I get an awful lot of requests from developers to post news on various "adventure games", that to me are seriously walking the line, or not even near the line of what I consider an Adventure Game. I try and help out the Indies especially, because, face it, they are the future of gaming and need to feed their families.

In order to post the things that you all want to see, may I ask what it is that you enjoy as far as what you consider an adventure. There are lots of walking simulators, platform games, interactive storybooks etc.

How far away from the traditional P&C do you enjoy?

What do YOU consider an adventure and what kind of games do you like to see announced?

Thanks for your input! Much appreciated! No right or wrong opinion!

Ana

You ask really good questions, Ana. In terms of what kinds of games the word is applied to now or as part of the description, the word "adventure" has been rendered almost meaningless if you are a traditional adventure game player.

Point and click, puzzle solving, inventory, dialogues and story are what constitute an adventure game for me. I will also include a mouse/keyboard interface if the game is compelling enough to me to want to play it. Anything with action sequences/quick-time events excludes it from being an adventure game as far as I am concerned.

Well, I was getting my thoughts together for a post and then I read Marian's post. With the exception of point and click - I prefer mouse/keyboard interface - I would include everything Marian did. I like a good story as long as it's not too heavy on massive amounts of dialogue, puzzles that make sense with the story, easily accessed inventory and limited trudging around from place to place. One thing I really don't like is having to keep notes and will avoid a game that requires this. A good journal goes a long way there.

Thanks for asking, BrownEyedTigre

For me, an Adventure game should have a good story, interesting puzzles and a friendly interface.
But NO timed, action sequences

I do prefer point & click navigation but can cope with a mouse/keyboard combination.
And a relevant musical score can also be a bonus - but I'm not that bothered about having the highest flying graphics.

However, an "absolute must" is the option to save as and when I wish throughout the game

That's a very nice idea, Ana, especially as it could also be a great help to the (indie) developer community!

I would include all of the above mentioned by Marian and Draclvr (yes, also this idea of a logbook or journal, good one), and add the ability to freely explore environments at leisure, and also go about tasks in a non-linear fashion, both as a welcome bonus, not a prerequisite.

The 'free exploration' and 'non-linear tasks' may be at odds with the 'limited trudging' that Draclvr mentions, but I suppose it's all about striking a happy balance.

Oh yes, not (just) autosave, but definitely also user-controlled (manual) saving!

Artistic graphics and music can also win me over!

Best,

Rich

Absolutely.

Pretty much what has already been said. I don't mind taking notes at all but I don't like a lot of dialogue puzzles. No jumping, timed stuff, or arcade things please, and nothing that will make me dizzy.

Prefer point and click but keyboard is ok and manual saves. I don't care for games with big blocky pixels that you can't make out the shape of anything. Don't know if I'm saying that right.

I love these comments - they make me thing of the things I should have included in my post. I agree that an absolute MUST is the ability to save any time and as often as I want. I have stopped playing some games because they are so strictly linear it became frustrating. I like the ability to explore and go about tasks in a non-linear fashion as Rich said. The trudging I was referring to is the endless back and forth taking up large amounts of time to accomplish a simple task or puzzle. Much as I loved the game, The Longest Journey nearly drove me nuts with the time-consuming trips to one place or another and back again, over and over.

Musical score is also important to me as is good voice acting. I've found these can make or break an otherwise good game.

Hah! This question interests me, because when doing the list-thing, I do it wrong every time lol.
There are games that I think are adventure games, but that are later disqualified.
That doesn't really answer your question though, does it?
OK, an example. I played a few years ago, a small indie game called "Papers please". Really cool game, set in the cold war times (I think), and you are sitting in a booth, checking passports and looking for errors you might say. Now, perhaps this game was allowed, I don't recall, but what category is it otherwise? Simulator? And there are a lot of small, different games out there, that I would feel are adventure games, but perhaps they're really not?
I will follow this thread, and I look forward to when you can conclude exactly what an adventure game is Ana.

EDIT. OK, I see I misunderstood the questions, so perhaps you CAN answer wrong...

No, you were spot on, RebKean! Tell me what YOU consider to be an adventure game. What features make it one in your mind. No wrong answers!

To paraphrase a certain YouTube rant...
The most important thing about a game is whether you can play it.

It's unfortunate that some developers don't realize there is a percentage of their audience whose clicking finger doesn't move until 3 seconds (or more) after the brain tells it to. Putting QTE's in what is otherwise an adventure game creates dead ends (as in Lost Horizon 2). Saved games are not as easily transferred as they were back when games kept saves in the game folder, and lack of manual saves in many recent games makes things worse. Casual games from Big Fish include "Skips" but I haven't seen them in any adventure games I've played. Nor is skipping QTE's a solution for games where QTE's are 90% of the gameplay.

To me, an adventure game has some combination of puzzles, story/characters, and an environment to explore. It doesn't have to be the same ratio in all games. In fact, I like some variety. Right now I'd like to play 1st person Myst type games, but back when I first started playing games, most available games were 1st person games and I was looking for 3rd person games. Even after I learned to configure my Win98 computer for sound in DOS mode, and the number of 3rd person games I could play increased dramatically, I was looking for "new" 3rd person games to alternate with the new 1st person games I found.

I'm not a fan of the "without puzzles" subgenres (Dear Esther), but some people like them and as long as there are no dexterity barriers I don't have a problem seeing them posted here.

I don't want to impose my preferences on anyone, but there are many game genres for people with quick (or "normal") reflexes. How many genres are there for people whose reaction time is orders of magnitude slower than what the developer considers "normal"? or for people who have sufficient dexterity but want to relax with a game and not be rushed by QTE's or other forms of attack?

Hehe, OK then. Well, I am a very emotional person, and my feelings control most things in my life. So I can consider almost anything an adventure game. I would say that it's all about the story. I mean, of course there are lot's of things, and others have said very good things already. But a very personal answer would be any, really. I'm writing this as I'm thinking, so let's se if you can follow lol.

Let's try an example of what I've just said. I really love The Sims, and can spend hours playing god. Now, that is NOT an adventure game, but when you create a mission for yourself, then it's a slightly different story. I know there are sites that have challenges on them. People writes and says that, "create a family of 5, in a house this big, and you may not have this job", and so on and so on. Now when you play it like this, it feels more like an adventure game than just a simulation. I mean, it still IS a simulation, but I don't think any game is just one category. Don't answer that.

Fallout Shelter, is obviously a platform game. However, it feels like an adventure since you see all these people raise children, go on quests and stuff. So the word "adventure" is pretty difficult to define.

The story. I guess that's the thing. If I feel like I'm on an adventure, than that's what I am. A game where you play chess is a board game. But if they add a story, a backdrop or what have you, then I can get into it on a deeper level. But then again, we are all different, and not everyone needs a story as bad as I do. I'm thinking of my hubby, he can play solitaire on the computer for no real reason. I have to have an objective. Before I start, I need to set a goal, or at least decide to take notes on stuff. Statistics. If I don't do that, I can only play until I win one time, then it's no fun anymore.

So, the simple, but very complicated answer is, that (probably) any game can be an adventure game. I'm betting that helped?

An adventure game is a game with a story and is set in an environment that you can explore, and it must have plenty of puzzles or challenges. They must be logical, not based on luck or reflexes. If it doesn't have puzzles, I don't consider it a game. I don't like to be rushed, so nothing timed, and having a save where I need it is important. I don't want achievements, or enhancements to worry about, nor do I want to die in the game. I want the controls as simple as possible - no keyboard, just a mouse for the PC games. I would never use a game controller. Thankfully, I am ok with 3D movement, but point and click works too.

I've always played Adventure games as a peaceful passtime that kept the grey cells working. I have my graph paper and color pencils for diagrams and maps, B lead pencil for my notes - it is a process of how I approach the puzzles and the game. Sometimes I just wander about - like in Riven or Uru - to escape and get immersed in another world. This is what I expect from an Adventure game.

I agree with Colpet's description 100%. A game with an interesting story. A place to explore and relax in while taking in the views. No timing or looking over your shoulder. Hopefully good music to fit the location and mood. Building up an inventory and trying to figure out how and where they can be used to advance the story. I often take notes and make drawings and then find them in a box somewhere several years later. Yes, I love adventure games.

Mr. Bill

Ditto the last two. I like taking notes, drawing things, etc. Riven et al is the perfect example.

Haha, that is so funny, I also have found really old notes and lists from games. And even though I don't know how to play some of them on a new computer, I can't throw the notes away!

I agree about QTEs and any other puzzles that depend on quick reflexes. The QTE format effectively excludes me from the Telltale Games audience. The company name is ironic given the lack of story independent of QTEs.

There are genuine adventure games that include isolated timed elements. How forgiving I am of those arrogant intrusions depends on how good the story and characters or in some cases just the story are otherwise. I carefully considered whether I should put "Book of Unwritten Tales" on my 2017 list because the last time I tried to replay, which was several months ago, I abandoned the attempt after I tried and tried to get through the horrible dance puzzle. How much slower my reflexes are after 7 or 8 years surprised me. This time that %$#*)! puzzle stopped me cold. Beast Within is a Hall of Famer, and I doubt I could finish the final showdown today. That isn't so bad because I have finished the game before and the sequence is at the end, so if I replay I only miss the denouement. Of the two scenarios, Beast Within's is more acceptable. A similar contrast between games is found in Nancy Drew, compare the nightclub dance puzzle in the Venice game with several others in the series that have a nasty death trap as the climax.

What You-Tube rant?

I have mine filed away in 2 drawers of a filing cabinet. I have referred to them in replays, but still start from scratch, since that is part of the experience for me. I am playing The Witness now, and have over 50 pages of notes.

That brings up an interesting point. Some people say that The Witness is not an Adventure game. I would argue that it is. Very similar to the Rhem games, with a much bigger world to explore and many more puzzles. And it is long. I have been playing it on and off for almost a year!

8dognight, we have a saved game for Book of Unwritten Tales for right after the rain dance at Mystery Manor. If you want to get back into the game, it is available here...

BOUT After the Rain Dance Puzzle Save

"I often take notes and make drawings and then find them in a box somewhere several years later."

Yes !! I still have the little maps I made for the King's Quest and other early games SO many years ago. They sit with the games in their lovely old boxes

Yes, very good, concise summary from Colpet!

I noticed some people are averse to taking notes or making drawings, as, I suppose, it takes them out of the game, like when you have to rush to your bookcase, or open another window on your monitor to consult a dictionary or an encyclopedia.

But I really don't mind, as long as there are not too many instances. I remember working out the Mayan numeral system for Atlantis II on paper, and drawing maps of mazes and complex buildings, which especially handy, even essential, if you have 3rd-person perspective with wildly shifting viewpoints, as in Odyssey: The Search for Ulysses and, sometimes, Syberia.

I also subscribe to the idea that relaxed, careful progress should be a big part of the adventure gaming experience. I guess I approach games in a very traditional way, either as an explorer, or a detective, so I hate to be rushed and be under constant pressure - you wouldn't make a good adventurer or sleuth in real life if you rush headlong into buidlings or jungles hacking away or knocking over stuff! I suppose that's often a matter of age, but then again I've always been that way!

Best,

Rich

"I have mne filed away in 2 drawers of a filing cabinet."

A both safe and sensible spot for them. I have several times seen puzzled expressions cross the faces of friends who have happened to glance down at notes of mine near sink or telephone written on the backs of envelopes or grocery lists, maybe sketches of arcane symbols or hieroglyphs accompanied by cryptic remarks on the order of "part of curse" or "lock code in secret passage."

MaG will probably remember another time when someone was talked into a 3D using Keyboard rather then mouse to get around. The reason I mention MaG is because she and I were writing walkthroughs and desperately trying to help all of the desperate adventure gamers with this new release that was delayed for at least five years and almost didn't get released due to publisher problems. A lot of you folks will remember it as well. Simon the Sorcerer 3D. It too was a little buggy at first. Anyway we adventure gamers will probably get pressure to go this way or that way. We have stood our ground quite well I believe and if they can convince us that they have a better way we will have a look at it and then once again speak our mind honestly. I hope the new guard will continue this legacy.

Mr. Bill

Can you clarify what you mean by this, please and thank you?

Simply - The younger generations (New Guardians) will continue to maintain the integrity of what we refer to as adventure games. Using honesty and integrity in writing reviews or the like and not spending the money if they don't meet our requirements.

Take care,

Mr. Bill