Or The Secret of Monkey Island, to give it its full title. The game first appeared back in 1990, at a time when the 16bit machines were really taking off and PCs were about to start rolling out with the new, super-fast 386 processor.

Monkey Island is a graphic adventure with a twist. Ron Gilbert was the chap at LucasArts who designed the game and he managed to create one of the most compelling, addictive and downright funny games ever. As the game’s protagonist, Guybrush Threepwood, the player had all manner of bizarre puzzles to solve in order to progress. For example, one of the most celebrated parts of the game involves Guybrush trading insults with pirates.

Monkey Island was awash with innovation and imagination. As the box blurb told us, ‘No typing – point-and-click interface!’, the game set standards and was not afraid to appeal to the older and more sophisticated gamesplayer – again, the box told us, 'relentless jabs and cryptic in-jokes only smart people will understand'. Fabulous stuff.

Monkey Island 2 appeared a while later and was almost as equally successful but there was a gap of several years until the third instalment, The Curse of Monkey Island, appeared earlier this year. Again, the game’s stuffed with wit and humour and looks likely to find itself a whole new breed of dedicated followers. We doff our caps in the direction of the whole series, but have particular respect for that first game.