"Maniac Mansion" is a 1987 adventure game developed by Ron Gilbert, David Fox, and Carl Mey, and published by LucasFilm Games. It requires a 128K Apple //e or later.

Initial release date: 1987

Released on: Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, DOS, Linux, Macintosh, NES, Windows

Publisher: Lucasfilm Games

Genre: Adventure

Perspective: Side view / 2D scroller

 

Sequel: Day of the Tentacle

 

Manuals and Documentation:

 

Game manual, original Lucasfilm Games hint book, collected hint book, and reference collection, and order card

 

Original developer documents:

• Alpha release notes

• Proposal

 

Announcements, Listings, and Advertisements:

 

Advertised in ACE Issue #26 (1989); AC’s Guide to the Commodore Amiga (1990); Commodore Magazine Issue #11 (1987); Info Issue #16 (1987); and Mean Machines - Complete Games Guide (1992)

 

Featured in Compute! Magazine Issue #87 (1987); Family Computing Magazine Issue #51 (1987); and Ahoy! Issue #61 (1989)

 

Listed in Videogame Hardware Handbook (2010)

 

Reviews and Write-Ups:

 

Long feature on “The Making of Maniac Mansion” in Edge Issue #151 (2005) and Retro Gamer Issue #94 (2011)

 

Feature on the game’s development in MegaZone Magazine Issue #17 (1991); on LucasArts’ history in Retro Gamer Issue #116; and on B-movies in Amiga Format Issue #13 (1990)

 

Advertised and reviewed in Compute! Gazette Issue #53 (1987); reviewed in Commodore Magazine Issue #15 (1988); Computer Gaming World Issue #47 (1988); Zero Magazine Issue #02 (1989); Compute! Gazette Issue #51 (1987); Compute! Magazine Issue #113 (1989); Game Player’s Guide to MS-DOS Computer Games Volume 1 Issue #2 (1989); Hardcore Computist Issue #56 (1988); PC Zone Issue #20 (1994); Amiga Computing Magazine Issue #21 (1990)

 

Featured in a write-up of ‘80s gaming in The Ultimate 80s Collection (2019); a tribute to LucasArts in PC Powerplay Issue #40 (1999); and general gaming sections in Asimov’s Volume 12 Issue #2 (1988) and Computer and Video Games Issue #191 (1997)

 

Interview with creator Ron Gilbert in The Art of Video Games (2012)

 

Mentioned commonly with a previous Lucasfilm game, Labyrinth, e.g. in a look-back in ZZap!64 (2006)

 

Podcasts and Audio Interviews:

 

Episode of “2 Dudes and an NES” on Maniac Mansion (2014); Episode of “Humble Bazooka” (2014); Episode of “One More Turn” Podcast (2016); Episode of “Deep in Bear Country” (2017)

 

Interview with creators Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick (2014)

 

Interview (German, 2019) with the Project Manager of Maniac Mansion Mania, a series of mainly-German fan-sequels

 

Tips:

 

Gameplay advice in Amiga Action Issue #06 (1990); Commodore User Issue #83 (1990); PC Powerplay Issue #14 (1997); and Commodore Magazine Issue #27, #28, and #31 (1989)

 

Speedruns and Longplays:

 

Run by Arc (6:29:77)

 

NES Longplay

 

Borrowable Books:

 

Featured in 21st Century Game Design (2006); The Rough Guide to Videogames (2008); An Illustrated History of 151 Video Games (2013); Computers as Theatre (1993); Game Over: How Nintendo Zapped an American Industry, Captured Your Dollars, and Enslaved Your Children (1993)

 

Minutiae:

 

The SCUMM engine (Scripting Utility for Maniac Mansion), an adventure game engine designed for MM by Lucasfilm Games, was instrumental in the history of the genre. Maniac Mansion is thus mentioned in context with it in several documents and articles:

• ugvm Issue #03 (2002)

• Edge Issue #96 (2001), discussing the further development of the SCUMM engine with The Secret of Monkey Island

• A section of Game Coding Complete, 4th Ed. (2013) on scripting languages

 

Materials for Day of the Tentacle, Maniac Mansion’s sequel:

• Manual

• Boxart

• Fix for the CD version

• Review in BBS Magazine Volume 6 Issue #6 (1995) 

 

Listed in a timeline of George Lucas’s work in games in Xbox 360 Magazine (2013) and a retrospective in PC Powerplay Issue #75 (2002)

 

Listed as a Science-Fiction Game of the Year in Asimov’s Volume 12 Issue #7 (1988) and in MOCAGH’s Software Catalog (1988) as a GOTY

 

Fan-song inspired by “Flashbulb Junk”

 

Wiki Entries and Fan Sites:

 

Mobygames

 

Alternate Copies/Versions on the Internet Archive:

 

Several, including Maniac Mansion Deluxe, donated by Curly’s World of Freeware, a DOSBox copy, and a flux image

 

Demos:

 

Demos for Commodore 64, DOS, and the original non-interactive demo

 

Softkey and Cracking:

Details of a SCUMM Virtual Machine in Game Console Hacking (2004)

Description, from Mobygames:

The Edison mansion has always been a creepy old house on the edge of town. There have been rumors of strange experiments going on and of odd creatures living amongst the Edison family. There is even a story that a meteorite once crashed near the home nearly 20 years ago. More immediately, a girl named Sandy has gone missing from the local highschool and her boyfriend Dave swears that he saw Dr. Fred abducting her. Dave knows that he cannot do it alone and will need help from two other students if he has any hope of infiltrating the mansion and rescuing Sandy.

Players start by choosing two students to accompany Dave to the Edison mansion, and can then switch between these three characters at will. Most actions are carried out by selecting verbs on the screen and applying them to an object (such as "OPEN Door"). Each character maintains a separate personality and may have a different way to solve a problem from his classmates. Thus many of the puzzles can be overcome in different ways depending on the character being used. If any one of the kids are captured by the Edisons, they are thrown into the dungeon and must be rescued themselves by any character who still has their freedom.