Kotaku: Adventure Games

Mostly Dead is Slightly Alive: Where Adventure Games Are Hiding

Kate Cox — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 10:40:00 EST

Double Fine's record-breaking Kickstarter adventure has, over the past few days, rekindled the perennial discussion about the entire genre of adventure games. The classic adventure has had its death announced dozens, if not hundreds, of times over the past decade or so, with at least an equal number of rebuttals. More »

Here's What Grim Fandango HD Might Look Like

Kirk Hamilton — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 15:30:00 EST

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I caught this over the weekend when our friends at Rock, Paper Shotgun posted it—some folks have been dilligently working on putting together an HD "Deluxe" version of the beloved Tim Schafer/Lucasarts adventure gaming classic Grim Fandango. They've posted a video that, sadly, isn't in-engine, but it does give a good sense of what their finished product might look like. More »

Are These The 100 Best Adventure Games of All Time?

Kirk Hamilton — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:00:00 EST

The fine folks over at Adventuregamers.com have taken on one of the most herculean tasks in video-game-list-writing: They have assembled a list of not the top 10, not the top 20, but the top 100 adventure games of all time. It's a really good list, too. More »

The Great Big Guide to Adventure Games

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 07:00:00 EDT

Even with a recent resurgence of sorts, the time when true adventure gaming was a blockbuster genre is well and truly past. Those interested in re-living that past, or in finding out what all the fuss was about, can check out Hardcore Gaming 101's Guide to Classic Graphic Adventures. More »

The Mysterious, Magical Kentucky Route Zero, A 2011 Game To Anticipate

Stephen Totilo — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST

The trailer for a game I hadn't heard of comes with the most unusual description: "a magic realist adventure game about a secret highway in Kentucky and the mysterious folks who travel." This is Kentucky Route Zero. More »

LucasArts Hopes To Turn Old Into Gold With Adventure Games

Brian Crecente — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:00:00 EDT

There was a time when gaming was left more to the imagination than the pixel-count. When the written word was mightier than the joystick. More »

Puzzling Over Adventure Game Puzzles

Maggie Greene — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:30:00 EST

There's a really nice (lengthy) article over at Adventure Classic Gaming that takes a look at puzzles in (as you can probably guess) adventure games, and how those forms have seeped into other genres. More »

Hidden Treasures of Classic Sierra Games

Maggie Greene — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:40:00 EDT

We've been a little nostalgic the past couple of weekends, which included a look back at Sierra's origins; now Adventure Classic Gaming has a look at hidden assets of classic Sierra games. Not the Easter Eggs, but the bits and pieces hidden in the asset files of games — things that will never appear in the games themselves and take some exploration to actually get to. These range from bits of dialogue to wacky animations to pencil sketches; the author takes a look at some of these hidden assets and the meaning behind them: More »

History Lessons: A Look Back at Sierra's Origins

Maggie Greene — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:30:00 EDT

I've been keeping my eye on the "Stephen M. Cabrinety Collection" blog, which is a blog corollary to part of Stanford University's archive of gaming-related materials — while there are only a handful of posts, there are some interesting looks back at some more obscure bits of gaming history. The latest is the first part of a look back at the origins of Sierra — back when it was 'On-Line Systems.' While Eric Kaltman notes that he didn't have any of the original titles physically on hand, he did have "the first issue of the "On-Line Letter", a newsletter celebrating the first anniversary of On-Line Systems." Included are plenty of high-res pictures, though not all the interesting stuff is included: More »

Whither Monkey Island: 'Puzzles Are For Geezers'?

Maggie Greene — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:40:00 EDT

Are the ridiculous, wild goose chase puzzles of classic adventure games obsolete? Michael Abbott at the Brainy Gamer grudgingly says they may be — "A revealing slap in the face awaits the - shall we say "veteran" - gamer who hands an old adventure game to a young gamer with a hearty recommendation and an assurance of blissful gaming in store." The response is likely to be 'Is this supposed to be fun?' Now, I know plenty of people who still remember fondly games like Monkey Island and other classic adventure games, including their oftentimes bizarre and lengthy puzzles, but: More »

The Inaugural Adventure Gaming Expo

Mike Fahey — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Are you a big fan of adventure games? Do you know who Scott Adams is? Al Lowe? Chris Jones? In order, they are the father of adventure gaming, the creator of the Leisure Suit Larry series, and the creator of the Tex Murphy series, and all three will be appearing this August at the inaugural Adventure Gaming Expo in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The weekend long celebration of all things typey, pointy, and clicky formerly known as AdventureCon, will be taking place from August 29th to the 31st, and will feature panels, a charity auction, autograph sessions, and even a live-action adventure game running throughout the event. Yes, all that adventure gaming goodness, plus LARPing! You can head over to the official website and register until May 31st for $99, after which it jumps up to an even more ridiculous price. Still, sounds like a fun time to be had by all. I do enjoy a good LARP now and then. More »

Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narrative

Maggie Greene — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 14:30:50 EST

I've got a couple of game related books on my 'someday, someday I'll have time to read these' book list, and I've just added a new one after seeing a post on Grand Text Auto: Jeff Howard's Quests: Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives. While "each theoretical section is followed by a practical section that contains exercises using the Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset," something I'll never be using, the meat of the text sounds really interesting, blending literature and game design. Says Nick Montfort, an assistant professor at MIT: More »

Al Lowe Says Google Hurts Adventure Games

Mark Wilson — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:40:07 EST

For those who grew up in the early days of PC adventure gaming, Al Lowe needs no introduction. To those whom need such an introduction, Crecente is coming by your house later to use his feared hair whip fatality. Anyway, here's what the point and click adventure god had to say about developing adventure games in the modern gaming world:

No, not futile, but not mainstream either.

He continues: More »

Sam and Max Hit Retail In August

Mike Fahey — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 12:20:07 EDT

Telltale, the developers of the Sam and Max episodic adventure game, have announced a partnership with JoWooD Productions to bring the popular series to retail shelves this August. Sam and Max: Season 1 will collect the first six episodes into one retail boxed set, to be released worldwide in five languages, bringing many their first-ever taste of the dog and bunny detective duo. It is a delicious taste. More »

Adventure Gamers Adventure To AdventureCon

Michael McWhertor — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:40:33 EST

Celebrating thirty (THIRTY!) years of Zork and twenty years of Leisure Suit Larry, the Las Vegas AdventureCon will act as the meeting ground for gamers who love the dying point-click-read genre. More »

Something Awful's Tub Adventure

egauger — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 18:20:10 EDT

I take it back, what I meant to say when I denied that Sid Meier was the Merchant Ivory of video games, is that Shmorky is the actual Merchant Ivory of video games. More »

Ron Gilbert Hates It All So Very Much

egauger — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 21:45:24 EDT

My very favorite grump is on blast at Gamasutra, grumbling about topics ranging from how there are no decent stories in games anymore, to how he is trying to remedy this and being thwarted at every turn by stonefaced game company executives. Full of piss, vinegar, and baseball metaphors, Gilbert gives us what-for: More »

King's Quest III Bursts From Its Coffin

egauger — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 21:20:49 EDT

Destructoid tells us that an indie remake of the classic King's Quest III went live 4 days ago on the creators' website. The death of the Adventure Game is just now starting to be properly mourned, and I swear I can see the bloated corpse twitching a little here and there. More »

SCUMM Makes a Comeback in Indie Indy Game

egauger — Sat, 27 May 2006 19:40:00 EDT

A team of Barnett college students has released a demo of their SCUMM-based adventure title, Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth. More »