Return to Monkey Island similar games & best alternatives

Return to Monkey Island - Trailer
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Return to Monkey Island

Xbox Series X|S, Linux, Android, PC (Microsoft Windows), iOS, PlayStation 5, Mac, Nintendo Switch • 2022

Should you play it?

Return to Monkey Island is an unexpected, thrilling return of series creator Ron Gilbert that continues the story of the legendary adventure games.

What works

  • Strong nostalgia and emotional engagement
  • Clever puzzles with adjustable difficulty
  • Excellent writing and humor
  • Quality voice acting and music
  • Modernized interface with hint system

Things to keep in mind

  • Controversial art style for some players
  • Some puzzles considered too easy
  • Shorter length compared to earlier games
  • Mixed reception to story ending
  • Limited character customization

What to play next

Top picks

Games that feels the closest overall

  • The Book of Unwritten Tales

  • Deponia: The Complete Journey

  • Deponia

  • The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

  • Monkey Island™ 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge™

  • Sam & Max Save the World

More expressive

Games that feels like Return to Monkey Island but with more self-expression and customization

  • Simon the Sorcerer Origins

  • Down the Rabbit Hole Flattened

  • The Book of Unwritten Tales 2

  • Chaos on Deponia

  • The Night of the Rabbit

  • Pajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It's Dark Outside

More thrilling

Games that feels like Return to Monkey Island but with more suspense and thrill

  • Enigmatis 2: The Mists of Ravenwood

  • Children of Silentown

  • Gibbous - A Cthulhu Adventure

  • Grim Legends 2: Song of the Dark Swan

  • Goodbye Deponia

  • Irony Curtain: From Matryoshka with Love

Less continuation-driven

Games that feels like Return to Monkey Island but with less of a pull toward endless continuation

  • Kelvin and the Infamous Machine

  • Varenje

  • Eventide 3: Legacy of Legends

  • Eventide: Slavic Fable

  • TSIOQUE

  • Milkmaid of the Milky Way

Less value-seeking

Games that feels like Return to Monkey Island but with less emphasis on value for time or money

  • Down the Rabbit Hole

  • Eventide 2: The Sorcerers Mirror

  • Fire: Ungh’s Quest

  • My Brother Rabbit

  • Broken Age

  • Darkestville Castle

Choose your own criteria ->

Similarity map

How to use the graph

Similarity map

Each dot is a game placed from its motivation profile relative to this page’s game. Direction shows which motivation differs most; distance along that axis shows how large the gap is.

  • Purple star: this page’s game at the centre — everything is relative to it.
  • Direction: each axis is a main motivational difference vs this game (e.g. more / less competitive).
  • Distance on an axis: how large that difference is (ring scales show +/− points).
  • Coloured chips: click to highlight games that mainly differ on that motivation; click again to reset.
  • Dotted line: link between this page’s game and the one selected for comparison.
  • Hover a dot to preview that game in the panel on the right; click to keep that comparison.
  • Scroll or double-click the chart to zoom.

How to read the map This is a polar difference map: direction = which motivation differs, and distance = how much (same units as the sidebar deltas).

Return to Monkey Island: Broadly representative of its motivational profile, with a few distinct shifts. Motivations that often define this kind of title include Survival, Violence, Competition, Thrill. Here, the score leans higher than usual among comparable games on Strategy. It leans lower than usual among comparable games on Intimacy, Expression.

Last update: 04/08/2026