13
votes
Point-and-click adventures?
Any recommendations of modern or not so modern point-and-click adventures (for PC)? Just finished all of Wadjet Eyes games (loved Blackwell series!) and I'm craving some good stuff. I'm interested in not-orthodox games too if there's some experimental stuff that you like. Are the telltale games worth it? I'm also tempted by the Sherlock Holmes games.
Incidentally, any advice on how to find (and make work) some old(ish) adventures? In particular looking for Discworld II and Noir, EcoQuest, Simon the Sorcerer, Hollywood Monsters, Runaway, or the older (EA I think) Sherlock Holmes games (they are not in GOG I think).
Extra bonus points if there's a way to make them work in Mac and Linux!
Since I didn't see you mention it, you've got to check out Monkey Island, specifically the Monkey Island 2 remake (can purchase on Steam I believe) and Monkey Island 4 (no idea how to get that one to run on a modern computer). The series started back in the 80s when Lucas Arts made a lot of very original content. Some see it as a gold standard for point-and-clicks. They're hilarious, the puzzles are goofy and challenging, and the characters and dialogue might even be iconic today if the series had just a bit of a larger following. I still see subtle references to them in easter eggs in modern games though. Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango are cut from the same cloth as well and are just as good, but they're not from the same series. Those two also had recent remakes.
Also, I'll throw out two that are not quite point-and-clicks that are really interesting and kinda experimental. One is notpron, which is a website based riddle game that is very, very challenging. Another is Stories Untold. It doesn't have the challenge of what I'd call a true point-and-click, but it's very cool unconventional story-telling with a huge payoff in the end. It's also a bit creepy.
Running older DOS/Win98 era games on a modern computer shouldn't be too hard. I'd just use DOSBox and build on that.
You don't even need the complication of dosbox, since many old adventure games are reimplemented in scummvm.
ScummVM is awesome - there’s even a 3DS homebrew port that works great. Played Monkey Island on it and it was a great experience - felt pretty immersive playing on a 3DS.
I absolutely love games like Notpron! I haven’t finished it (I did maybe ~10-20 levels a long time ago and I’ve heard that it gets even harder), but my favourite one that’s very similar is 404 Riddles.
404 Riddles is pretty much the same format as notpron (online riddle/scavenger hunt), but only 20 levels and not as absurdly difficult. I might make a thread about it - I think it’s a good introduction into the genre.
Oh yeah I have played and finished all the Monkey Islands (Escape from Monkey Island is on GOG)!!! Same with Grim Fandango and DOTT, I think the only LucasArts adventure I haven't played yet is Full Throttle. Thanks for the recommendations though, absolutely some of the best!
Notpr0n, I loved that game!!! I stopped at level forty-something, I think there was some steganography there. I'll check it out! Had no idea it was still working!
Cognition - a really interesting take on what modern point-and-click can feel like. Really a cool little gem, even though I hate almost everything about the "classic point-and-click" formula.
Life is Strange. Some people would shoot me for saying this is point and click - but is really is: it's point-and-click for the 2000s, not the (quite literally) bankrupt model from back in the 80s. Once you get used to the whole "I'm a thirty-something writer abusing millenial vocabulary for my game" dialogs, it really starts pulling on your heart strings. You could say it's a casual adventure game - it's certainly not Sierra but it's really really good (episode 1 is free by the way)!
Some older point-and-click have been open-sourced nowadays! Beneath a Steel Sky, Flight of the Amazon Queen and Lure of the Temptress all used to be big games back in the day but now you can download and play them for free! Should be pretty easy to get them running using the ScummVM!
Life is Strange is my favourite game ever, would definitely recommend it. I’d probably classify it as a story-based walking simulator, alongside games like Firewatch, Gone Home, and The Norwood Suite.
Speaking of it, Firewatch is also another favourite of mine. It’s absolutely beautiful, and even for a walking simulator, the gameplay mechanic of having to navigate around the world using a map and compass is really enjoyable.
It's definitely not a walking simulator. It's much more of an adventure game with actual puzzles to make, choices that affect the gameplay from that point onwards, etc...
I mean, sure, if you're using a loose definition of the term, but then even DooM can be a walking simulator where you shoot stuff that is on your way :P
seconding Beneath a Steel Sky.
play it!!!!
Thanks for these recs! I have the older ones in GOG... But are they that kind of games where if you didn't do something at the beginning of the game you basically lost?
I'll definitely check out Cognition and Life is Strange.
I'm not sure really, I played maybe only one of them and that was a long time ago. They definitely could be but I don't think they're Sierra-hard (really, what other games are that unforgiving)...
I'm definitely surprised that you haven't heard about Life is Strange as an adventure-game fan! It's been a massive hit on the gaming community - with I think 2 sequels out by this point, even? I'd definitely give the free episode 1 a try as son as possible!
I can't believe this hasn't been mentioned yet but Submachine by Mateusz Skutnik is a classic and an absolute favorite of mine. It's a surreal mystery game with awesome puzzles and a really interesting story. It's a series of I think 10 free flash games plus a couple side-games that aren't part of the main story line but take place in the same universe. The first couple games are somewhat basic but they are also the shortest, trust me it picks up. I recommend playing it without doing too much research because it's worth experiencing it for yourself. My only disclaimer is there is a little bit of pixel hunting, especially in the earlier games, so don't feel bad for using a walkthrough if you get stuck at parts, but in general it's a great series and every game is better than the last
Oh aye, the Submachine games are great. Healthy mix of puzzling and exploration!
These ones I've never heard of. Will check them out, thanks!
Make sure to check out Thimbleweed Park. It's basically a love letter to anyone who was a fan of the old LucasArts games like Maniac Mansion.
It's been mentioned in another comment, but absolutely play The Longest Journey. Its sequels are also worth playing.
Of course Grim Fandango if you haven't already played it.
The Broken Sword series is pretty great as well.
Before Telltale started making interactive graphic novels, they were making some pretty good point and click games like a massive number of Sam & Max episodic games (make sure you play the original LucasArts one as well), Back to the Future, and an episodic Monkey Island series.
Don't overlook the Deponia series, and check out Broken Age too.
I second the recommendation for Thimbleweed Park. It's more pricey than you might expect but you can usually get it cheaper on Google Play than you can from Steam.
I played the Tales of Monkey Island and loved them, but heard that some of the newer ones are just interactive graphic novels. Good to know that the Sam & Max and Back to the Future are good!
Broken Sword I've played only 1 and 2, are the rest good too?
Re. Longest Journey, I have been meaning to play it since I was a kid, I'll put it in the list so I don't forget again lol.
I don't think I've played the latest Broken Sword (5, I think) but the ones I have played have all been great.
The Longest Journey is... Epic. In the truest meaning of the word.
Another one I've just remembered. Oxenfree. It's a little untraditional with not a lot of "Use [item] on [item]" but worth a play through (multiple playthroughs, really).
If you like Discworld you would love The Book Of Unwritten Tales series, it's on Linux/OSX as well! I loved the humor.
Bought these in a recent offer in GOG! I've heard great things!
I very highly recommend The Book of Unwritten Tales series. The second game is especially good (and had a higher budget), but the original and the "in-between" game (Critter Chronicles) are both worth playing as well. They're very much what you'd expect from a point-and-click adventure game, but modernized.
Fanatical has the collection 80% off in their summer sale right now, and you should be able to use the code SUMMER10 to take another 10% off above that: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-collection
Have you played the classic Sierra games on GOG? I grew up with King's Quest and Quest for Glory.
One of my favorites is Conquests of the Longbow, a story about Robin Hood. The game has a lot of optional quests and many variations on the ending depending on the choices you make throughout the game. Like most Sierra games of the era, there are plenty of opportunities to die and you have to save often. But figuring your way through the areas feels that much more rewarding. Although kids can play, I think adults can more fully enjoy the serious story and presentation.
I haven't, and I have to... I just really hate dying. But Ecoquest is like that too and I loved that game, I'll have to give them a chance!
Play the Chzo Mythos games, starting with 5 Days a Stranger. Don't miss Trilby's Notes, that one is my personal favorite of the series. They are a series of games made by Ben "Yahtzee" Crawshaw, of Zero Punctuation fame. All of them are available for free.
I would also highly recommend I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, a game written by Harlan Ellison, and The Dig, a game produced by Stephen Spielberg. They are both written with very strong narritives and are available through GOG.
Since Monkey Island has already been mentioned I am going to recommend the only "3d" point and click adventure game I've ever played, give The Longest Journey a try. It works in Windows 7, I haven't tested it in newer versions. I tried it in Linux using Wine but it had some graphical glitches, you may have better luck with a newer video card (mine's too old).
Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is a good, modern point-and-click RPG made by the famous developers of Sierra's adventure-game heyday (Lori Cole and Corey Cole of the seminal Quest for Glory series). Definitely worth checking out.
Have you played through Hero-U yet? I've already purchased it since the Coles' games were such a big part of my childhood. But haven't prioritized it within my backlog because I don't know how long it is.
Oh also I'll leave this as a comment...
Did anyone play Pink Panther: Passport to Peril? Are you as traumatized by that game as me? I still have nightmares 22 years later...
I'm glad the Monkey Island games have been heavily recommended here but no one has mentioned The Cave yet, a more recent title from Ron Gilbert. It's not super long but it's gorgeous, fun, and darkly hilarious. At the beginning you choose three characters from a pool of seven to form your team. There are areas in the game that you can only visit with certain characters, so it'll take three playthroughs to see everything. A lot of the puzzles have a co-op component (though the game is single-player), requiring characters to split up and work together to get through. Compared to the older LucasArts games, the puzzles are fairly simpler... though I did still get stuck a couple times.
I believe you can point-and-click in the PC version on Steam, but I played on PS3 and the controls were surprisingly good without a mouse. It's a good couch game.
Toonstruck!! I loved playing it as a kid, still one of my all-time favourites. Tim Curry, Christopher Lloyd, and many, MANY more actors and voice actors involved in this completely overlooked wonder of point and click gaming. I follow the developer for it on Twitter and Instagram and he's a great guy! Loves talking about it occasionally between posting about what he's up to more recently :)