime in December.
11 years ago this week, apparently, TTG released a Game of Thrones game.

Full News Roundup

02 Dec: It’s Time: Our 2025 “Best of…” Polls and a “Full Throttle” Contest: Vote and you, too, can take home Full Throttle swag.
01 Dec: Ron Talks Death, Scrolling, and Adventures: And some other things, but that’s the gist of it.
25 Nov: Clint Bajakian speaks to Nightdive about composing Outlaws: It’s only his masterpiece.
25 Nov: Outlaws + Handful of Missions: Remaster = Review: A half-assed review for a quarter-assed remaster.

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs. For example:

T-shirts! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo. Warning: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear these masterpieces. (Merch also available as stickers, magnets, etc. Void where prohibited.)
Magnets! Stickers! Does your fridge look too plain? Your laptop lid too empty? Dress them up with vintage maps of Phatt, Scabb, and Booty.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

25 Nov: “brrr###” – Brrr Muda -- a new location in Return to Monkey Island.
26 Nov: “muda###” – Brrr Muda -- a new location in Return to Monkey Island.
27 Nov: “ghost##” – The Ghost Pirate LeChuck, etc.
28 Nov: “otis###” – Famed prisoner from The Secret of Monkey Island, about to make his way into ReMI, too.
29 Nov: “cook###” – There are many cooks in the LEC games, maybe most notably the one in the SCUMM Bar.
30 Nov: “spit###” – A common theme in LeChuck’s Revenge.
01 Dec: “st#####” – For some reason, many people played the early LEC titles on the Atari ST.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Some restrictions apply; void where prohibited. Employees of mixnmojo.com are not eligible for the prize.

Issue #82: Escape at Twenty-Five

Remi A. Olsen — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 22:53:23 GMT

Hey, did you know Escape from Monkey Island (EMI) just turned twenty-five? For some – me – it brings quiet contemplation on why we’re sitting here writing about the same topics, year after year, decade after decade. But here we are. And write we do. None of which changes that the game was released in Europe twenty-five years ago this week.

So, EMI. It’s still a game many “hardcore fans” consider the red-headed stepchild of the family. I’d wager, though, that equally many find that opinion to be exaggerated and unfair. Here at Mojo Towers, EMI has always been a bit of a dark horse favorite. Maybe not a favorite in the sense that it’s our “favorite game ever,” but one that we thoroughly found quite enjoyable. Look no further than our Secret History article, where Jason gave it a more-than-solid 4 out of 5 skulls1. We even released a podcast episode aptly called “In Defense of Escape from Monkey Island.” Mojo is a staunch-ish supporter, as proven by our anniversary celebration.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand why people still have some misgivings. Going from this to this…

… was admittedly jarring.

There was, at the time, a lot of finger-pointing and hearsay about EMI’s development issues, some more accurate than others. Hearsay is bad, so of course, we’ll contribute to it right here. The number that was floating around the rumor mill was that the game’s budget clocked in at $750,000 – a pittance even back then.2 That EMI wasn't a graphical masterpiece sort of makes sense when you consider that.

The soundtrack fared better in the populist court of law. Famously, Michael Land and Peter McConnell left LucasArts during early production, leaving Clint Bajakian in charge of the music. Not long after, he, too, exited, though he remained the principal composer with contributions from Land and McConnell. Additionally, Anna Karney and Michael Lande(!) were brought in to finish out the soundtrack. In an interview with iMuse Island, Clint described the division thusly:

“As I was lead composer, I composed music across all areas, but in general the break down is as follows. Michael Land handled most of Mêlée Island, Peter McConnell the ‘back side’ of Lucre Island, myself the ‘front side, or town’ of Lucre, Michael Lande, Jambalaya Island (of course, Peter did Stan!) and Anna Karney, Monkey Island. I wrote all the cutscene music except Toothrot’s ‘Ozzie story’ which Anna composed.”

The soundtrack is, in this handsome man’s opinion, quite good.

It’s also worth mentioning that EMI was well received at the time of release, at least by the mainstream media. Metacritic clocks the PC version at a “General Favorable” 86 out of a 100. Spaff threw down a 5/5 rating in his demo review, while the PS2 version pulled in a healthy 3/5 from Mojo. Granted, it also had this cover…

The insert is from an unused version where Guybrush stares into your eyes like a homicidal maniac.

… which gives me nightmares to this day. It can’t all be a win. 🤷

As a whole, though, Escape from Monkey Island is a game I stand behind. It may not be perfect, but it’s fun. Great music. Even some of the graphics ain’t half bad, relatively speaking. Give it another playthrough if you haven’t in a while – it might surprise you.

To wit…

El Poll Diablo

Last week, we asked how you felt about Death by Scrolling after playing it. Apparently, very few of you picked up Ron’s latest, as only five (5) people voted. Three loved it and two thought it was pretty good.

Moving on to the next poll: This is a safe place and you’re amongst friends. It’s time to unburden yourself and tell us how you really feel about EMI.

Only the best! Mojo has a web store for all your apparel and decoration needs. For example:

T-shirts! Don the original LucasArts logo, Manny Calavera’s face, or the OG Adventurer logo. Warning: Popularity will smack you in your face when you wear these masterpieces.
Magnets! Stickers! Does your fridge look too plain? Your laptop lid too empty? Dress them up with vintage maps of Phatt, Scabb, and Booty.

More to come! (Possibly.)

This Week in Mojo History

25 years ago this week, Escape from Monkey Island released in Europe.

Full News Roundup

14 Nov: Better Late Than Never: Our “Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island” Über Review: I mean, odds are you played it already, but whatever.
13 Nov: Keeper Found: Double Fine drops another doc.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

12 Nov: “mix####” – -n-mojo. You know.
13 Nov: “flac###” – Many of you want the soundtracks in this format.
14 Nov: “park###” – Thimbleweed Park. Great game!
15 Nov: “sea####” – Trim the sails and roam the sea! Milking that cow.
16 Nov: “x######” – There are multiple Xs in ReMI!
17 Nov: “slaw###” – More slaw!
18 Nov: “vooju##” – Jason once claimed Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island was as good as Broken Age.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

This was from when we still gave scores, which we have since stopped doing.

Other numbers have since been thrown out, but at the time, that was the one most often cited.

Issue #81: Death by Reviewing

Remi A. Olsen — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 19:39:40 GMT

There sure was a lot back and forth, but as promised, we did post our Death by Scrolling review, and we… well, I… found myself positively surprised. As did Ron:

Hey, we call ‘em like we see ‘em, and what we saw was quite excellent. I know mainstream media has been somewhat less enthused, but for my money – in this case, less than $8 – I think Death by Scrolling is a well-worth investment. The game is a lot less frantic than what I had expected, which, as someone who vastly prefers not to be stressed, is a net positive. It’s fast-moving, for sure, but Death by Scrolling feels downright relaxing in its simplicity. That’s not a backhanded compliment either. It’s a fun game.

Go read the full review.

In Other News

The final Outlaws Remaster trailer dropped and… yow. Outlaws OG is still one of my favorite FPSs, and this new version looks worse in almost every way. Still, Mojo will review it, so if you haven’t made your mind up yet, we’ll do so for ya.

Back in the land of games that don’t suck, Double Fine has released a making-ofKeeper documentary.

Give it a watch when you have the time (as I do not right now).

Finally, the annual Telltale Humble Bundle is here. This is a good time to complete your collection, should you not already own all their games.

Let’s pull in a couple of Death by Scrolling trivia pieces, just to whet your appetite.

The Copy Protection Codes

The old LucasArts games, of course, came with infamous copy-protection codes. Within Death by Scrolling, the codes will be found on a photocopied piece of paper, much like how games were pirated in the 1990s.

Wally Shows Up

Wally B. Feed, everyone’s favorite cartographer, makes a cameo as a quest giver.

There are, not shockingly, many more secrets to be found, but we also don’t want to spoil your fun – go explore and find out for yourself. It’s good for you.

Most of you were rather non-committal about picking up Death by Scrolling last week – 48% showed no interest. Now that a week has passed, let’s see how things look. If you did play it, what is your opinion on the game?

Full News Roundup

09 Nov: Outlaws remaster will not be forgotten, arrives this month: Zak McKracken remaster remains unannounced
07 Nov: Our Death by Scrolling Review – Fashionably Late: The day-one review streak had to end at some point.
07 Nov: A Telltale Humble Bundle: There’s a Humble Bundle right now featuring 7 game series
06 Nov: Ron Probably Doesn’t Die by Scrolling: I don’t know, it’s the best title I could come up with, gimme a break.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

06 Nov: “full###” – … Throttle. Did you know the scene with Ben and the bartender’s nose ring was an homage to Largo and the barkeep in MI2?
07 Nov: “sean###” – … Clark. LEC guy who disappeared.
08 Nov: “sail###” – You trim them while you roam the sea.
09 Nov: “milk###” – You laugh and it comes out your nose according to MI2 marketing.
10 Nov: “tim####” – Schafer. NES Maniac Mansion playtester.
11 Nov: “levy###” – Eugene Levy starred in the Maniac Mansion TV show.
12 Nov: “mix####” – -n-mojo. You know.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #80: [title TBA in issue #81]

Remi A. Olsen — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 15:53:08 GMT

Well, we’re still reeling – emotionally, if not technically – from ChatGPT’s DoS attack, but the world keeps on rolling.

Possibly most importantly, Death by Scrolling is out there, and while we would have published a timely-ish review, MicroProse keeps sending us review codes for all of their games except for Ronzo’s latest outing. (We kindly spared you from a breathless Dagger Directive write-up.) Around Mojo’s offices, the general opinions are mixed, though it’s worth noting that the naysayers don’t have misgivings about the game itself, but rather the genre. We’re old around here – stressful games aren’t always our “thing.” More to come soon, probably.

Meanwhile, Halloween came and went, with both Dave Grossman and Bill Tiller publishing their annual greetings.

Speaking of Autumn Moon and A Vampyre Story don’t-call-it-2, the team recently partook in a Discord chat. You can find the ostensible highlights on our forums.

In Keeper news, we published our review in its proper place (thanks, Substack, for temporarily hosting it), while Double Fine posted a Lee Petty retrospective.

And, finally, Devcom’s 2023 Return to Monkey Island panel has made its way to the public thanks to one David Fox. Jump to 12:28 to hear our German correspondent, Marius, grilling LeCrew.

Oh… and…

In celebration of the Devcom video, let’s return to Return to Monkey Island’s banger of a soundtrack.

I just noticed that YouTube now embeds an in-video chapter selector, making it easier to jump between tracks. Enjoying the whole thing from start to finish is always recommended, though.

In Issue #78, we asked, “Which was your favorite Pirates of the Caribbean sequel?” Basically, everyone went with “Dead Man’s Chest,” while the other movies pulled in 8% each.

Today’s poll: “Did you play Death by Scrolling?”

Full News Roundup

04 Nov: Happy Halloween from Autumn Moon: Except, you know, they did it on time.
30 Oct: The Pumpkin House of Horrors 2025: The House of Mojo touts the House of Horrors, as always.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

30 Oct: “trim###” – the sails and
31 Oct: “gary###” – Gary Winnick, LucasFilm Games legend. (Oh, you thought it would be ‘roam?’ How gauche.)
01 Nov: “roam###” – the sea! (How gauche.)
02 Nov: “grim###” – Come on now.
03 Nov: “grog###” – Grog! Grog! Grog!
04 Nov: “mike###” – Stemmle! Known and loved Sam & Max champ.
05 Nov: “blood##” – … Island. It’s in CMI.

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The Mojo Network

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

Issue #79: “Keeper,” Reviewed and Loved

Remi A. Olsen — Fri, 17 Oct 2025 15:03:12 GMT

Mojo Proper™ has taken a tumble, so exclusively for The Adventurer’s subscribers, we’re posting our Keeper review here. Our actual website will hopefully be back in commission soon.

Double Fine returns with its first post-Psychonauts 2 title, the appropriately weird and surreal Keeper. And it’s pretty great.

If you’ve read or watched any of its many previews, you already know that Keeper’s premise is minimal: A bird – Twig – is on the run from a dark mass when it crash-lands onto a lighthouse. The lighthouse wakes up and uses its light to obliterate the darkness before it grows legs and resolutely starts wandering toward… well, who knows where. But Twig stays right there with them to help solve puzzles and guide them toward the final destination.

It’s easier said than done to explain what type of game Keeper actually is. Double Fine calls it a “puzzle adventure,” which is true, but that doesn’t fully capture the gameplay. A “surreal hiking simulator” might be more appropriate, but that’s too close to the oft disparaged “walking simulator.” Either way, hiking is one of Keeper’s core concepts. Project lead Lee Petty found inspiration during his treks at the height of the pandemic. As anyone who goes on hikes with any regularity will attest to, they’re not boring like “walking simulators”-detractors often try to make them out to be. Hikes, for many of us, are introspective, and, to me, that is what Keeper ultimately is. Introspective. That might not be a genre, but it should be: “Introspection,” sweeping the nation and returning us to some sort of normalcy, which, ultimately, is what Keeper is about. Moving forward while using your light to eradicate darkness.

As far as the actual gaming mechanisms go, I get why Double Fine would call Keeper a “puzzle adventure.” In addition to walking around in a fully formed world – more about that in a bit – the game relies heavily on something adjacent to traditional puzzles. The game has no dialogue, and hints and progress come from shining your light around the environment while using Twig to interact with levers and cogs. The general goal is to let the lighthouse and Twig move forward to… wherever they’re going… by removing obstacles.

I’m not much of a puzzle solver, so I appreciate that Keeper has a good grasp on human logic. Not once did I find any of the riddles to be obtuse, which, seeing that there are no traditional hints to lean on, is impressive. It’s helpful that the puzzles are set in confined areas, and there is little to no need to travel back and forth to search for objects you might have missed. (That’s very much in tune with proper hikes – backtracking is a chore.)

A Living, Breathing World

Hiking – it’s good for you and the world.

Simple as the initial plot may be, a more concrete story (very) gradually unfolds as you progress. I’m not going to get into the meat of it here – the melancholy and joyful discoveries are significant parts of the game – but Keeper has a story that goes beyond what first meets the eye.

So, while the gameplay is satisfying – with intuitive controls and a well-implemented automated camera system – more than anything, it’s the world of Keeper that is intriguing. The graphics are among the most beautiful I’ve seen in a long time, where otherworldly flora and fauna mix with mechanical gadgets and creatures. For those who remember Roger Dean’s work on the old Psygnosis Amiga games (and Yes albums, if that’s your jam), you will have a very good idea of what to expect.

Maybe it’s just me, but the similarities between Keeper and Roger Dean’s Psygnosis covers/concepts are palpable. Coincidence? Probably.

It’s a surreal vibe, and is more something you’d expect to see in a modern-arts installation than in a video game. The organic sound design integrates perfectly with the visuals, as does the Brian Eno-esque minimalist score.1

The game is reasonably long, with environments that change and evolve both visually and audibly. And, while there is no dialogue, Twig can interact – “emote” – with just about anything on screen.

Too, shine your light on the environments, and they’ll react accordingly. Plants, for example, will grow and provide food for creatures. Keep exploring, and you will discover hidden areas with some hints about the universe. Were there ever humans there? Are we in an entirely separate alternate world? A lot is left up to your interpretation, something I am always a fan of. Anything that can spark your imagination is a good thing.

Just one of the many bizarre creatures you’ll meet – and help – on your hike. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

I expected Keeper to be a smaller in-between-major-games production, but while it might be more intimate than something like Psychonauts, its production values are as high as many AAA titles.

I never got into Petty’s RAD, not because there was anything wrong with it, but rather because it wasn’t my thing. There will be those who share the same sentiment about Keeper, given its abstract narrative and slow-paced gameplay. It is likely an acquired taste. Yet, I will implore even those who don’t feel Keeper is “their thing” to at least give it a chance, particularly if you have Game Pass or whatever – a low-level investment. Maybe it’s time for me to go back to RAD?

Keeper, at least, is one of the best games I’ve played in many years. Its world is fascinating, its puzzles interesting, and its story a continuously immersive guessing game. An emotional game at that, and the I Got Something in my Eye-meter ticked into the red toward the end.

If you will feel the same, I don’t know, but I suspect it will be the case for many readers of this site.

Hiking Recommendations

The erstwhile Adventure Gamers might be all about gambling now, but here at Mojo, we subscribe to a clean, healthy lifestyle. With that, here are a couple of hikes we recommend:

Discovery Park and Lighthouse Loop: Frankly, this Seattle hike is probably the most apropos one I can think of, seeing its destination is a lighthouse. (I also walked it during the height of the pandemic, but that is neither here nor there.)
Plain of Six Glaciers Trail: Outside of Banff, Canada. It’s on the UNESCO World Heritage list for a reason.
Edith Hansen Loop: And a Spokane, Wash.-based loop, just because that is expected of me at this point.

(Bring your phone so you can read Mojo on the go.)

A review by Remi, who remains relatively optimistic that Mojo might maybe return, possibly.

The Eno association is a personal one, mind you. I have no clue if he served as an inspiration.

Issue #78: On Stranger Reads

Remi A. Olsen — Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:59:51 GMT

So! What do we have this week?

First (and probably most importantly), Karim has put together a review of On Stranger Tides. And it is as highfalutin as a book review should be.

It is this tension between the “wild” and “ordered”, between freedom and authority, which the book uses as currency for its various themes, integrating questions of free will via Thomas Hobbes as a motif to work off of in a novel about a puppeteer and the magical ability to possess and manipulate people. Powers expects his readers, or at least trusts them, to pick up these allusions, though On Stranger Tides is perfectly entertaining as simply a fantasy pirate novel.

Thomas Hobbes? Yeah, I had to Wikipedia him, too. But that’s what Mojo provides: Education and entertainment. Edutainment. Go read.

Meanwhile, IGN has published a three-minute video of Keeper gameplay:

Looks appropriately bizarre, though calling it “Psychonauts Dev’s New Game” seems a bit reductive.

It’s what every ZX Spectrum owner has been waiting for: A demake of Fate of Atlantis! That’s right, you, too, can enjoy a text version of the best Indy game – this time in that patented Spectrum yellow.

Finally, if you’re interested in perusing visual timelines of the Monkey Island games, The Legend of Monkey Island has published just that.

Stay tuned next week for… well, I don’t even know what, but I’m sure it’ll be exciting.

– Remi

Let’s go crazy and listen to the NES version of the Maniac Mansion soundtrack. Does it sound different than what you’d expect? Jason has the story in this Behind the Music article.

A bunch of lines were changed in the special edition of LeChuck’s Revenge. Here is a fairly comprehensive collection of them.

Last week, we asked if you were planning on playing Ron Gilbert’s next game, Death by Scrolling. 43% of you said no, 38% yes, and 19% will wisely wait for Mojo’s review.

As for the tepid response, I’m not all that surprised people are shying away from Ron’s next outing. Death by Scrolling certainly looks great, but it might not be what our little corner of the world is interested in from a genre perspective. We will see soon enough.

This week, in celebration of the On Stranger Tides article:

Full News Roundup

25 Sep: Mixnmojo finally reviews On Stranger Tides, by Tim Powers: The novel inspired Monkey Island, but how good is it? Let’s find out.
24 Sep: Death by Blogging: Purgatory wasn’t built in a day.

Last Week’s Mojole Results

It’s the game that sweeps the nation! Can you beat Mojole, our fiendishly difficult daily puzzler? Only hardcore LucasArts aficionados need apply.

22 Sep: “cdrom##” – You probably own many LucasArts games on CD-ROM.
23 Sep: “meche##” – Aka Mercedes Colomar in Grim Fandango.
24 Sep: “bosco##” – Character from Sam & Max -- Proud Boys like to see him as a martyr.
25 Sep: “simon##” – … Jeffery, former LEC honcho. Jury is out on if that ended well or not.
26 Sep: “sword##” – Famously used in swordfighting.
27 Sep: “timmy##” – ‘Hey, it’s Timmy The Monkey!’ -- Quote from EMI about a random monkey.
28 Sep: “bolus##” – Apparently a henchman in Full Throttle?

And for the competitive amongst you, the Mojole forum thread has gone strong for more than two years. The two juggernauts to beat: Sushi and Huz.

Become a Mojoer! (sponsored content)

The Mojo Network

The International House of Mojo: Web, Bluesky, YouTube, and Mastodon.

The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.

The Grim Fandango Network: Web, Bluesky, and Mastodon.