Lucasarts and the Chainsaw Mystery
Back when Lucasarts was Lucasfilm Games, they came out with a graphical adventure game called Maniac Mansion, which released in 1987. The game broke ground with its multiple endings, but it was also well-known for having a weapon that players could never use. Once players entered the mansion’s kitchen, they would stumble upon a chainsaw and if they tried to use it, they learned that it needed gas to work. Players could look for gas throughout Maniac Mansion, but would never find it as there was none – at least not in this game.
Fast forward a year later to when Lucasfilm Games released Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, a graphic adventure also using the SCUMM engine made popular by Maniac Mansion. Once players reached Mars in Zak McKracken they would find fuel used only for chainsaws. If the player tried picking it up the message, “I don’t need it, it’s for a different game,” would pop up.
A fan-made Maniac Mansion remake years later brought the chainsaw gas gag back once more, as players could find a Zak McKracken poster in-game that read, “I wonder what was the use of the gas can on Mars?”
