Maniac Mansion cover

Maniac Mansion

Critic score1 critic
First release
Oct 1987
Engine
ScummVM, SCUMM
Genres
Adventure, Point-and-click · Fantasy, Science fiction, Horror, Comedy

Maniac Mansion is a 1987 graphic adventure video game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It follows teenage protagonist Dave Miller as he attempts to rescue his girlfriend from a mad scientist, whose mind has been enslaved by a sentient meteor. The player uses a point-and-click interface to guide Dave and two of his six playable friends through the scientist's mansion while solving puzzles and avoiding dangers. Gameplay is nonlinear, and the game must be completed in different ways based on the player's choice of characters. Initially released for the Commodore 64 and Apple II, Maniac Mansion was Lucasfilm Games' first self-published product.

Also known as scummvm.exe

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Storyline
The game takes place in the mansion of the fictional Edison family: Dr. Fred, a mad scientist; Nurse Edna, his wife; and their son Weird Ed. Living with the Edisons are two large, disembodied tentacles, one purple and the other green. The intro sequence shows that a sentient meteor crashed near the mansion twenty years earlier; it brainwashed the Edisons and directed Dr. Fred to obtain human brains for use in experiments. The game begins as Dave Miller prepares to enter the mansion to rescue his girlfriend, Sandy Pantz, who had been kidnapped by Dr. Fred. With the exception of the green tentacle, the mansion's inhabitants are hostile, and will throw the player characters into the dungeon—or, in some situations, kill them—if they see them. When a character dies, the player must choose a replacement from the unselected characters; and the game ends if all characters are killed. Maniac Mansion has five possible endings, based on which characters are chosen, which survive, and what the characters accomplish.Read more

The game takes place in the mansion of the fictional Edison family: Dr. Fred, a mad scientist; Nurse Edna, his wife; and their son Weird Ed. Living with the Edisons are two large, disembodied tentacles, one purple and the other green. The intro sequence shows that a sentient meteor crashed near the mansion twenty years earlier; it brainwashed the Edisons and directed Dr. Fred to obtain human brains for use in experiments. The game begins as Dave Miller prepares to enter the mansion to rescue his girlfriend, Sandy Pantz, who had been kidnapped by Dr. Fred. With the exception of the green tentacle, the mansion's inhabitants are hostile, and will throw the player characters into the dungeon—or, in some situations, kill them—if they see them. When a character dies, the player must choose a replacement from the unselected characters; and the game ends if all characters are killed. Maniac Mansion has five possible endings, based on which characters are chosen, which survive, and what the characters accomplish.

Release dates
Commodore C64/128/MAX
Oct 1987
Apple II
1987
DOS
Mar 1988
All 7 release dates
Amiga
1989
Atari ST/STE
1989
PC (Microsoft Windows)
Dec 18, 2017
Mac
Dec 18, 2017
Time to beatIGDB · recorded
Main + Extras
3h
Game modes
Single player
Perspective
Side view
Where to buy
Keywords
aliens, world domination, female protagonist, hamster, multiple protagonists
… All 36, multiple endings, pixel art, dark humor, nudity, mad scientist, single-player only, anthropomorphism, character select screen, mind control, damsel in distress, vending machine interaction, violent plants, video game characters that play video games, arcade cabinet, non-linear storytelling, villain, tentacles, animal cruelty, kidnapping, adapted to - tv show, escaping imprisonment, living inventory, on-the-fly character switching, point of no return, physical copy protection, running gag, pepsi, games advertising games, scumm, male protagonist, scummvm compatible

At a Glance

Critic Score
90
Main + Extras (IGDB)
3h

Overview

Steam review summary

Steam users rate this Very Positive, 209 reviews in all languages, recorded 16 October 2026

Valve's summary of Steam user reviews. Valve counts only reviews from purchases on Steam, not key activations, and leaves out review periods it has marked as off-topic. It isn't part of the CritScore score.

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About storefront and compatibility information

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