After completing the Prelude, Return to Monkey Island players will find themselves on Melee Island. As in several of the series' earlier installments, a large portion of the game takes place here, including the entirety of Part 1. Thankfully, it's a fairly easy island to navigate, even for those who are new to the world of Monkey Island.
The main aim of Return to Monkey Island's first part is to figure out a way to get to the titular island, which means finding a seaworthy ship and a crew that's skilled enough to man it. Thanks to a rather fortunate twist of fate, players won't actually need to worry too much about either as somebody else has already done all of the hard work. They will, however, need to complete two rather challenging objectives in order to successfully set sail.
How to Find a Ship
When players first gain control of Guybrush, they'll find themselves speaking with the Melee Island lookout, who series fans will no doubt recognize from previous Monkey Island games. He'll explain that LeChuck is in town and is also hoping to track down the secret of Monkey Island before recommending that Guybrush speaks with the three pirate leaders at the SCUMM Bar in order to secure funding for an expedition.
To reach the SCUMM Bar, players simply need to head down the hill and follow the docks to the right, being sure to check out Carla's RE-ELECT poster as they pass it. Once inside the bar, they should grab the red Trivia Book from the table near the entrance so that they can begin collecting Trivia Cards and then head right and look for the three regal-looking pirates. Sadly, these new pirate leaders are nowhere near as accommodating as the previous ones and will straight up refuse to back Guybrush's plans.
As Guybrush protests, one of the pirate leaders will suggest joining LeChuck's crew as he's heading to the exact same place. It's not actually a bad idea, so players should head outside and over to the ghost ship to the left of the SCUMM Bar to see how viable this is. Following a short conversation with the ship's Quartermaster Iron Rose, they'll learn that the crew is still short a Swabbie. The bad news is that Guybrush will need to find a mop and also a way to disguise himself if he's to have any chance of securing the position.
How to Get A Mop
In order to learn more about finding a mop, players should head back to the SCUMM bar and through the door to the far right. Here, they'll find the SCUMM Bar chef, who'll reveal that players will need to make their own mop by carving a mop handle from the rare mop handle tree. Sadly, he's unable to provide the exact location of said tree, but the String through the door on the right will at least make for an excellent mophead when players do eventually track it down.
Next, players should make their way to the Voodoo Shop on Low Street to get some helpful information and the Hint Book. After the conversation ends, they should also grab the Knife and the Forgiveness Frog from the wooden table and the Skull from the back of the store. While on Low Street, players should take a moment to read the plaque beneath the statue of Carla to learn that she fought bravely at Santo Domingo and then head inside Wally's Maps-n-More.
If they like, players can unlock the Cartography Nerd achievement by interacting with all of the maps in the store, though they'll get another chance to do this in Part 4 if they'd rather wait. They will need to ask Wally about making a map to the mop tree though, to which he'll reply that he can only do so if Guybrush brings him a sample of the wood. Players should then help themselves to the Monocle on the desk before heading back outside.
Next, players should return to the SCUMM Bar, where they'll find two new patrons waiting inside. One of them is Cobb, who players can repeatedly ask about LOOM to unlock the Fan Service achievement. The other is a customer who has asked the chef to prepare him a mystery meal containing "ingredients." If players speak with the chef and the difficult diner, they'll learn that he was recently served the meal at the Governor's mansion, which is where players should head next.
To reach the Governor's mansion, players will need to pass through Low Street and then High Street, at which point they'll find what they're looking for. As they pass through High Street though, they may want to head into the jail and use the monocle on the tiny writing beneath the lock on Otis' jail cell door to receive the Serial Number. They can then give this to the locksmith in the building opposite to get the Prison Lock Key and then use this to free Otis and unlock the Hey Wait! achievement.
Once at the mansion, players will get a chance to indulge in a spot of insult sword fighting with Carla, the Sword Master turned Governor of Melee Island. Once they're done catching up with her, they should ask if they can have the Stuffed Animal toy that's on the chair to her right and then take a few moments to investigate the bookshelf to the left of the stairs to find the yellow "Ingredients" book.
If they ask about borrowing it, Carla will reveal that she's still angry about the last book that Guybrush borrowed and never returned, and, despite his best half-hearted efforts, she refuses to forgive him. Luckily, Guybrush has a forgiveness frog in his inventory, and combining this with Guybrush's State of the Art Pen will allow players to write a personal message. When prompted, they should choose the following options:
- Dear Carla,
- Sorry for losing the book I borrowed.
- I value that you are dedicated to dedication...
- ... as shown by your actions at Santo Domingo.
- I've implemented a reminder system for myself.
After filling out the frog, players should hand it over to Carla to earn her forgiveness. It's important to note that the third and fourth options will only be available if players checked out Carla's RE-ELECT poster down by the docks and the plaque beneath the statue of her on Low Street respectively, so players may need to go and do so if they didn't earlier. Assuming they did though, they'll now be able to borrow Carla's Cook Book.
With the cookbook now in their possession, players should make their way back to the SCUMM Bar and hand it over to the chef. He'll then be so busy with his cooking that he won't notice if Guybrush uses the knife with his mop's handle to carve out a Slither of Wood. Players can also attempt to steal his mop at this point and will unlock the Mop Heist achievement by doing so, but he'll always take it back whenever Guybrush attempts to leave the bar with it.
Once players have the wood sample, they should take it over to Wally to get the Map to the Mop Tree. They can also help themselves to another Monocle and combine it with the one they took earlier to get the Double Monocle. This will allow Guybrush to read even smaller writing and will come in very useful at several points throughout Return to Monkey Island. For now, though, players should return to the task at hand.
In order to use the map, they'll need to head over to the Forest area, which can be accessed via the main map screen. There are a few different ways to reach this screen, one of which being to take the path to the right of the Governor's Mansion. Once in the Forest, players should head deeper into the Deep Dark Forest area and then take a moment to examine their map.
Wally's map will reveal that players need to take the right, left, left, and center paths respectively in order to reach the mop tree, though before they do so, they should use the knife with the strange-looking green plant to obtain a Carnivorous Plant for later on. They can then follow the map to the mop tree and use the knife to carve themselves their very own Mop Handle.
There are four different things that players can use as a mophead, three of which should already be in their inventory. Combining the Mop Handle with either the string, the stuffed animal, or the skull will complete the mop there and then. Alternatively, players can head to the Shipyard area via the map and use the Sponge found near the water's edge. Players can unlock the Mop Top achievement by using all four mopheads, though they'll need to do this on four separate playthroughs or save and reload after combining the items.
How to Disguise Guybrush
Players should already have the double monocle and the carnivorous plant, meaning that they're already well on their way to finding the perfect disguise for Guybrush. The next step involves heading over to the Museum of Pirate Lore, which can be found in the Forest area. Once there, players should use the double monocle with the display case lock to get another Serial Number and then head into the store room at the back of the museum and grab the Cracker Mix.
As with the last serial number, this one can be taken to the locksmith on high street to receive a Display Case Key. Players can also give her the cracker mix, which will result in her allowing Guybrush to take the Crackers on the plate beneath the parrot. Next, they'll need to return to the museum, feed the parrot a cracker, and then quickly unlock the display case with the key and steal the Eyepatch inside.
Unfortunately, if players try to use the eyepatch, they'll discover that it's lost all its magic, so they'll need to find a way to recharge it. Luckily, as is so often the case in Monkey Island games, the Voodoo Lady has the answer, so players should return to the Voodoo Shop on Low Street and ask her to take a look. She'll ask Guybrush for the Bite of a Thousand Needles, at which point players can hand over the carnivorous plant that they found in the Deep Dark Forest and let her do her thing.
With the eyepatch now working again, players are ready to return to the docks and make their way toward LeChuck's ship. While they're still out of sight of the ship's Quartermaster, they should put on the eyepatch to transform into zombie Guybrush and then show her the mop. This will result in Guybrush being hired immediately and the ship setting sail for Monkey Island.
Return to Monkey Island is available now on PC and Nintendo Switch.