Somewhere in the Caribbean lies Melee Island ruled by the beautiful Governor Elaine Marley. A would-be pirate named Guybrush Threepwood turns up and tells the island's lookout his ambitions. He is told to meet the pirates in the Scumm Bar who tell him he has to complete three difficult tasks to prove himself worthy. While he completes the three tasks, he is hoping for a chance encounter with the governor himself, and what better way to do this than break into her house and steal a valuable idol right under her nose. As Guybrush accomplishes all three tasks, he sees a ship sailing off in the distance and finds out that it belongs to Ghost Pirate LeChuck, who has kidnapped the governor and taken her to his underground hideout on Monkey Island. He vows to obtain a crew and set off sail to Monkey Island.
The Secret of Monkey Island is a third-person adventure games that makes use of the verb-based SCUMM interface, previously seen in Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders