Deep in the Caribbean lies Melee Island, ruled by the governor Elaine Marley. The cruel pirate LeChuck is deeply in love with her - so deeply that he refuses to accept his own death. As a ghost, he dwells with his undead crew somewhere near the mysterious Monkey Island. Meanwhile, a young fellow named Guybrush Threepwood is determined to become a real pirate. At the Scumm Bar, he meets three pirates who tell him he has to complete three difficult tasks in order to be worthy of this title. But as Guybrush is trying to complete these tasks, he encounters the lovely governor, and this meeting changes his life forever. Risking to incur the wrath of LeChuck, Guybrush has to prove his wit is as sharp as his sword, and figure out a way to foil the ghost pirate's plans.
The Secret of Monkey Island is an action & adventure game that utilizes the command verb-based SCUMM interface. The player constructs commands for Guybrush by selecting an appropriate verb and then combining it with an object or an inventory item. Objects that can be interacted with are highlighted when the player places a cursor over them. The game features a branching dialogue system, where the player chooses between several available responses during conversations, allowing the player to talk to characters in different ways without fearing a wrong choice.
The puzzles in The Secret of Monkey Island are predominantly inventory-based; most of the problems in the game are solved by picking up items and combining them with each other or with objects (or people) in the game world. Several tasks are dialogue-based; among those is the humorous "insult swordfighting", which involves Guybrush learning and choosing witty insults while dueling pirates.
The Secret of Monkey Island was released on January 1st, 1991 for the Atari ST console.