The Creator Speaks
Ron Gilbert is one of the most forthcoming and thoughtful game designers in the industry. His blog, Grumpy Gamer, documents 30 years of design thinking with characteristic directness. He has spoken extensively in interviews about the origins of Monkey Island, his departure from LucasArts, and his return.
On why adventure games were broken (1989)
"The problem with most adventure games is that they kill you without any warning and expect you to restore... Saving should be the last resort of a designer who has put the player in an unwinnable situation."
— "Why Adventure Games Suck," 1989
On the Secret of Monkey Island
"I do know what the Secret is. I've always known. And the ending of Monkey Island 2 was the beginning of it — not a dream, not a trick. There was a third game in my head where you'd find out. I just never got to make it."
— Various interviews, 2000s–2010s
On returning to Monkey Island (2022)
"I wanted to make this game because I had more story to tell. And I wanted the art to be something new — not a recreation of what we did before, but a new visual language for Monkey Island in 2022. I'm proud of what Rex [Crowle] did."
— Grumpy Gamer, 2022
The Co-Writer Remembers
On joining LucasArts and writing Guybrush
"Ron had a very clear vision of what Guybrush was. I just tried to find the voice of him — the slightly clueless but well-meaning kid who really does want to be a pirate despite every available piece of evidence suggesting he shouldn't be."
— GDC interview, 2011
On the insult swordfighting mechanic
"The insult swordfighting was one of those things where once you figure out the mechanic — 'what if you had to LEARN the right responses?' — the writing of the insults is almost automatic. The puzzle IS the joke."
— Various interviews
On iMUSE & the Monkey Island Score
On inventing iMUSE
"The idea was simple: music should respond to what's happening in the game the way a live musical accompaniment would respond to what's happening on stage. The technology to do it smoothly — that was the hard part."
— Sound on Sound interview
On the Monkey Island theme
"I wrote the Monkey Island theme in a few hours. It came out right immediately — that Caribbean-pirate-adventure feeling, the right tempo, the right feel. I knew it was the theme from the moment I played it back."
— Various interviews