Welcome to The Adventurer!
We took a couple of weeks off to finalize a SCUMM Bar anniversary article because… good grief… the Mojo community’s primordial soil turned thirty (30) today. For more, jump over to the Bar and enjoy its musings on life and mortality itself.
In less depressing news, Steve Purcell has put on his charity hat and contributed Sam & Max art to the Hero Initiative.
The auction takes place at Baltimore Comic-Con from September 25 through 27, so open your hearts and wallets accordingly.
Speaking of things of interest happening in cities – a very elegant segue there. If you hit Chicago’s Vintage Computer Festival, you could’ve checked out friend-of-Mojo, Ron McAdams, showing off some proper gaming. Evidence exists:
Want a remastered Escape from Monkey Island? Well, tough, the odds of that happening are close to zero. Unless you want a fan remaster, in which case you’re good to go!
The patch requires the GOG version of the game, and you can download it from Google Drive.
Looking for some good Schafer content? IGN sat down with the man and talked about going indie, Kickstarter, and life. Worth the read.
A Thimbleweed 2 bang-bang: The official blog has shown off some puzzle dependency chart and did a breakdown of animation triggers.
Meanwhile, Substack finally added a “Gaming” category – woo! And of course we patted ourselves on the back when we learned we were amongst its royalty.
I mean, sure, that’s slightly less impressive when you take into account that there are seventy newsletters in the category so far – it launched a week ago – but as we’ve always considered ourselves somewhere below mediocre, it seems fitting. (Tell your friends about The Adventurer and Mojo!)
– Remi
This Week’s Poll – All About Mortality
Last week we asked whether you’d support Double Fine’s Amnesia Fortnight Kickstarter – 38% said “yes,” 31% “no,” and the remainder said “maybe.”
This week, in honor of the Bar’s anniversary:
(Substack only allows for five options, so the choices are what they are.)
Soundtrack of the Week: The Curse of Monkey Island
As The SCUMM Bar rose during the CMI era, here’s an apt music collection for you.
Trivia: The Day Arby’s Ripped Off The SCUMM Bar
How do we know that Arby’s ripped off our Stan illustration for their socials ad? Simple: See how Stan is seemingly smoking a cigar?
Back in the day, Skyfox created an animation of Stan – check it out – by painstakingly taking screenshots of each frame in the game, cropping the sprite out, and assembling the pieces into a GIF. The one problem: He thought Stan was smoking a cigar when what he saw was actually part of the background. Hey, at least Arby’s made their own version.
Historical Moments in History
30 years ago this week, The Monkey Island SCUMM Bar, probably the best Monkey Island page that has happened to anyone ever, launched.
21 years ago this week, Bone: Out from Boneville released.
4 years ago this week, Gilbert and Grossman (and many others) returned to Monkey Island with Return to Monkey Island, a stone-cold classic.
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
17 Sep: Steve Purcell donates Sam & Max art for noble cause: Even movie stars have to pass the time somehow.
17 Sep: SCUMM drenches the Midwest at vintage computer festival: Everything was bigger back then, especially the LucasArts boxes.
15 Sep: Get triggered by David Fox : Thimbleweed Park 2 dev blog doesn’t hold back.
12 Sep: You Can’t Shut Down a Good Tim: Nor can you shut him up.
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.
10 Sep: “of#####” – The Secret of...
11 Sep: “nimh###” – The Secret of NIMH was a Don Bluth film.
12 Sep: “monkey#” – The Secret of Monkey...
13 Sep: “hoagie#” – A character from DOTT, of course.
14 Sep: “purple#” – Purple Tentacle -- you know him and love him.
15 Sep: “#####x#” – The spot, still marked.
16 Sep: “sludge#” – ... -o-Matic. From DOTT. Duh.
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.