Maniac Mansion walkthrough, final version,
by Jeff Allred, vervain3@yahoo.com
This document copyright 2001, Jeff Allred

Before you start the game:  You'll be asked to select two kids to assist 
Dave in his mission to rescue his girlfriend, Sandy.  As the game can be 
successfully completed with any combination, it doesn't make that much 
difference which two you pick.  Each character has a particular talent 
or strength so you may want to read all of the descriptions before you 
make your decision.  

Getting inside the mansion:  Your three characters begin at the driveway 
in front of the mansion.  Using whomever you prefer, walk left to the 
front porch.  Pull the doormat to find the key to the front door.  
Unlock the front door and enter the house.  In the foyer, pull the 
right-hand staircase gargoyle to open the basement door.  Now switch to 
another kid, enter the house and go through the open basement door.  The 
basement will be dark when you enter, so feel around for a light switch 
to the left of the stairs.  Go past the nuclear reactor to the fuse box 
and take the silver key hanging there.  Switch to whichever kid you've 
left outside and have them stand guard at the mailbox.  Meanwhile, go 
upstairs to the second floor.  Enter the painting room through the door 
on the left.  There, take the paint remover and the bowl of wax fruit.  
If you're using Bernard to explore the house, switch to somebody else 
before continuing to the third floor.  Open the steel security door, 
pass through the blue hallway and go up another flight of stairs.  Here, 
you'll meet Green Tentacle, who will demand to be fed.  Give him the 
bowl of wax fruit to satisfy his hunger.  Now he'll ask for something to 
drink.  You'll need to go downstairs to the kitchen next, but if you go 
too early you'll run into Nurse Edna and be escorted to the dungeon, so 
you may want to wait a bit.  If you do run into her, try escaping back 
to the foyer then reentering, which will usually cause her to leave.  
When you see the second cut scene, which shows Weird Ed leaving his room 
for the kitchen, make sure you haven't left anyone out where he'll be 
able to spot you.

If you're taken to the dungeon:  You'll have to leave at least one kid 
there until you have the rusty key.  If two or more kids are captured, 
choose the one you want to escape and position them in front of the 
door, ready to leave.  Using the kid who's going to stay, walk over near 
the skeleton and push the loose brick just below the window.  Now 
quickly switch to the first kid and exit.

Before the package arrives:  In the kitchen, take the flashlight from 
the countertop.  Open the refrigerator and take the can of Pepsi.  Go 
right, to the pantry and take the glass jar and fruit drinks.  Unlock 
the screen door with the silver key and exit to the backyard.  There, 
fill the jar with radioactive water from the pool.  Return to the third 
floor and give the fruit drinks to Green Tentacle.  Head up to the 
fourth floor and enter Dr. Fred's room through first door on the left.  
Take the dime from the floor.  Climb the ladder to Green Tentacle's room 
and grab the record from the shelf and the yellow key hanging behind the 
speaker.  Exit to the hall and enter the den through the last door on 
the right.  Use the radioactive water on the man-eating plant to make it 
grow, then the can of Pepsi to keep it from chomping you when you climb 
it.  Use the paint remover on the orange blotch to expose the attic 
door.  Sometime soon, you'll hear the doorbell ring.  When this happens, 
quickly switch to the kid guarding the mailbox and grab the package.  
Make sure you haven't left anybody in the path between Weird Ed's room 
and the front door or they'll be captured.  If you think you have enough 
time, raid Ed's room while he's answering the door.  

Getting into Weird Ed's room:  If you need another chance to get into 
Weird Ed's room, station one kid at the front door and another in Dead 
Cousin Ted's room.  Ring the doorbell, switch to the second kid, wait 
about five seconds then go next door to Ed's room.  There, pick up the 
hamster and the card key behind it.  Open the piggy bank, take at least 
one dime and hurry back to Ted's room.  If Ed catches you before you can 
get to safety, you can save yourself a trip to the dungeon by giving him 
his hamster.  Pull the stamps from the package.  If you want to give Ed 
his package, make sure you have the stamps and you've taken the three 
items from his room because he won't answer the door after he has it.

Obtaining the key to the dungeon:  Go to the library and open the loose 
panel near the phone to find the cassette.  In the music room, use the 
cassette in the recorder and the record from Green Tentacle's room on 
the Victrola.  Turn the Victrola on, then the tape recorder.  After the 
vase on the piano shatters, turn off the tape recorder and Victrola and 
take the cassette.  Now go to the living room, open the cabinet and play 
the cassette to break the chandelier.  The rusty key you find lying in 
the debris will unlock the dungeon door.  

Opening the garage door:  First, go to Ted's room and use the Hunk-O-
Matic machine.  Go to the backyard and through the gate to the garage.  
Open the garage door and grab the water faucet handle from the shelf.  
Unlock the Edsel trunk with the yellow key and take the tools from 
inside.

Getting into Nurse Edna's room with Jeff or Bernard:  There are two ways 
to get into Nurse Edna's room.  The easiest and most painless can be 
done only if you have Jeff or Bernard in your group.  Using either, 
repair the phone in the library with the tools.  Now have someone take 
the water faucet handle upstairs to Ted's bathroom.  Pull aside the 
shower curtain and use the handle on the bathtub faucet.  Turn on the 
water to move Ted then turn it back off.  You'll see Edna's number 
written on the wall.  Now station one kid by the phone in the library 
and another in Fred's room.  You'll also probably want to give the three 
dimes to your third kid and have them wait in the observatory, which is 
accessed by climbing the man-eating plant in the den.  Call Edna from 
the library then quickly switch to the second kid and enter Edna's room.  
Be sure to grab the small key sitting on the nightstand before climbing 
the ladder.

Getting into Nurse Edna's room without Jeff or Bernard:  If you don't 
have Jeff or Bernard, give the rusty key to a kid and have them wait at 
Edna's door.  Have a second kid wait in Dr. Fred's room.  Give the dimes 
to your third kid and have them go to the observatory.  Using the first 
kid, enter Edna's room and let her capture you.  If you can get past her 
without getting caught, great, but you'll still want that small key from 
the nightstand.  After your first kid is taken to the dungeon, switch to 
the second kid, go grab the key from the nightstand then climb the 
ladder.

Opening Edna's wall safe:  First, turn on the light in Edna's attic.  
Now pull the painting to reveal the wall safe.  The combination has been 
scrawled on the wall just below the safe, but it's too small to read.  
In the observatory, use two dimes in the coin slot then push the right 
button twice times to rotate the telescope.  Now use the telescope and 
you should be able to read the safe combination.  Open the safe and take 
the envelope from inside.  You'll need to steam open the envelope if you 
want to use it later, so take it downstairs to the kitchen.  If you 
called Edna to get past her, call her again to leave her attic without 
getting captured.  In the kitchen, fill the glass jar with water from 
the sink then put it in the microwave along with the envelope.  Turn the 
microwave on.  When it finishes, take the envelope and open it to find 
the quarter.

Entering the laboratory:  You'll need two things, the glowing key to 
unlock the outer door and the password to unlock the inner door.  To get 
the glowing key, you're going to have to drain the pool.  Station a kid 
next to the pool ladder and have another go to the front yard.  Pull the 
bushes to the left of the front porch stairs.  To remove the grate, 
either use the tools or pull it off manually after using the Hunk-O-
Matic.  Under the house, find the water valve.  Turn on the water valve 
then quickly switch to the kid waiting at the pool.  Climb down the 
ladder and take the radio and glowing key.  Hurry back up the ladder and 
out of the pool.  Turn off the water valve to refill the pool.  You can 
now unlock the outer door padlocks with the glowing key.  Next, 
unlocking the inner door.  Open the portable radio to find fresh 
batteries and use them in the flashlight.  Equip someone with the 
flashlight and tools and send them to the attic above the den.  To fix 
the broken wires in the attic, the power must be off.  You can either go 
to the basement and turn it off yourself or wait for Dr. Fred to do it 
(you'll see a cut scene before this happens).  With the power off, turn 
on the flashlight and use the tools on the broken wires.  If you turned 
off the power yourself, make sure you turn it back on after you've 
repaired the wires.  Open the envelope you got from Edna's safe to find 
the quarter.  Equip someone with the small key and quarter and have them 
wait in Fred's office.  With the wires fixed, Fred will eventually go to 
the arcade and play the Meteor Mess game.  After you see this happen, go 
to the arcade and play it yourself by using the quarter in the coin 
slot.  Make a note of Fred's high score (the number next to his 
initials, DFE).  This is actually the combination to the inner door.  If 
you need to play Meteor Mess again, use the small key to unlock the 
game's coin box and take the quarter from inside.  After unlocking both 
lab doors, you'll need to deal with Fred's loyal servant, the vile 
Purple Tentacle.

Getting past Purple Tentacle with Michael:  After you've gotten the 
stamps, go to Weird Ed's room and give him his package.  He'll now ask 
you to aid him in his plot to overthrow the evil meteor by finding and 
developing a roll of film he's lost.  Find the film near the front 
porch.  Now you'll need developer, so go to the pantry and take the 
bottle of developer from the top shelf.  The bottle will inevitably fall 
to the floor and break, spilling through the grating.  Go upstairs to 
Dead Cousin Ted's bathroom and take the sponge from the sink.  Now go 
underneath the house and use the sponge in the puddle of developer.  
Give the developer-soaked sponge and roll of film to Michael and have 
him go to the darkroom on the third floor.  In the darkroom, turn on the 
red light and close the door.  Use the sponge in the developer tray.  
Now use the roll of film with the tray to develop it.  Give the 
developed film to Ed, who will then show up to take care of Purple 
Tentacle when you enter the lab.

Getting past Purple Tentacle with Syd or Razor:  You'll need to enlist 
the help of the more agreeable tentacle, Green.  Take the cassette tape 
to the music room, insert it in the recorder and turn it on.  Now have 
Syd or Razor play the piano.  Turn off the recorder, take the tape and 
go upstairs to Green Tentacle's room.  Give Green your tape to listen to 
then take his demo tape from the bed.  Turn on the TV in the music room 
to get the address of the publisher.  Using whoever watched the TV ad, 
take the envelope to the den and use it on the typewriter.  Put Green's 
demo tape in the envelope.  Use the stamps on the envelope, put it in 
the mailbox, close the mailbox and raise the flag.  Now you'll have to 
wait for the tape to be delivered to the publisher (you'll see a cut 
scene when this happens).  Some time later, the doorbell will ring and 
you'll find a contract in the mailbox.  Give the contract to Green 
Tentacle.  Now enter the lab with whoever gave Green the contract and 
he'll come to your rescue.

Getting past Purple Tentacle with Wendy:  Get the manuscript from the 
desk drawer in Fred's office.  Have Wendy take the manuscript to the den 
and use it on the typewriter.  Go to the music room and watch the ad on 
TV.  Using whoever watched the ad, take the envelope to the den and use 
it on the typewriter.  Put the revised manuscript in the envelope.  Use 
the stamps on the envelope, put it in the mailbox, close the mailbox and 
put the flag up.  Wait for the manuscript to be delivered to the 
publisher (you'll see a cut scene when this happens).  When you hear 
doorbell, open the mailbox and take the contract.  In the lab, show the 
contract to Purple Tentacle, who will then let you pass.

Getting past Purple Tentacle with Bernard:  Using Bernard, go to the 
living room and take the radio tube from the old-fashioned radio.  Now 
go to the radio in Fred's room and fit the radio tube in the tube 
socket.  Read the wanted poster hanging on Fred's wall to get the number 
for the Meteor Police then use Fred's radio to call them.  Make sure 
both lab doors are open before the Meteor Police arrive.  After the 
meteor has been arrested, look around the dungeon for a badge dropped by 
one of the police officers.  Take the badge to the secret lab and show 
it to Purple Tentacle to get rid of him.

Winning the game with Wendy:  After getting past Purple Tentacle, go to 
the inner area of the lab where Sandy's being held.  Take the radiation 
suit from the locker and put it on.  Use the card key in the card slot, 
enter the meteor's room and give the contract to it.

Winning the game with Bernard:  The Meteor Police will have taken care 
of the meteor, so all you need to do is shut down the machine 
controlling Dr. Fred.  In the inner area of the lab, use the card key in 
the card slot to open the door to the meteor's room.  Go inside and pull 
the switch on the machine.

Winning the game with any other character:  Give the yellow key and the 
card key to whomever you've chosen to rescue Sandy and go to the inner 
area of the lab.  Take the radiation suit from the locker.  Use the card 
key in the card slot to enter the meteor's room.  Pull the switch to 
release Fred from the meteor's control.  Pick up the meteor and exit 
through the door on the right.  Put the meteor in the car trunk, close 
it then use the yellow key to start the Edsel.

Did you try...
-Having Bernard meet Green Tentacle first?
-Mailing Syd or Razor's music to the publisher then showing the contract 
to Green Tentacle?
-Giving a tape of the tentacle mating call record to Green Tentacle?
-Mailing a tape of the tentacle mating call record to the publisher?
-Giving a tape of the old record in the music room to Green Tentacle?
-Mailing a tape of the old record in the music room to the publisher?
-Mailing the unrevised manuscript to the publisher?
-Having Syd or Razor cook Weird Ed's hamster in the microwave then give 
it to him?
-Pushing the red button in the pool?
-Refilling the pool with a character still in it?
-Leaving the power off or the pool drained?
-Entering an incorrect code at the steel security door three times?
-Using the telescope after rotating it left?
-Confronting the meteor without the radiation suit?