Over 800 gamers tried and failed to beat a retro 80s game without a guide

About 800 people took the Adventure Game Aptitude Test, a challenge from Woe Industries that asked participants to beat an 80s point-and-click adventure without consulting a walkthrough. Players were monitored by a digital proctor used by colleges, which could detect if someone looked things up on a PC, used a phone or communicated with others.

Those who completed the task would receive a diploma. The chosen game was Maniac Mansion, the seminal LucasArts title known for its esoteric puzzles and, for its time, a novel menu-driven command system that a retrospective called "elegant and intuitive." Decades of interface changes and ever-present objective markers have changed player expectations since the game’s 1987 release.

The exam, held on February 28, 2026, gave entrants a four-hour window to clear Maniac Mansion — a tight limit considering How Long To Beat lists an average completion time near three-and-a-half hours. Out of 831 participants, only two people finished the game within the allotted time without assistance.

maniac mansion, woe industries, adventure test, walkthrough, digital proctor, lucasarts, point-and-click, esoteric puzzles, four hour, completion time