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Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon

Last updated: January 16, 2026

Overview

Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Sierra On-Line, released on March 24, 1989 for MS-DOS, with the Atari ST port coming out in April, the Amiga version in October, and the Macintosh version in 199112. Designed by Mark Crowe and Scott Murphy, the game is the third installment in the Space Quest series and the first to use Sierra’s SCI engine12. The game features music composed by Supertramp drummer Bob Siebenberg and was one of the first games to support the Sound Blaster sound card13. Space Quest III won the Software Publishers Association’s “Best Adventure Game of the Year” award for 19893. The game continues the misadventures of Roger Wilco as he becomes involved in rescuing a pair of computer programmers—the game’s own creators—from a sinister video game company1.

Story Summary

Following the events of Space Quest II, lowly janitor Roger Wilco is in cryogenic sleep while his escape pod drifts through space1. An automated garbage freighter brings it aboard, where Roger awakens in a pile of trash—a situation quite familiar for this janitor-turned-hero12.

Forced to find a way out, Roger discovers a derelict spaceship called the Aluminum Mallard in the freighter’s garbage hold12. After repairing the ship, Roger pilots it out of the freighter1. Visiting the desert planet of Phleebhut, he finds himself confronted by an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like android terminator, sent to deal with him for failing to pay for a whistle in the previous game2. Roger outwits the android and obtains his invisibility belt2.

At an orbital Monolith Burger station, Roger comes across a hidden message in an arcade game stating that its programmers—known as “Two Guys”—were abducted by ScumSoft, a sinister video game company on the planet Pestulon owned by Elmo Pug, leader of the “Pirates of Pestulon”12. Roger learns the programmers need rescuing, as ScumSoft intends to use them to design awful games to flood the galaxy1.

Deciding to rescue them, Roger visits a lava moon orbiting Pestulon to neutralize a shield generator2. On the planet’s surface, Roger uses his invisibility belt to infiltrate the base and secures a disguise in the form of janitor overalls2. Exploring the company, Roger tracks down the Two Guys but is trapped by Elmo, who forces him into an arena battle using giant Mecha robots based on Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots12. Roger overcomes Elmo and escapes with the Two Guys1.

After fighting off several ScumSoft space ships, the trio realize that the warp drive is broken2. After tinkering with it, and with no warp course set, they are warped into a parallel dimension via a black hole, ending up before planet Earth2. Roger delivers the two game designers to Sierra On-Line’s president, Ken Williams, before departing the planet to return home—after being turned down for a janitorial job2.

Gameplay

Space Quest III was developed using an early version of Sierra’s SCI engine, representing a significant technical upgrade from the AGI engine used in the first two games12. The game features improved 16-color graphics that come “close to 256 color VGA in some parts”3.

Interface and Controls

  • PC versions support mouse movement and a heavily improved text parser13
  • Mouse movement was still primitive; Roger cannot automatically find his way around obstacles, stopping if he encounters a barrier1
  • The parser understands “almost every word you type”3
  • Unlike previous games, players can no longer choose the protagonist’s name—from this game onward, the character is permanently known as Roger Wilco1

Structure and Progression

  • The game takes place across multiple locations including the garbage freighter, the desert planet Phleebhut, the orbital Monolith Burger station, the lava moon, and ScumSoft headquarters on Pestulon1
  • Over 30 minutes of music composed by Bob Siebenberg accompanies the gameplay3
  • The game includes various science fiction allusions, including wrecks of a TIE fighter, an ACME Rocket, and the Jupiter 2 spacecraft visible in the garbage freighter2
  • Pestulon, the jungle moon where ScumSoft is headquartered, parallels Star Wars’ Yavin IV—a rebel base hidden behind an inhospitable gas giant (Ortega)4
  • The USS Enterprise warps away from Monolith Burger as Roger arrives, a Star Trek reference5
  • Ken Williams and Rick Cavin (Head of Production) cameo as whip-wielding overseers in ScumSoft’s programmer cubicles; Ken also appears in the ending sequence5

Puzzles and Mechanics

  • The game features Astro Chicken, an arcade minigame where players attempt to land a chicken on a trampoline with mechanics similar to Lunar Lander1
  • Achieving a high score in Astro Chicken reveals a hidden distress message from the Two Guys from Andromeda1
  • Sierra released the Astro Chicken minigame as a standalone promotional demo6
  • Anti-frustration feature: The hidden message in Astro Chicken also appears after failing 10 times, for players who can’t master the arcade gameplay7
  • Unwinnable trap: Buying anything other than the 7 matches what you find in the Aluminum Mallard7
  • Some critics described the game as “a little bit too short and/or easy to beat”3

Reception

Contemporary Reviews

Space Quest III received positive reviews from critics and won the Software Publishers Association’s “Best Adventure Game of the Year” award for 19893. C&VG gave the Atari ST version 83%, calling it “enjoyable and addictive”8. Dragon Magazine (September 1989) praised the game, stating that “the animation and graphics for this game are incredible” and concluding “This game is a lot of fun, and we recommend it to adventure game enthusiasts”9.

Compute! praised the game’s graphics and sound card audio, calling it “the best-looking game in the series” that “sounds as good as it looks, thanks to a 30-minute musical score”10. STart also praised the ST version’s graphics and sound, while warning that Space Quest III was “essentially a text adventure” with syntax guessing and frequent saved game reloading, but described it as “playable and not-too-difficult” and suitable for those new to adventure games11.

Computer Gaming World’s Chris Lombardi gave the game a positive review, noting the “marked improvement over its predecessors in most aspects” with “EGA graphics on the IBM are some of the best from Sierra to date”12. In 1989, CGW gave it a Special Award for Achievement in Sound—the first time the magazine gave an award specifically for sound in a computer game13. Game Player’s PC Strategy Guide awarded Space Quest III their 1989 “Best PC Adventure Role-Playing Game” and “Best PC EGA Graphics” awards, with the latter presented to Mark Crowe8.

John Scott of Games International called the game “Brilliant! The graphics are super” and thought the musical soundtrack was “the best I have yet encountered in any computer game”14. He noted the streak of humor running through the game, saying “sometimes it’s warped, sometimes cruel, but it’s always funny,” awarding scores of 9/10 for both Game Play and Graphics14.

Modern Assessment

The game holds a MobyScore of 7.9/10 with 81% positive critic reviews and ratings from 131 players2. On GOG, the Space Quest 1+2+3 collection has a 4.3/5 rating from 577 users15. My Abandonware users rate it 4.42/5 from 67 votes16. HowLongToBeat reports the main story takes approximately 2.8 hours to complete17.

  • MobyGames: 7.9/10 MobyScore, 81% critics (131 player ratings)2
  • GOG: 4.3/5 (577 ratings, collection)15
  • Steam: Very Positive (312 reviews, collection)18
  • GameFAQs: 3.83/5 (71 ratings), rated “Just Right” difficulty19
  • HowLongToBeat: 2.8 hours main story17

Development

Origins

Space Quest III was the first game in the series developed using Sierra’s SCI engine12. Development took approximately 13 months—longer than the 9-11 months for the previous games—due to the team learning the new SCI system20. The SCI engine offered double the resolution of AGI, allowing greater detail and depth perception effects, though this meant graphics took significantly longer to create20.

The game features music composed by Supertramp drummer Bob Siebenberg, contributing over 30 minutes of soundtrack13. Siebenberg composed the music based on videotaped game scenes, similar to film scoring20. Mark Siebert created the sound effects using a Roland MT-32 synthesizer (equivalent to 8 synthesizers combined), though loading custom sounds added 45 seconds to game startup20. It was one of the first games to support the Sound Blaster sound card3, though audio driver issues left digitized effects unavailable to some IBM PC users with Sound Blaster, requiring patches like SBSIERRA to fix21.

Sound effects include digitized audio sampling, such as the voice of Roger saying “Where am I?” during the introduction1. The digitized effects can be heard in the Tandy, Amiga, and Macintosh versions1.

The game features a scene at ScumSoft where parody versions of Sierra’s president Ken Williams and director of operations Rick Cavin are depicted as overseers cracking whips over software developers in cubicles5.

The original game came with: a box, three 3.5” game disks (four for Amiga) or six 5.25” disks, manual, Andromedan snout and glasses complete with Death Ray Shield, SCI reference card, registration card, soundcard promotional brochure, letter from Ken Williams explaining the new soundcards, “please note” leaflet with technical information, Adlib coupon offering 7.95, and Sierra games catalogue3. The game was originally sold for $59.993.

Technical Achievements

  • First Space Quest game to use Sierra’s SCI engine with improved 16-color graphics13
  • One of the first games with Sound Blaster support13
  • Over 30 minutes of music composed by Supertramp drummer Bob Siebenberg13
  • Mouse support and heavily improved text parser13
  • Digitized audio sampling including voice clips1
  • Platform releases: March 24, 1989 MS-DOS, April 1989 Atari ST, October 1989 Amiga, 1991 Macintosh12
  • Fully supported in ScummVM since version 1.2.0; runs on SCI engine at 320x200 resolution with 16 colors22

Debug Modes and Cut Content

  • Debug cheat: Typing “pump shark” or “backstage pass” enables debug mode; then typing “get life” instantly grants the janitor disguise, zapper, keycard, and photocopied portrait, allowing players to skip the entire ScumSoft wastebasket-zapping sequence2324
  • SCI debugger: Holding both Shift keys and pressing numpad minus (-) activates Sierra’s internal SCI debugger for memory inspection24
  • Unused graphics: Data mining revealed cut content including Arnoid’s invisibility belt activation sprites (replaced with a cutscene), Roger’s Astro Chicken hat walking animations (only front view used), alternate button designs for navigation/combat screens, and Roger’s disintegration frames (replaced with “ZOT!” text effect)24
  • Hidden dialogue: Mark Crowe has an impossible-to-trigger line (“Just between you and me, I think Ol’ Wilco’s been in space too long”) that only appears after your ship is destroyed during the Skull Fighter attack—viewable only via debug mode teleport24

Easter Eggs and Trivia

  • Astro Chicken origins: The minigame was inspired by Doug Oldfield’s program originally called “Chicken Lander”6
  • MT-32 easter egg: The Roland MT-32 sound module displays “INSERT BUCKAZOID” after quitting the game6
  • Hidden signature: Mark Crowe’s signature appears hidden somewhere in every copy of the game6
  • Postcard easter egg: Typing LOOK POSTCARD at World o’ Wonders shows a different humorous postcard each time25
  • “Hey Trashmouth!”: First Sierra PC game to use “Shit” uncensored; typing swear words 26 times triggers this message6
  • Boss button prank: The “Boss” menu option cuts to black and shows pop-ups revealing the player’s total play time, warning that their boss wouldn’t be happy7
  • Fourth wall break: In the finale, one of the Two Guys turns to the screen and asks the player if the game was worth $59.997
  • Vomit gag: Eating the Big Belcher at Monolith Burger causes Roger to step behind the ship and vomit before takeoff7
  • Van Halen reference: Roger’s case number with the Gippazoid Novelty Company is “OU812,” referencing Van Halen’s 1988 album of the same name19
  • Promotional video: The Two Guys from Andromeda filmed a humorous promotional video for SQ3, allegedly recovered around 2000 and now available online6

Bugs and Continuity

  • Houdini bug: In the Garbage Freighter, typing “climb ladder” instead of “climb neck” causes Roger to disappear and reappear climbing onto the Mallard’s roof6
  • Continuity error: Arnoid chases Roger for an unpaid whistle that was clearly stated to be free in SQ2—the 400,000 buckazoid debt is explained as accumulated interest7
  • Lighter tone: Unlike other entries, ScumSoft’s evil plan is simply releasing crummy video games rather than galaxy-scale destruction7

Legacy

According to Sierra On-Line’s SEC filing, combined sales of the Space Quest series surpassed 1.2 million units by the end of March 199626. The self-referential humor of Space Quest III—featuring the series’ own creators as characters who need rescuing—became emblematic of the series’ unique comedic style and would be further developed in Space Quest IV1.

In 1996, Computer Gaming World listed the player’s body parts being sold at a butcher shop as #2 on its list of “the 15 best ways to die in computer gaming”27. Several fan remake attempts were made over the years; in 2003, a non-playable VGA demo was released, and in 2023, a fan remake titled Space Quest 3D was released2.

Collections

This game has been included in the following collections:

Downloads

Purchase / Digital Stores

Download / Preservation

Manuals & Extras

Series Continuity

References

Footnotes

  1. Sierra Fandom Wiki – Space Quest III – plot, technical details ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31

  2. MobyGames – Space Quest III – developer, publisher, platforms, credits, ratings ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25

  3. SpaceQuest.net – Space Quest 3 Game Information – release details, original packaging, awards ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18

  4. Space Quest Fandom Wiki – Pestulon – location details, Star Wars parallel ↩

  5. SpaceQuest.net – SQ3 Cameos – Ken Williams, Rick Cavin, USS Enterprise references ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  6. SpaceQuest.net – SQ3 Fun Facts – Astro Chicken origins, MT-32 easter egg, hidden signature, bugs ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  7. TVTropes – Space Quest III – tropes, fourth wall breaks, continuity errors, gameplay mechanics ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  8. Wikipedia – Space Quest III – C&VG 83% review, Game Player’s awards ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  9. Dragon Magazine – September 1989 (Issue 149) – Lesser family review: “animation and graphics for this game are incredible”, “This game is a lot of fun, and we recommend it to adventure game enthusiasts” ↩

  10. Compute! – November 1989 (Issue 114) – “best-looking game in the series”, “sounds as good as it looks, thanks to a 30-minute musical score” ↩

  11. STart Magazine – January 1990 (Issue 29) – David Plotkin review: “excellent graphics and animation”, “playable and not-too-difficult adventure”, “essentially a text adventure” warning, MIDI support praise ↩

  12. Computer Gaming World – August 1989 (Issue 62) – Chris Lombardi review, pp. 36-37: “marked improvement over predecessors”, “EGA graphics…some of the best from Sierra to date”, parser improvements ↩

  13. Computer Gaming World – October 1989 (Issue 64) – 1989 Awards issue: “Special Award for Achievement in Sound” (first time CGW gave this award for sound), Bob Siebenberg score “perfectly captures the silly, tongue-in-cheek nature” ↩

  14. Games International – April 1990 (Issue 14) – John Scott review, p. 46: “This program is BRILLIANT! The graphics are super”, “musical soundtrack that is the best I have yet encountered in any computer game”, “sometimes it’s warped, sometimes cruel, but it’s always funny”, GAME PLAY: 9, GRAPHICS: 9 ↩ ↩2

  15. GOG – Space Quest 1+2+3 – purchase, user reviews ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  16. My Abandonware – Space Quest III – platforms, availability ↩ ↩2

  17. HowLongToBeat – Space Quest III – completion times ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  18. Steam – Space Quest Collection – purchase, user reviews ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  19. GameFAQs – Space Quest III – user ratings, guides, Van Halen “OU812” easter egg ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  20. Virtual Broomcloset – Two Guys SQ3 Interview – 13-month development, SCI learning curve, Bob Siebenberg film scoring approach, Mark Siebert sound effects ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  21. Sierra Help – Space Quest III – system requirements, known issues, DOSBox configuration ↩ ↩2

  22. ScummVM Wiki – Space Quest III – ScummVM 1.2.0 support, SCI engine, resolution specs ↩ ↩2

  23. Space Quest Historian – 11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Space Quest – debug cheats, development trivia ↩

  24. The Cutting Room Floor – Space Quest III – SCI debugger, unused graphics, hidden dialogue, debug commands ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  25. StrategyWiki – Space Quest III Appendices – postcard easter egg, minigames ↩ ↩2

  26. SEC Filing – Sierra On-Line 10-K (March 1996) – “Space Quest… sold more than 1.2 million copies in this series” ↩

  27. Computer Gaming World – November 1996 (Issue 148) – “The Best Ways To Die in A PC Game” list: #2 Space Quest III, “body parts moving down a conveyor belt to be sold at the local butcher shop” ↩

  28. Sierra Chest – Space Quest III – Sierra history, collections, platforms ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  29. Internet Archive – Space Quest III – preservation, historical versions ↩

  30. Internet Archive – Space Quest III (DOS) – DOS version preservation ↩

  31. DOS.Zone – Space Quest III – play in browser ↩

  32. Virtual Broomcloset – Publications Archive – manuals, hint books, pack-in feelies ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  33. PCGamingWiki – Space Quest III – technical specs, fixes ↩

  34. StrategyWiki – Space Quest III – game guide ↩

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