GAMEHUB · WALKTHROUGH
The Secret of Monkey Island Walkthrough: The Three Trials
Complete the opening Three Trials by earning sword-fighting proof, digging up the forest treasure and taking the governor’s idol. This walkthrough covers those trials, not the later voyage or Monkey Island chapters.
- Platform
- PC
- Version covered
- 1990 original PC puzzle sequence; Special Edition uses the same core trial solutions
- Sources reviewed
Spoilers ahead. The scope of this walkthrough is stated below. This is an independent text guide. The Secret of Monkey Island is not available to play on Gamehub.
Walkthrough steps
- Talk to the pirate leaders in the SCUMM Bar to establish the trials. Enter the kitchen while the cook is away and collect the meat and cooking pot; dislodge the bird on the dock to obtain the fish.
- Visit the circus clearing. Offer the pot as a helmet for the cannon act to earn the money needed for equipment and training.
- Buy a sword and shovel from the town shop. Give the fish to the bridge troll, visit the sword trainer and pay for lessons.
- Practice against wandering pirates. Reuse newly heard insults to learn replies, then ask the shopkeeper about the Sword Master and follow him to Carla. Apply the learned replies to her differently worded insults.
- Buy and examine the treasure map. Its dance instructions encode a forest route. From the fork use back, left, right, left, right, back, right, left, back; then walk right to the X and dig with the shovel.
- For the idol, combine the yellow flowers with the meat and feed the result to the mansion’s poodles. Enter and let the automatic confrontation play out.
- When a file is needed, bring breath mints to Otis at the prison, then exchange the gopher repellent acquired in the mansion for his carrot cake. Open the cake to find the file.
- Return to the mansion and continue through the hole to obtain the idol. If thrown into the water, pick up the idol itself to escape. Report the trial results to the pirate leaders.
Version notes and help
Route and version scope
The forest directions use back for the exit toward the rear of the scene, not the screen’s compass north. If you become lost, leave for the island map and restart at the fork. This page deliberately stops before recruiting a crew and buying a ship.
Sword-fighting checkpoint
Carla does not use the ordinary pirates’ exact attacks. Treat each comeback as a response to the meaning of her line. More practice is useful if your available replies are incomplete; no reflex-based combat cheat is needed.
Common questions
Does this contain the whole game?
No. It covers the Three Trials opening, with its scope stated in the title. Later ship, island and finale puzzles are not included.
Why do Carla’s insults look different?
The Sword Master tests the same reply meanings with new wording. Learn replies from the roaming pirates first.
Sources and further reading
Original Gamehub instructions and explanations, researched against the references below. These are source checks, not a claim that every release or command was tested in-game. Game updates and localizations can change behavior.