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General discussion29 must-play adventure games as picked by Richard Cobbett(93 posts)(93 posts)
(93 posts)
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Posted May 22, 2017
Did your favorites make the cut?

There was a time when everybody was looking at adventure games to introduce crazy technical innovations, explore unconventional stories, or just give us a strong argument against our dismissive parents who considered all games juvenile and insubstantial. Since the golden years of the graphic adventures, we've seen certain trends come and go, foreign genes spliced into the genre's DNA, and adventure games evolving into a variety of experiences that sometimes have little in common with their early predecessors.

Richard Cobbett, a longtime fan of adventure games and their close offspring, has recently compiled <span class="bold">a comprehensive list of 29+ titles</span> that all fans of the genre should check out. Newcomers and veterans are treated to an introduction to the history of adventure games, some advice on how to get started, and a list of the standouts, broken down into sub-categories for convenience: The Classics, Story-driven, Puzzles & Exploration.

Take your pick: there are all-around legends like The Secret of Monkey Island or Beneath a Steel Sky, masterpieces of storytelling like Grim Fandango or The Walking Dead, brain wreckers like Myst or Zork: Grand Inquisitor, and deliberately paced experiences like Gone Home.

Plenty of developers continue to be fascinated by the narrative possibilities of adventure games, even if they don't feel like adhering to their original formula. These 29 games (and the additional honorable mentions) are both celebrated classics and the product of experimentation with innovative ideas and are all more than worth your time.

So, how many of these have you already played and what others would you add to <span class="bold">IGN's list</span>, fellow adventurers?
Post edited May 22, 2017 by maladr0Id
Posted May 22, 2017
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robespeare: Blade Runner was terrific! And Discworld Noir too, please (I still read the blog of one of the designers).
Why not ALL Discoworld?
Sadly Blade Runner is unlikely ever gonna join the catalogue. And I don't own the disc anymore. One must find other ways to play it. The source code is missing for this Westwood gem. It could have been a rediscovered hit now that the new film is about to be released.
Post edited May 22, 2017 by Dogmaus
Posted May 22, 2017
Nice list, indeed. I've added a few titles to my wishlist, especially the newer ones.

Discworld and Blade Runner should be definitely on that list. I'd also considered mentioning Sanitarium, Day of the Tentacle, Atlantis, Runaway and Ace Ventura, however part of them are nothing more than decent examples of one of my favorite genres.
Posted May 22, 2017
Email those authors. There's at least one game (The Dig, penultimate on the list) that's on here that says Steam only.
Posted May 22, 2017
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HereForTheBeer: I barely have time to play stuff I actually like, and now you're telling me I have to play 29 games from a genre that never struck a chord with me? Shit - it's like a reading assignment over summer vacation.
On the other hand, you can finish 10 of these games on the time it takes you to finish a regular rpg. And you don't even have any grinding to do. Adventures have unique stories and customized puzzle going for them. Which is why, contrary to so many people beliefs, are actually pretty difficult to do well. And it's also why are normally shorter than games relying on repetition of game mechanics.
Posted May 22, 2017
An interesting selection.

I noticed that some (eg. The Dig, 80 Days) were listed as "Steam" when they're really "GOG.com/Steam", but my bigger complaint was that there was no runners-up section for games only available through eBay or some other retro source.

My collection leans quite emphatically in the direction of these four rules:

1. If it was released without online activation and was published in CD, DVD, UMD, or Retrode-compatible cartridge form, I'm willing to eBay it. (eg. The Gene Machine, Discworld 1, 2, and Noir, Companions of Xanth, Death Gate, Eric the Unready, etc.)

2. If it's on GOG, I'll collect it sooner or later when it drops to $5 US or lower.

3. If it's DRM-free in a Humble Bundle, I'll grab it.

4. Otherwise, I have no interest.
Post edited May 22, 2017 by ssokolow
Posted May 22, 2017
I never played (and probably never will) one of those Tell Tale "oh click now just that we can call this a game instead of animated movie" titles, but putting Walking Dead in front of pure piece of art like The Longest Journey is just shameful.
I played and finished it recently so this is not some "old memories" talking...
Posted May 22, 2017
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ZFR: When making a "list" article, I'd really like if the author adds a tldr version of just the list.
Clicks make money
Posted May 23, 2017
I'd also like to not have to go elsewhere to read the article.
Posted May 23, 2017
As expected, GOG.com/Steam just leads to a 404 page...
Posted May 23, 2017
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BranjoHello: I never played (and probably never will) one of those Tell Tale "oh click now just that we can call this a game instead of animated movie" titles, but putting Walking Dead in front of pure piece of art like The Longest Journey is just shameful.
I played and finished it recently so this is not some "old memories" talking...
Pretty sure this list is Richard's way of telling us that he's been kidnapped and forced to write for IGN. He has Myst on there as a game one should actually play. He described his feelings on it as "I hate it. I hate it so much."

http://www.pcgamer.com/reinstall-myst/

Hence why I'm fairly sure that other people at IGN had their own input on games that *had* to be included on the list.
Posted May 23, 2017
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ZFR: When making a "list" article, I'd really like if the author adds a tldr version of just the list.

EDIT: Well, instead of complaining, here it is.

TLDR list:

[snip]
+1 for beating me to the punch. :)
I feel I should point out, though, that this was not supposed to be a ranked list (it was broken down into three separate categories, for one thing); the numbers shouldn't be there.
EDIT: Corrected mention of the number of categories.

Revised & expanded version (with honorable mentions...mentioned, and with the "If you can only play one..." recommendation for each category shown in bold):

Essential Games: The Classics

- The Secret of Monkey Island
- Sam and Max Hit the Road
- Quest For Glory Anthology
- Leisure Suit Larry: Love For Sail
- Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
- The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
- King’s Quest VI
- Broken Sword
- Toonstruck
- Beneath a Steel Sky
Extra Credit:
- Resonance
- Night of the Rabbit
- The Book of Unwritten Tales
- Syberia
- Simon the Sorcerer

Essential Games: Story-Driven

- Telltale's The Walking Dead
- The Last Express
- Grim Fandango
- The Pandora Directive
- The Longest Journey & Dreamfall
- The Blackwell Legacy
- Kentucky Route Zero
- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
- 80 Days
Extra Credit:
- Consortium
- Phoenix Wright*
- To The Moon
- Richard & Alice
- Resonance
- Gemini Rue
- 1979 Revolution: Black Friday
- Heavy Rain*
- Until Dawn*
- Life Is Strange*
- Oxenfree
- The Cat Lady
- Dropsy
- Thimbleweed Park

Essential Games: Puzzles & Exploration

- Myst
- Zork: Grand Inquisitor
- Gone Home
- The Journeyman Project: Legacy of Time
- The 7th Guest
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
- Machinarium
- Miasmata
- The Dig
- Ether One
Extra Credit:
- The Witness
- Obduction
- Hadean Lands*
- Drawn: The Painted Tower*
- Spycraft
- Zork: Nemesis
- Lifeless Planet
- Night in the Woods
- Firewatch
- What Remains of Edith Finch*

*no version available on GOG
Post edited May 25, 2017 by HunchBluntley
Posted May 23, 2017
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HunchBluntley: Revised & expanded version (with honorable mentions...mentioned, and with the "If you can only play one..." recommendation for each category shown in bold):
Cool, I linked to it from my post.
Posted May 23, 2017
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Green_Shade: Pretty sure this list is Richard's way of telling us that he's been kidnapped and forced to write for IGN. He has Myst on there as a game one should actually play. He described his feelings on it as "I hate it. I hate it so much."

http://www.pcgamer.com/reinstall-myst/

Hence why I'm fairly sure that other people at IGN had their own input on games that *had* to be included on the list.
It's pretty clearly a GOG-sponsored article (all 29 of the primary recommendations, and all but 7 of the secondary ones, are available here in some form). I can just about guarantee they had some influence, as well.
Post edited May 23, 2017 by HunchBluntley
Posted May 23, 2017
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HunchBluntley: It's pretty clearly a GOG-sponsored article (all 29 of the primary recommendations, and all but 7 of the secondary ones, are available here in some form). I can just about guarantee they had some influence, as well.
Well last I heard Richard Cobbett was a freelance writer for hire. So GOG could have just hired him directly, rather than going through IGN. I'm also holding IGN accountable, as Richard put in his best-of adventure game list for PC Gamer:
"And Myst? Not appearing on any best-of list composed by Richard Cobbett."

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-adventure-games/ (Page three is where that quote is taken from)

Of note, most of these as well also are on GOG. So it's possible GOG just has a lot of Good Old Games in the adventure genre.
Post edited May 23, 2017 by Green_Shade
Posted May 23, 2017
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HunchBluntley: It's pretty clearly a GOG-sponsored article (all 29 of the primary recommendations, and all but 7 of the secondary ones, are available here in some form). I can just about guarantee they had some influence, as well.
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Green_Shade: Well last I heard Richard Cobbett was a freelance writer for hire. So GOG could have just hired him directly, rather than going through IGN. I'm also holding IGN accountable, as Richard put in his best-of adventure game list for PC Gamer:
"And Myst? Not appearing on any best-of list composed by Richard Cobbett."

http://www.pcgamer.com/the-best-adventure-games/ (Page three is where that quite is taken from)
Well, I just noticed that this article is from last Friday, so I'm willing to concede that GOG might not have had anything directly to do with the choices (I would think they'd have posted this the same day the article went up if they had a direct stake in it). It just seems suspicious that all 29 "essential" titles are on GOG.

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Green_Shade: [...] So it's possible GOG just has a lot of Good Old Games in the adventure genre.
Not just possible -- it's a fact! :) And lots of good new adventure games, and plenty of mediocre and bad ones, as well. ;)
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General discussion29 must-play adventure games as picked by Richard Cobbett(93 posts)(93 posts)
(93 posts)