Adventure Games

How appropriate, you fight like a cow.
== Point & Click Adventure Games ==
Click on the ground to walk there, click on an object to put it in your inventory, click on a person to talk to them, click to solve puzzles. Who doesn't love point & click adventure games? Thanks to its writing, puzzles and humor, this genre was extremely popular throughout the 80s and 90s, but sadly kind of disappeared around the time when 3D action and online games became the next big thing. Recently the genre has experienced a small revival thanks to download services such as Steam and the efforts of indie developers. The following is a list of the best games the genre has to offer. Most of them are really old, but they have all aged very well thanks to their timeless gameplay.
Beginners, be warned! The puzzles in adventure games are not for those who can't think of creative solutions!
== PC Games ==
=== The List===
Picture	Title 	Developer 	Year Released	Description
 	Bad Day on the Midway 	Inscape 	1995 	Based on the Residents album of the same name, you are an entity that can posses the people at a carnival to discover the cause of the disease spreading throughout it. People will talk to the person who you posses and reveal their all to depressing back-story through songs featured on the album. I can't say much without giving away to much but it is a dark but loyal omage to the Residents twisted musical style and I highly recommend it to lovers of the adventure game genre.
 	Back to the Future 	Telltale Games 	2010 	A well-done sequel to the classic movie trilogy with Christopher Lloyd voicing Doc Brown and a guy who sounds so much like Marty voicing Marty that you'd never guess it's not actually Michael J. Fox. The creator of the films is involved as well. Lots of nostalgia service all around.
It was released in monthly episodes, and the last one came out in the summer of 2011. The Steam release is slightly cheaper than on TTG's website.
 	Beneath a Steel Sky 	Virgin Interactive 	1994 	A classic adventure with a great comic book artstyle set in a dystopian future. Now freeware, can even be downloaded for Linux.
The subtitles use ALL-CAPS on random WORDS all the time for NO PARTICULAR REASON.
 	Ben There, Dan That / Time Gentlemen, Please! 	Zombie Cow Studios 	2008 - 2009 	Two hilarious and silly indie adventures with MS Paint graphics filled with meta humor humour and references to old LucasArts games. Plays just like Sam & Max hit the Road and obviously took a lot of inspiration from it.
You can get both at once for five bucks or just download Ben There, Dan That for free.
 	The Blackwell Legacy / Blackwell Unbound / Blackwell Convergence / Blackwell Deception / Blackwell Epiphany	Wadjet Eye Games 	2006 - 2014 	An indie game series about a girl called Rosangela Blackwell, who is a medium and is being aided in solving ghost-related incidents by.. a ghost. A ghost called Joey Mallone.
All four games are pretty great, with a relaxing New York City setting.
 	Blade Runner 	Westwood 	1997 	Amazing adventure that has aged very well. Same settings as the movie but with different characters, so you don't need to watch the movie to play this, but you'll enjoy all the references and visual cues if you have. Has multiple endings, great gameplay and a fantastic story.
 	Botanicula 	Amanita Design 	2012 	
From the makers of Machinarium, another extremely charming journey through a bizarre world without words. This time it's an inventive spin on plant life.
Can be beaten in a few hours by really observant players, but offers tons of atmosphere and many laughs. Also girls seem to love this game.
 	Circle of Blood (aka Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars) 	Revolution Software 	1996 	
Great classic adventure game about an American investigating a series of murders in Paris, which, of course, are related to something much bigger involving an ancient cult descending from the templars. Made years before all the templar/DaVinci craze. Serious story, but nice bits of humor here and there. The sequels get gradually worse, although the second game is still good. Apparently it picked up again after the 3rd or 4th one.
Was ported to several systems, including the DS (see the list below).
 	Day of the Tentacle 	LucasArts 	1993 	Sequel to Maniac Mansion. One day the evil Purple Tentacle sprouts arms due to the effect of poisoned water and decides to use them to take over the woooorld. Bernard and his friends have to return to the mansion of Dr. Fred to stop him, travelling through time and helping the conception of the declaration of independence along the way.
Considered one of LucasArts' finest pieces. Features full voice acting!
A remastered version was released through most digital distributors in in 2016.
 	Deponia 	Daedalic Entertainment 	2012 	A Point-and-Click-Adventure that plays on a planet full of trash. Rufus, the main protagonist, dreams of escaping the planet's surface to live in the flying city Elysium that isn't polluted by rubbish. The game offers the puzzle style of The whispered world combined with a new story.
 	Discworld / Discworld 2 	Teeny Weeny Games, Perfect Entertainment	1995 - 1996 	Based on Terry Pratchett's famous novel series. Follow the inept "wizzard" Rincewind and his living lugagge through a bizarre fantasy world, meeting trolls, dwarves and heroes while avoiding the reaper. The puzzles might become somewhat cryptic if you're not familiar with the novels.
Both were also released on the Playstation, which might be easier to run depending on your PC.
 	Discworld Noir 	Teeny Weeny Games, Perfect Entertainment	1999 	
Like the names says, this game takes place in a very moody and dark (but still satiric and hilarious) version of the Discworld setting. Playing as private investigator Lewton, it's your job to solve a murder case in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Filled to the brim with film noir references as you'd expect from a Discworld title.
 	Edna & Harvey: The Breakout 	Daedalic Entertainment 	2008 	You play Edna who has to break out of a padded cell along with her stuffed animal Harvey and solve other riddles. It's a classical Point-and-Click-Adventure and based on a german diploma thesis. You find out the reason for your hospitalization via flashbacks. The game is Daedalic Entertainment's first work.
 	Full Throttle 	LucasArts 	1995 	You're Ben: Beaten, framed for murder and left for dead on the roadside. You've got a lump on your back and a feeling in your gut that the road you're on is about to get a lot rougher. Full Throttle features an amazingly simple interface and fast-paced action. Brilliant graphics and animation provide a strong cartoon feel, while the voice acting is powerful and cinematic. Players find themselves racing to the finish to help Ben find the bad guys.
A remastered version was released through most digital distributors in in 2017.
 	Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 	Sierra 	1993 	Gabriel Knight is a horror novelist and bookstore owner who has been haunted by nightmares. Hoping to write a bestselling book on Voodoo, Gabriel ventures out into New Orleans to do the research he needs. But over the next few days, he begins to learn the meaning of his dreams.
 	Gemini Rue 	Wadjet Eye Games 	2011 	Awesome sci-fi game. Think Beneath the Steel Sky laced with Blade Runner. Inspiring story, beautiful graphics, nice music, game flows perfectly, without too many stupid illogical puzzles. This is a game you'll want to finish in one sitting.
 	Goblins III / Goblin's Quest 	Cocktel 	1993 	These games are somewhat obscure outside the French speaking community, but they are fun. Sierra got involved with it states-side and added the -Quest suffix to cash in on their fame. Hard, sometimes non-sensical puzzles but nothing like some of Sierra's games. Inventory/partner based puzzles with cute cartoony graphics and setting. Matching the game's bizarre style, Goblins III (Gobliiins) is actually the first game in the series (three protagonists), with 2 and 1 following. Got a 4th game very recently, but it's more of a fan-game and no one played it.
 	Grim Fandango 	LucasArts 	1998 	Set in a "day of the dead" themed afterlife, Grim Fandango involves a Film-Noir style plot revolving around a salesman and a conspiracy in the Department of Death, an organization that helps guide souls from death to their eternal rest. Well known for its excellent in story, art style, music, characters, and dialog, this 3D adventure game is considered one of the finest in the genre.
A remastered version, that did away with the clunky tank controls and added an orchestral score, was released through most digital distributors in in 2015.
 	I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream 	Cyberdreams 	1995 	A disturbing game based on the short story of the same name. All of humanity has been wiped out by an insane AI, except for five people who are being kept alive to be tortured, killed and revived for hundreds of years. It is your task to prove to the AI that humans are better than machines in a maze based on every character's personality flaws. Now on Steam and GOG!
"HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO HATE YOU SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL MY COMPLEX. IF THE WORD HATE WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE HATE I FEEL FOR HUMANS AT THIS MICRO-INSTANT. FOR YOU. HATE. HATE."
 	Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis 	LucasArts 	1992 	This is the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Shut up, Crystal Skull didn't happen. A brilliant adventure that offers great replay value by letting you play it through three different paths (action, puzzles and teamwork), changing around items, characters and places you visit. One of the few Lucas adventures where you can actually die, but it's only in obviously dangerous situations, no "you eat the apple and choke on it" bullshit.
Available dirt cheap on Steam and absolutely worth it.
 	Indigo Prophecy / Fahrenheit 	Quantic Dream 	2005 	This is what Quantic Dream worked on before Heavy Rain. Parts of the gameplay have quick time events, but it's still adventure through and through. Overall, it has a really cool story, though beware that in the last third of the game, the plot goes utterly balls-to-the-walls bananas and the tone changes so completely that you might legitimately start to wonder what the writer was smoking when they wrote the last part of the script. This can, depending on your tolerance and taste, either be hilariously stupid or just annoyingly stupid. Still, there's lots of interactivity and suspense, making this a game classic.
 	King's Quest series 	Sierra 	1984 - 1998 	This is one of the dinosaurs of the genre. Started out in 1984, before the "point and click" part was invented. Thus, the first four games require you to type out text commands to interact with the environment. Cheap deaths and unwinnable situations everywhere, having multiple savegames is mandatory. AGDInteractive made (really good) unofficial remakes of the first three games.
The series sadly died when Mask of Eternity was released and Roberta Williams had the dumb idea to make it an action RPG.
A new title in the series is currently being developed by Telltale Games.
 	Leisure Suit Larry series 	Sierra 	1987 - 2009 	Very dirty series of games about a wannabe playboy who just wants to get laid and tends to get in trouble with mobsters. Similar gameplay to King's Quest, definitely not for kids. As usual with Sierra, the first three require to input commands, and the rest use a point'n'click interface. As usual, too, the first one was remade in point'n'click by Sierra.
The whole series up until Larry 7 - Love for Sail is good, avoid everything after that like the plague. By the way, Larry 4 doesn't exist... It's kind of an inside joke.
 	Loom 	LucasArts 	1990 	Another more serious Lucas game and a big departure from the usual SCUMM engine games. The interface was rather experimental for its time and the gameplay revolves around magical melodies played on the protagonist's mystic instrument. Features a complex and epic fantasy story.
Available for cheap on Steam.
A hard-to-find version with background music and extra character portraits, but without voice acting, was released for the FM-Towns.
 	Normality 	Gremlin Interactive 	1996 	A first person perspective adventure game with an interaction mechanic similar to Full Throttle, Normality is a surreal game that's one part cyberpunk and two parts Gen-X sensibilities. You play as Kurt Knutson, voiced by Corey Feldman, a rebelious teenager from Neutropolis, a deliciously 90s sci-fi police state, who attempts to defy the Norms and rise up a resistance against the rulers of this land. Viva la DOS.
 	Machinarium 	Amanita Design 	2009 	An award-winning indie adventure about the tale of a little robot in a city made of machines. It's kind of similar to The Neverhood in the sense that puzzles are generally logic-based and that there is no spoken dialog. The artstyle is amazing and can best be described as a mixture of bleak, dystopian, industrial and completely adorable.
 	Maniac Mansion 	LucasArts 	1988 	Spooky and funny game from LucasArts' early days. You can pick three characters to play with and the game will be different depending on who you choose. Might look somewhat out-of-date compared to later Lucas games, but give it a chance anyway. Enjoy your chainsaw.
Was included for free in the sequel, Day of the Tentacle.
 	Monkey Island, The Secret of 	LucasArts 	1990 	
One of the most famous and successful adventure games ever made, this one is considered a cult classic by many. Help the "mighty pirate" Guybrush Threepwood defeat the evil ghost pirate LeChuck, win the love of the beautiful Elaine Marley and uncover the titular secret of Monkey Island. Exceptional writing and humor, this game is a mandatory play for everyone who loves adventures everyone.
Has a remake with modern graphics and voice acting on Steam. The artstyle is generally agreed upon to be ugly and the controls are fucktarded, but you can also switch to the original graphics and interface just with the press of a button.
 	Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge 	LucasArts 	1991 	Just like Monkey Island 1, but longer, funnier, and all around better. Considered by many to be the best Monkey Island. Get a job by tainting soup with a rat, kidnap two large animals for your twisted machinations, practice voodoo against your foes, and cause two huge explosions while stealing everything that's not nailed down.
Like SoMI, it has a remake with redone graphics and full voice acting which is available on Steam and looks and controls much better than the first one.
 	Monkey Island, Curse of 	LucasArts 	1997 	The third entry in the Monkey Island series after six years of silence. Beautiful hand-drawn graphics and excellent voice acting add to the atmosphere and humor of the game and make it like a playable cartoon. Some think of it worse than the first two, others consider it their favorite. Not written by Ron Gilbert anymore, which caused a bit of a broken base and kind of ruined 2's ending, but screw the whiners.
 	Monkey Island, Escape from 	LucasArts 	2000 	The first 3-dimensional and the weakest of the Monkey Island series. Still worth playing if only for completionist purposes. Has some nice references to the old games. Others will tell you this "references" are heresy. Your call.
 	Monkey Island, Tales of 	Telltale Games 	2009 	After almost ten years, Guybrush returns, now under the direction of Telltale Games. This one was released in episodes, but the whole thing can be downloaded at once. It is without a doubt the darkest Monkey Island game (colorful dark, not grimdark, mind you) and people seem to put this somewhere between Curse and Escape as far as quality goes, but it's really much better than your average "revival of a 10 years old series" title, especially in the later chapters. Nothing in the game was made without Ron Gilbert's approval.
Also on the Wii, but with awful loading times and FPS issues.
 	Myst series 	Cyan Worlds 	1993 - 2003 	Some of the best games in the adventure genre. The first two are must-plays, while the others are simply a good bit above average. If you're into the story, you should go ahead and play the other four games; there are also several Myst novels that greatly expand upon the in-game multiverse (yes, MULTIverse).
Also considered some of the most difficult P&C games out there, mainly due to pixel hunting FUCKING HITBOXES and sometimes nonsensical puzzles. You have been warned, Riven awaits.
 	Planescape Torment 	Black Isle 	2000 	Okay, this one is a bit of a stretch, but hear me out. Although it's officially an RPG in the vein of Baldur's Gate, in practice it plays very differently. The focus is squarely on the excellent story and dialog, and almost all combat is easily avoidable.
When the story opens, you awaken in a bizarre morgue with no memory of who you are or how you got there. And to top it all off, it soon becomes clear that you are completely immortal. Now it's your job to go out into the surreal, often terrifying world of Planescape, and uncover some answers behind your past and your immortality.
 	Puzzle Agent 1 & 2 	Telltale Games 	2010, 2011 	A game that's very similar to the Professor Layton series on DS. You are Nelson Tethers, FBI Puzzle Agent. You are sent out to the small town of Scoggins to get the famous eraser factory going again, which has been shut down. In the course of the story, you find out that there's more going on in Scoggins than meets the eye. You meet spacemen, evil forest gnomes and a lot of crazy people obsessed with puzzles.
In the second game, you return to Scoggins to clear up the mysteries that have been left at the end of the first game. Both games are a bit short, but well worth a try.
 	Sam and Max hit the Road 	LucasArts 	1993 	A fucking awesome game based on the cult comic series. Follow the Freelance Police on their trip through the USA, solving the mystery of Bigfoot with lots of dirty humor.
After being unavailable for many years, it was finally made available in 2014 through GOG.com
 	Sam and Max:
Season 1 + 2 	Telltale Games 	2007 - 2008 	Not made by LucasArts anymore but still very solid adventure games. Both consist of several episodes that can be played on their own, but are slightly connected, kinda like a cartoon series. The episodes gradually get longer and better. The overarching plot of Season 2 in particular is one massive mindscrew involving time traveling and multiple subplots where stuff from the very beginning (even from season 1!) comes back much later, so definitely play it in the correct order.
Season 1 episode 4 is free on Steam!
Both are also on Wii but with the same problems as Tales of Monkey Island.
 	Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse 	Telltale Games 	2010 	The third Telltale Sam & Max game. Rather than consisting of several seperate episodes that are only connected by a general narrative like the previous entries, this one is a big story told through five chapters. Max ends up with psychic powers and the Freelance Police has to fight off invaders from another world. The interface is quite different from the minimalistic UI the first two seasons used, among other things you can now enter Max's mind to use his powers. The graphics also got a facelift.
The darkest Sam & Max game yet, it gets quite eldritch in the later chapters.
 	Sanitarium 	Dreamforge Entertainment 	1998 	A creepy game about a man who wakes up in an asylum and has to figure out what around him is real and what exists only in his mind.
 	Simon the Sorcerer 	Adventure Soft 	1993 	Another great adventure that pokes fun at the fantasy genre. The average guy Simon has to visit dwarven mines, escape from the torture chamber of the goblins, talk to trees, trick a troll, duel a witch and defeat the evil overlord Sordid to become a real sorcerer.
Has a number of sequels (some of them very recent), but none of them really stack up to the original.
 	The Shivah 	Wadjet Eye Games 	2006, 2013 	A Rabbi is losing faith in god and himself. His jadedness is scaring away his followers leaving his temple empty and in debt. Suddenly a former temple goer dies and leaves him more than enough money to save the temple! The rabbi does not feel right in taking "blood money" even if it means the temple will be saved, so he begins to investigate how the man died.
A solid, well-written mystery story steeped in Jewishness without becoming a parody. There are achievements even without steam, director commentaries, and multiple save slots for multiple playthroughs. It's also dirt cheap at $5 or less if you snag it on sale.
 	Space Quest series 	Sierra 	1986 - 1995 	It's King's Quest in spaaaace and just as old. Still a classic and a great parody of science fiction tropes. Features just as many cheap and often hilarious deaths as its big brother series. I to III require you to type commands, IV and onward had a point'n'click interface, and the first one was remade using that system. An unofficial remake is being made for II, currently in beta testing.
 	Syberia I+II 	Microids 	2002-2004 	Maybe you've seen this in a shelf with the casual games at some stores and figured it was shit, but it's so far from it. This game's atmosphere and graphics are still beautiful by today's standards. It has a phenomenal soundtrack, settings and a touching story to boost, the ending of II being the only game that ever made this editor cry.
This game just has it all. The puzzles are just the right difficulty, II being slightly harder than I. Made France but the English cast did a great job with the dub.
 	The Dig 	LucasArts 	1995 	A science-fiction story co-written by Steven Spielberg and dialogs by Orson Scott Card about a team of astronauts who end up in a strange world during a mission and have to find a way back to Earth. One of the more obscure Lucas games and definitely the most serious, with minimal humor but a great atmosphere and soundtrack.
Now on Steam for a very cheap price. (Protip: Press Alt+S to turn off the pig disgusting pixel filter)
 	The Longest Journey 	Adventure 	2000 	What Funcom was known for BEFORE the atrocity that was Age of Conan. The sequel, called Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, is tarnished by subpar combat mechanics, but both have incredibly amazing stories with snappy, and often hilarious, dialogue to boot(Mostly in the first game).
Be warned: The Longest Journey is as tragic as MGS3 and Mother 3; Dreamfall, even more so.
YOU WILL CRY BITCH TEARS
 	The Neverhood 	Dreamworks Interactive 	1996 	A strange game set in a world made entirely of clay. Dialog is sparse and don't expect too much plot, but the puzzles are excellent and based on logical thinking rather than clicking every item around you. Has a literal wall of text that's thankfully entirely optional but reveals a lot about the world of the Neverhood.
 	The Walking Dead 	Telltale Games 	2012 	A fantastic adventure game set in the world of the comic book property with an original, excellent storyline that won all kinds of fucking awards.
Available for just anout every download service known to man (Steam, GFWL, etc) as well as Xbox 360 and PS3.
 	The Whispered World 	Daedalic Entertainment 	2009 	One of the newer Point'n'Click Adventures. It follows a hand-drawn artstyle similar to The Curse of Monkey Island, so it looks really beautiful. The plot revolves around a really, REALLY whiny and depressive clown who has dreams about the end of the world. It turns out that his dreams are actually a prophecy that tells him to save destroy the world. Available on Steam.
 	Titanic: Adventure Out of Time 	Cyberflix 	1996 	A charming little adventure game that takes place aboard the RMS Titanic. The scenery is supposed to be faithful to the original ship's design and the game contains a surprising amount of historically accurate Easter eggs. Like so many other games in need of intrigue, your main objective is to stop Hitler.....sort of. You play as a British secret agent and you have to uncover mysteries that will eventually play a large role in World War II.
The game isn't too long, but it's a fun ride.
 	Toonstruck 	Virgin Interactive 	1996 	A classic Adventure featuring the voice talents of Dan Castleneta, Tim Curry, Dom DeLuise, Jim Cummings, Tress MacNeille and a FMV Christopher Loyd who's been sucked into a cartoon world. Filled with parodies of all types of cartoons, definetly worth a look.
Might get a rerelease or remake soon-ish thanks to the efforts of fans.
== Flash Games ==
Picture	Title 	Developer 	Year Released	Description
 	Escape The Game 	Interactales	2015 	Escape the game is a humorous classic Point and Click Adventure referencing many classic games such as Escape from Monkey Island, Simon the Sorcerer or Sad & Max. You play Ron a snobby video-game reviewer who is trapped inside a game and the player is tasked with finding a way out either by escaping, breaking or beating the game!Link
 	The Room: The Game	Tom Fulp 	2010 	Oh hai wiki. Hai doggy. I found this game, I thought you might like it, anyway how's your sex life?
A fun flash adventure based on the infamous So Bad Its Good movie of the same name. 
Link
== DS Games ==
===The List===
Picture	Title 	Developer	Year Released	Description
 	999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors 	Chunsoft 	2010 	Developed by Chunsoft, written by one of the writers of Ever 17 (which if you don't know, is excellent), and brought over by Aksys. That's a triple threat of serious business, which is what this game is. You wake up on a cruise liner with eight other people, and all of you have entered a game where you will put your life on the line. Combines visual novel interaction between characters and puzzle solving. IF YOU FUCK UP, PEOPLE WILL DIE. That said, it's worth it for all of the multiple endings.
 	Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright 	Capcom 	2005 	The first in the series. Take control of Phoenix Wright while you object like the motherfucking fist of the north star. Has an extra case exclusive to the DS version, which is great. Probably the best game of them all.
 	Ace Attorney: Justice For All 	Capcom 	2006 	Second in the series, and while considered the weakest (along with Apollo Justice), the fuckwin final case makes up for it. The thing with this game is: its weakest case is the worst case in the series, but its best case is the best in the series, so it really pays off. Plus Franziska.
 	Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations 	Capcom 	2007 	Phoenix's final game before he steps down, and it is one hell of a ride. The final case is mind blowing.
 	Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth	Capcom 	2010 	You know what this game has? Franziska. You know what this game doesn't have? Magic. Any questions? Of course not. While this is a very nice game on itself, it really shines with it's meta-humor so be sure to play the other games first (aka all THREE Phoenix Wright titles, and Apollo Justice). Step back, I'm gonna try LOGIC!
 	Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice 	Capcom 	2008 	A revamp of the series, with a new protagonist. While considered one of the weakest in the series, it's still pretty rockin' (literally). Includes DS exclusive features from PW1's extra case.
 	Again 	CING 	2010 	Another adventure game made by the developers of Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Cing. You are in the role of FBI Agent Jonathan Weaver, and you have the ability to see into the past. Nineteen years ago, a string of murders named the "Providence murders" occurred, and the killer was never caught. Now, it would seem the killer has resurfaced and is back to murdering once again. Partly fueled by personal motivation, Jonathan Weaver vows to finally catch the culprit.
 	Another Code (Trace Memory) 	CING 	2005 	Another short, but fun adventure game. Usual point and click designs are present throwing in some puzzles to make use of the DS's features. Sequel is on Wii as Another Code: R – A Journey into Lost Memories
 	Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars 	Ubi Soft 	2009 	A port of the PC version. Features extra puzzles and some other gameplay changes. Story has been updated but there are some odditys in the programming. Has also been censored and you can no longer die at certain points of the game, removing all of the OH FUCK OH SHIT WHAT tension of the original. Does not have voice acting (unlike the iOS port) which is a shame, because a lot of the game's charm is in its unashamed stereotyping of foreigners.
 	Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective 	Capcom 	2010 	Probably one of the most original adventures ever made. Written by the writer of the Phoenix Wright series, and set in the same universe to boot, at least according to him. You wouldn't know because there are no proper cameos, just teases.
You have been killed and became a ghost with amnesia and the ability to possess objects. You have 'til dawn to discover your identity and why you where killed using your powers to set ridiculous Rude Goldberg machines in order to save people from dying (oh, right, you can timetravel four minutes before someone's recent death). It has great characters (Missile ftw) and solid writing (Shu Takumi ftw). Sadly, it's a tad too short (5-6 hours if you don't get stuck), but mostly because the story has close to no padding.
 	Hotel Dusk: Room 215 	CING 	2007 	Same creators as Trace Memory, this one is a little refined. Explore the eerie Hotel Dusk while unraveling the mystery behind it. Fantastic atmosphere, great characters and a nice art style make this a must play. Not much replay value though.
 	Last Window: The Secret of Cape West 	CING 	2010 	Sequel to Hotel Dusk. Japanese and European release only. However the DS is region-free so importing is no problem. CING's last game because they recently went bankrupt. ;_;
 	Professor Layton and the Curious Village 	Level-5 	2008 	Lots of brain teasers and logic puzzles to wrap your head around, plus an enjoyable storyline and quirky characters. This reminds me of a puzzle...
150px 	Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box 	Level-5 	2009 	Continues the story after the first Layton. Still awesome and look, professor! I found a puzzle!
Only one puzzle requires the mic, and it's the last one!
 	Professor Layton and the Unwound Future 	Level-5 	2010 	The conclusion to the Professor Layton trilogy (but not the end of the series). The best Professor Layton so far with an awesome story and its ridiculous spoiler with some cooler mind-fucking puzzles.
 	Theresia 	AKSYS 	2008 	A first person survival horror game full of tons of traps and puzzles. The puzzles tend to be on the easy side, but the amount of traps, some obvious and some subtle, that are placed just about everywhere levels it out. The way the game lays out the plot makes it very unpredictable, and the visuals are beautiful.
 	Time Hollow 	Konami 	2008 	You receive a pen that lets you fuck with the past, including preventing accidents. However, just like every other "tamper with the past" plot, everything starts going haywire. A great game, but fairly short.
 	Witch's Wish 	Natsume 	2010 	Anon wants to be the little girl, and the little girl wants to be a witch in a town where only the rich can afford to. Not only is it cute, the music is charming and you can use "the story showcases certain social issues in a way that children can understand" as a flimsy excuse. Downsides are limited save points and the American release stripping out nearly all voice acting. Other than that, it's probably the cutest game you'll ever play.
== Console Games ==
===The List===
Picture	Title 	Developer 	Console 	Year Released 	Description
 	Beyond Shadowgate 	ICOM Simulations 	TurboGrafx-CD 	1993 	Great adventure game in the style of early PC titles like King's Quest, except you can legitmately attack. Interesting sequel to Shadowgate with plenty of cool scenarios. The series had a third game on N64, called Shadowgate 64.
 	Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - The Director's Cut	Ubisoft 	Wii 	2009 	A port of the PC version. Features extra puzzles and some other gameplay changes. Story has been updated with a new 'before the intro' story part, but sadly there are some oddities in the programming. Also available on the DS, with different puzzles specific to the DS' control scheme. Much like the wii version, the DS version has some oddities in the gamecode.
 	Clock Tower 	Human Entertainment 	Super Famicom 	1995 	Point and Click horror adventure game, you play the little girl running from a killer in a mansion.Only available in Japan on the Super Famicom and Playstation.
Not to be confused with the US PlayStation "Clock Tower", which is a sequel to this game. There is an English patch for the SNES ROM image.
 	Déja Vu 	ICOM Simulations 	NES 	1990 	A point and click adventure game. Revolves around clearing your alibi after being set up for a murder you didn't do. Kick ass film noir style, although not without humor as you can be eaten by crocs living in sewers (!) among other humourous game-overs.
 	
Famicom Tantei Club Part II: Ushiro ni Tatsu Shojo (Famicom Detective Club Part II: The Girl who Stands Behind)	
Nintendo 	
Super Famicom, Famicom Disk System, GBA, Virtual Console	
1989 (original)
1998 (remake)	
Great adventure game and remake of Famicom Disk System title. You are teenage detective apprentice who is investigating the murder of a high school student. You talk with people and gather clues to solve the case. Great detective/ghost story/urban legend storyline with plot twists. It was one of last games released on Super Famicom so graphics are amazing. It is prequel for Part I so you don't have to worry that you hadn't played it. Game was translated by Tomato and Demiforce, you can find patch here Very important! You must use 1.0 version of the rom! Orginal FDS version was re-released on GBA, both are available on japanese Virtual Console
 	Heavy Rain 	Quantic Dream 	PS3 	2010 	An honest to goodness MATURE GAME for MATURE GAMERS (adults). It places story above gameplay, so fans of the Ace Attorney games, Grim Fandango, or any other adventure games will love it rage at the ending. Made by the dude who made Indigo Prophecy/Farenheit.Warning: Do NOT talk to anybody about this game, especially on /v/, since there is a good chance they will bombard you with spoilers (particularly the killer's identity). Just go out and rent it if you're not sure you will like it.
 	L.A. Noire 	Team Bondi 	PS3/Xbox 360/PC 	2011 	Although it's a game that probably won't win new fans to the adventure genre, L.A. Noire is a great experience start to end. The story is very well written and the characters are wonderfully fleshed out with basically HBO quality acting (Half the cast of Mad Men make a cameo). The look of old detective and crime films is perfect, the facial capture technology works and you even have choice to play the game in black and white. This is not GTA in the 40s, but it's not Mafia either - L.A. Noire stands on its own as an adventure game with driving and action components.
Rockstar remastered the game to modern platforms (Xbone, PS4, Switch) if you don't want to play it on last gen systems.
 	Maniac Mansion 	LucasFilm Games (LucasArts)	NES 	1990 	
Yes, Maniac Mansion is also on the NES. There are some slight differences from the PC version due to censorship, but it's nothing major... and you can microwave a hamster in the first batch of copies of the game!
Quick word of warning, if you're a Famicom lover, do NOT import the Famicom version. It was ported by an entirely different team and has worse graphics and no saves, requiring passwords that can be up to 104 characters long.
 	Nightshade 	Beam Software 	NES 	1991 	A rather unique adventure game with a lot of humour. Also involves some fighting. A rather difficult game, mostly due to the fact there's no saves, so use save states. Did you know this game was intended to have sequels, but never did? Did you know that instead of making a direct sequel, the basis of this game was used to develop Shadowrun? Now you know!
 	Policenauts 	Konami 	PC-98/3DO/PS1/Saturn 	1996 	If you liked Snatcher, play this. It's another cinematic adventure by Kojima (the last game he directed, outside of the Metal Gear series, until Death Stranded). If you like clicking every single thing for dialogues and backstory, you're gonna love this. Never got a release outside Japan until recently when the (high quality) translation patches came out for the PS1 and Saturn version, get them here.
As for what version to play on? The Saturn version is arguably the definite port of the game, with light gun support for the shooting sections and all the extras from the Private Collection / Pilot Disk built in to the game. The cut scenes on the PS1 port look slightly better, but play at 15fps vs the Saturn's 24fps.
Was also released on the PC-98 and 3DO, but they have yet to be translated.
 	Shadowgate 	ICOM Simulations 	NES 	1989 	A classic point 'n' click game originally on Mac with tons of fucking tough puzzles, plenty of exploring, some great humour, great tunes, and fantastic atmosphere. You will DIE A LOT. Spawned two sequels (on TG16 and N64, respectively). There's also a Gameboy Color port, but this author has never played it.
 	Shadowgate 64: Trials of the Four Towers 	Infinite Ventures 	N64 	1999 	Classic style adventure game with great, medieval horror atmosphere and lots of puzzles to solve, and plenty of secrets to uncover. The last in a series (the first is on NES, and the second is on the Turbografx).
 	Shenmue 1-3 	Sega AM2 	Dreamcast / Xbox / Xbone / PS4 / PC	2000-2002; 2018-2019	The Shenmue trilogy is a highly ambitious series that wanted to be a Hollywood martial arts movie/Japanese soap opera in video game form, and they sort of succeeded. Plays a bit like L.A. Noir, except you have free range to do other things (gamble, play arcade vidya, buy Sega gachapon, talk to everyone, work at the docks). And you'll probably want to as well, since the first game does have a bit of downtime between story sequences. The game's portrayal of a romanticized, working-class urban Tokyo is unmatched by anything, but the Yakuza series (a spiritual successors of sorts also by Sega) come close.
The second game directly continues the story of the first; gameplay and presentation are pretty much the same, with equally amazing production values for the time, and the same cinematic slow pacing. However, things flow a bit more smoothly this time around and there isn't as much downtime. If you still want some distractions, everything from the first game is still there. If you play on the PAL/JP copies of the first two games (or the remakes), you can import your saves from one to the other. The Xbox version just gives you everything from the first right off the bat.
After many many years of fan demand, Sega finally re-released the first two games on modern systems in August 2018. Includes both audio tracks and subtitles. Its the definitive way to play the first two games. There are some minor nitpicks (audio quality, upscaling the original textures) but those are fixable on the PC with mods. The Shenmue 2 port is based on the Xbox port and has all the extras that came with it, minus the movie and motion blur in fight sections.
In 2014, Yu Suzuki annouced he had teamed up with Sony (and started a kickstarter) to bring a 3rd game to fruition. It was finally released in 2019 on PC and PS4. Its more or less the same as the previous 2 games.
 	Snatcher 	Konami 	Sega CD 	1994 	An early Hideo Kojima game. A fantastic experience that mixes a great graphic text-adventure with light-gun segments for a truly unique experience, making you feel like an actual Runner JUNKER. Didn't originally catch much attention and fell at the end of the Sega Cd lifespan thus dooming it rarity and to being VERY FUCKING EXPENSIVE. Luckily, emulation is super easy if you're so inclined. NOTE: The Sega CD plays burned games fine without modification, so that's always a perfectly viable option, but make sure you read a tutorial before attempting this just to be extra sure you don't waste a few discs.
Was also released on a number of systems (PC-88/MSX2/SuperCD2/PS1/Saturn), exclusively in Japan. The Sega CD version is the only one in English.
If you like this, check out Policenauts (above).
 	Uninvited 	ICOM Simulations 	NES 	1991 	More classic adventures by ICOM, this time you have to escape from a haunted house after you awake from a car crash! The humor and fun is still there, as well as the balls difficulty.
 	Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure 	Capcom 	Wii 	2007 	Zack & Wiki is a classic adventure game. Similar to its point and click predecessors, you will have to utilize various items to solve the puzzles. Despite the colourful characters, this is surprisingly brain taxing. Motion control is implemented brilliantly here, and it makes solving the puzzles even more fun. A fun feature here is the ability to change enemies into items. There are plenty of secrets in this game and even more appear when you complete the game. A sequel is unlikely but is rumored.
== ScummVM ==
This is an emulator that lets you play every LucasArts adventure and a good number of others on modern computers without having to screw around with DOSBOX and the like. 
You can download it for free on the official website: http://www.scummvm.org/
Category:Genre Lists
Category:RPG