I have absolutely zero clue about this Manic Mansion since this is the first time I've ever heard of it, but I am definitely gonna give it a 4 hour challenge, if I can find a copy online. Probably gonna find one on the wayback machine web archive.
I'm genuinely curious if I can beat an old game I have zero clue about in under 4 hours, which I doubt I can. Gonna be a late night, as usual, for me.
I'll save you the bother, there is zero chance you will complete it in 4 hours, there is an approaching zero chance you will complete it at all
Make sure to use ScummVM to play it! DOSBox is a great way to play a lot of classic PC games but ScummVM is better for any games it supports. This is because ScummVM is a modern engine that runs old adventure games which are written as scripts that run on an interpreter. This beats running an old engine on DOS through DOSBox!
For the game itself I recommend the Internet archive! You can find it as part of the ExoDOS collection or standalone!
I had planned on using ScummVM after seeing a comment about it here but this actually really helps. My search for the game was leading me towards getting it on GoG, but I'm trying my hardest to save money, so this helps a lot.
Thank you so much!
Don’t get me wrong, I love GOG, but I love the Internet archive and projects like ScummVM and DOSBox (as well as all the console and arcade emulators). These are long-term projects carrying the torch of preservation of all these classic games.
After countless Golden Age Hollywood films were lost, I don’t want to see the same thing happen to video games.
If you want a modernized remaster of Maniac Mansion (the game pictured in OP), you can play MM Deluxe. It is modeled after Day of the Tentacle's interface.
Oh, for fans of Sierra, there is now a talkie VGA version of KQ4 - Rosella's Peril. It came out in late 2025, so I figure those who want to experience that game without parser, that is an option.
Lol King's Quest was a funny journey for me. I started with KQV as a kid and was always curious about the previous games. It wasn't until I got them all via abandonware sites as an adult that I realized 5 was the perfect one to start on because the previous ones all relied on vague text parsers to handle all the actions, ones where typing "grab stick" instead of "get stick" could be the difference between having a fun or frustrating time.
So you're saying there's now a version of KQIV that has an interface similar to KQV and involves no guessing which verb/noun they want specifically?
Though my record with point and click adventure games hasn't been great since KQVI. I did beat both 5 and 6 on my own as a kid (getting the 100% win on 6 with no help still gave me a pang of pride when I thought of it just now, when all those pieces start fitting together), but find I don't have the patience to solve similar games these days (even without the "sometimes punishes clicking the wrong pixel with death" that KQ liked to do). I never did finish KQVII, even. Action games were just more engaging.
Most - or now all, of the point & click series received fan-remakes that modernized the series up to KQVI standards, with voices, graphics, and interface.
Also, if you want more action while still doing adventure gaming stuff, give the Quest for Glory II remake a shot. It has RPG mechanics, a battle system, while still having King's Quest style stuff. The parser is optional there, but helpful when you want to talk with NPCs.
AGDI: KQ1, KQ2, KQ3, and Quest for Glory II.
now i want to play Day of the Tentacle. Time to boot up ScummVM
There's a remastered version on steam that plays pretty well.
I said time to boot up scummvm. If I want to play on my phone I'll play on my phone.
damn, that's one of the ones i could have passed. you have to start with specific characters or you'll lose.
also, [turn on microwave.]
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