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How to get to Monkey Island in Sea of Thieves

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Two men look at an election poster for Guybrush in Sea of Thieves.
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Over the course of its many years of updates and expansions, Sea of Thieves has had a few notable crossovers with other pirate franchises. The Pirates of the Caribbean crossover let you team up with the legendary Jack Sparrow, but the Monkey Island content felt like it came out of nowhere. For those unaware, Monkey Island is a series of pirate point-and-click games that were as funny as the puzzles were obscure. Thankfully, you don't have to intuit that you need to combine a cat whisker with a mason jar to bypass a skeleton guard to get to this new content, but it is more challenging than you might think.

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Difficulty

Moderate

What You Need

  • Begin the "A Pirate's Life" Tall Tale

A pirate skull on a wall in Sea of Thieves.
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How to reach the Monkey Island content

There are four major steps you need to take before you are granted access to Monkey Island and all the content it has to offer. Once you complete the "A Pirate's Life" Tall Tale, you can discover tons of little references and lore bits related to that classic series.

Step 1: Begin the "A Pirate's Life" Tall Tale from the menu or by visiting The Castaway at any of the game's outposts.

Step 2: Follow the objective to the eerie pirate town and find the Cursed Captain in the cage after lighting the lantern and going inside.

Step 3: You need to find the secret recipe by going into the ship to the left and along the mast down into the water to find a pulley system you can use to reach the Captain's Quarters, which is locked.

Step 4: Find the other pulley here that lifts up some cargo you can use to platform to the next ship.

Step 5: Take a right to find yet another pulley to move a set of planks close enough to jump across both to get across the gap.

Two elevated platforms in Sea of Thieves.
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Step 6: Go into the nearby cave and find Captain Bones' Special Recipe, but leave it on that ship.

Step 7: Go back to the mast and climb up above the Cursed Captain and cut the rope to drop the cage.

Step 8: Now take the recipe and leave it by the cage so you can pick up the Cursed Captain's skull.

A skeleton pirate head in a cage in Sea of Thieves.
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Step 9: Look for the ship with red sails and find the trail of gold on the ground leading to a graveyard.

Step 10: Dig up the fresh grave to find Poor Dougie and he will ask you to bring the treasure his key opens.

Step 11: Backtrack to the cage and head left across a wooden platform to the rear of another ship.

Step 12: There will be a skeleton inside on a bed with curtains you can move before going out a door to the right up some stairs.

Step 13: Light all three lanterns on the walkway then go back down and move the skeleton's arm.

Step 14: This will point a magnifying glass at a treasure map.

Step 15: Go back outside to where the road forks to the tavern and another broken ship. Dig right where the road forks.

Step 16: Take the treasure you find back to Poor Dougie and he will let you open it and collect Poor Dougie's Medallion.

Step 17: Place the medallion back by the captain and pick up the recipe you left there to bring to the fork in the road.

Step 18: Go left into the broken ship to find two pirates playing chess.

Step 19: Light the candle and let the two play, refilling one of the skeleton's drinks with the recipe when they realize it's empty.

Two skeletons playing chess in Sea of Thieves.
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Step 20: After a heated conclusion to the match, put the medallion on the table and the Captain's skull on the now headless skeleton to finish the game.

Step 21: Take the Ship's Key all the way back to the Captain's Quarter we mentioned near the start.

Step 22: Use the pulley to adjust the sails and then go retrieve the skull one more time to bring it to the lighthouse.

Step 23: Put the skull on another headless skeleton at the top while you light the lighthouse at the top and the three lanterns on the cliffs. Ignore the Ferry of the Damned that arrives for now.

Step 24: Focus the lighthouse's light to the right as far as it will go and look for a hidden brazier that will trigger a series of green fires.

Step 25: Go back to the pirate town and there will be a new sign reading "Sailor's Grave" beside a new bridge.

Step 26: Cross it and you will hear the Monkey Island music kick in and can start exploring the secrets of the island!

Jesse Lennox
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jesse Lennox covers all things gaming but has a specific interest in all things PlayStation, JRPGs, and experimental indies…
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