Hi all
Here we go again!
In case you have forgotten or are new, our annual list provides the answer to the question "If I want to play an adventure game, what should I play?".
I started it years ago for the self-serving purpose of knowing the answer to that very question. It has been a valuable resource, and not just for me, as well as a bit of annual fun.
Since we began, we have increased the number of recommendations you can make, given the proliferation of indie and downloadable games, and we introduced the Hall of Fame, to identify those games that always did well and therefore we didn’t need them to be recommended each year.
After conferring with the muckys, we have made some more changes.
The main one is the induction of five more games to the Hall of Fame. We looked at the recent results, and the results across the years, drank some wine, conferred, drank some more wine, and included the following:
Broken Sword 1 (Circle of Blood, Shadow of the Templars)
Dreamfall
Gabriel Knight 1: Sins of the Fathers
Still Life
Lost Horizon
The other change (and ok I confess I didn’t confer with anyone on this) was to affectionately name the list. Given that Boaty McBoatface was taken (and Listy McListface would just be a rip off), I settled on Isabelle, for very obvious and worthy reasons
So welcome to Isabelle, the list of games you would recommend people should play.
There are some rules:
1. Games in our Hall of Fame are ineligible, for the reason identified above (ie we know they are worth playing else why would they be in the Hall of Fame). Votes for those games won't be counted. Those games are:
Amerzone
Black Mirror
Broken Sword 1 (Circle of Blood, Shadow of the Templars)
Dark Fall: The Journal
Dreamfall
Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within
Grim Fandango
Longest Journey
Lost Crown
Lost Horizon
Myst
Riven
Sanitarium
Still Life
Syberia
Syberia 2
Timelapse
Zork Nemesis
Zork Grand Inquisitor
2. You can recommend a maximum of 20 games. You can choose to recommend less.
3. You cannot recommend a series. If you want to recommend all the Tex Murphy games, that will take 6 (is it still six??) separate recommendations, one for each game.
4. Episodic adventures will be counted as one game, regardless of where they are up to in the series.
5. Uru and its add ons will be counted as one game.
6. BadMojo and the Redux version are one game. Ditto any other spruced up releases (eg RHEM 4)
7. Directors cuts and Special Releases will be counted as the same game.
8. Adventure games only (Dark Side games and Casual games get their own lists).
9. PC games please (although if you sneak a console game in I won't tell)
10. You cannot recommend 20 Nancy Drew games (an arbitrary rule I just made up)
If at all possible, please list in alphabetical order - it makes counting so much easier. In doing so, ignore "the" (so The Dark Eye would be under "D" for Dark)
The thread stays open for about 3 weeks, and I will (endeavour to) post updates and pithy insights as we go. I dropped the ball last year ([blip] that real life) so have a lot to make up for. Also, avoid editing your lists after posting because Chief and I count as we go, and may miss a change.
Who wants to post the first set of Isabelle recommendations?
acebook
witter
Thanks, flotsam and Chief! The new hall of fame games cleared up five more spaces on my list. 
flotsam
Oh, well, too late now. Interesting to see the lists now that the new hall of fame games have been added. 
