Ok, now heres the thing...

Many CORE gamers find adventure games boring.. There's no action, there's no shooting, etc.

So my Q to you guys is - "What motivates you to play adventure games?". Is it the story, the characters, the atmosphere, etc ?

I'll post my answer later.

Cheers!

It can be any of those. Or it can be the puzzles or the opportunity to explore a virtual world that I'd never get to visit in real life (like in Schizm or the Myst games).

It depends on what a particular game has to offer.

Ok maybe I did not make it clear enough... What motivates you to play adventure games OVER other games like shooters, RPG's, RTS games, etc.

i find them relaxing.

Adventure games don't have such high dexterity requirements, so those of us with slow reflexes can actually play them without needing cheats (like god mode or invulnerability).

Besides that, you're not at risk of being attacked all the time in an adventure, so you can relax with the game.

Also the type of puzzles I like best are usually found in puzzle games and adventure games, not in other genres.

You could equally ask what motivates you to play shooters etc OVER Adventure games. I expect the answer is the same for both sides - I play X because I enjoy them and I dont play Y because they bore the life out of me.

I love the spooky adventure game. Although there have been many others as well that I find throughly enjoying. I'm anxiously waiting for the new Bracken Tor game and Grey Matter (coming to Interact). I loved the Tex Murphy games some years back along with the Gabriel Knight series. I don't like blood and gore style games or a lot of shooting. I used to play Tomb Raider and then just got tired of that theme. I just finished Jekyll and Hyde and found it very challanging. Lots of difficult parts and it was frustrating at times. I did manage to finish it however thanks to all the help here at gameboomers. Happy gaming everyone!

It's not really a matter of what motivates me to play adventure games OVER other games as if adventure games didn't exist I wouldn't spend so much time playing games. I find shooters mindless, repetitive & boring & strategy games just don't interest me at all. I would possibly play some of the better RPGs (as many others, for me, fall also into the category of mindless, repetitive & boring) if I had far more time to invest in playing.

I like the story aspect in adventures & the way that you can unravel it at your own pace via exploration & solving relevant puzzles. Also I like the fact that adventures are more thoughtful & focus on challenging your mind rather than your reflexes!

As I have young nephews, I've also experienced a variety of sport, music & racing games which are enjoyable on a lighter level for a limited time - but I have no desire to complete any game like that & therefore would not buy one!

Everyone likes different things & it's great that that there are so many games to cater for a variety of interests.

My favorites are the puzzle games with humor like Monkey Island, Simon the Sorcerer, Runaway or the Discworld games. Working the puzzles out is the most fun for me and the humor is just icing.
Some games it is the story that I love like Gabriel Knight 2 or the Broken Sword games. It also is awesome when you get a game with a great story and stunning visuals like The Longest Journey and Syberia.
Great characters can keep me coming back to a series. I think The Beast Within was the first game where I actually seemed to look at the characters like real people. I loved how you played one chapter as Gabriel and the next as Grace.
Atmosphere games are fun too. I put Shivers, Keepsake, The Dig and Phantasmagoria in this class. Great music can really set the atmosphere too. I thought the music in The Dig and Kyrandia: Fables and Fiends really added to the game.
I also love the games that come out of nowhere like Grim Fandango and Sanitarium. You never know where you are going to end up in an adventure game.
My question is who wouldn't want to play adventure games? They rock!

I generally like adventure, RPG and FPS games. I'm not too big on multiplayer games where I have to compete with 10 year olds who can click a lot faster than me. Adventure games tend to be played on days off because I have to use my brain to figure out some of the puzzles, and I can immerse myself in the storyline. I'm too tired to think some evenings. With an FPS, I can shoot up a few zombies mindlessly and be happy after 15 minutes. That's also why I've been trying out the HOGs and IHOGs lately. I can play them for 15-30 minutes without too much effort, leave them and then pick them up again a couple days later without having to remember where I was.

chrissie - i like your explanation a lot.
i also have no interest to try shooters,war games ,etc. i'm very happy with adventure games, and there are so many kinds - something for everyone.

motivation
1. the act or an instance of motivating
2. desire to do; interest or drive
3. incentive or inducement
4. psychol the process that arouses, sustains and regulates human and animal behaviour...

I get pure pleasure out of search,find,explore, solve... without the worry of being killed

Story !! Story !! Story !!

The main attraction of Adventure games for me is that they usually offer a fully defined story through which you move at your leisure by solving puzzles of various types

Couple that with a friendly interface and I'm happy

[However, timed sequences or action sequences (or even worse a combination of both ) are definitely a let down.]

I play some story driven RPGs too - but they must have a "Pause" button so I can stop for breath in some of the fighting scenes

I agree with the above comments regarding the “Motivation to play adv. Games” + to me, playing Adv. Games is like reading a good book, you get so immersed in the book that you do not want to quit reading, but if you must, you insert a Bookmark and you can continue on to where you left off, likewise with Adv. Games, you Save and then return later at that “Same spot”. Where as in Most Shoot’m up and RPG games, you cannot, you MUST finish an Action or Sequence until you Finally find a Save spot and that is Not my Cup-O-Tea.
Hope this makes sense.

"...playing Adv. Games is like reading a good book, you get so immersed in the book that you do not want to quit reading, but if you must, you insert a Bookmark and you can continue on to where you left off...."

Beautifully explained, Starcom. I completely agree. Back when I had some reflexes to speak of, I used to play RPGs and they were okay, something to pass the time, but most of those I played back then weren't anything like adventure games for engaging your interest and keeping your mind active, especially when they have good stories and well-written characters. They are, indeed, like books but these are stories that you take part in and make happen.

As for no action, that's not quite right, is it? There's often plenty of action, it's just not dependent on fingers that say, "Who, me?" when you ask them to do something.

And as far as shooters go, I've never understood the compulsion to make someone or something into a messy spot on the landscape. Between adventure and shoot-em-ups, it's totally a no-brainer for me.

Gil.

DOOM was probably one of the first games I played when we finally got a computer; not too many choices in those days.

DOOM had a goal, bump off all the monsters to clear an area. Usually to bump off all the monsters you had to solve a puzzle that allowed you to enter an area where a monster or item waited.

For a while this was fun, like others of its kind at the time. But they soon became boring because it was the same thing over and over again.

Then Myst appeared, with all the realism and puzzles galore. Once I saw this game I was hooked.

Why did I starting playing these type games? Looking back, and now, it's as Jenny said, I can go somewhere I'm never likely to go. I can see beautiful scenery. I can think in a way life doesn't require of me and it doesn't get boring.

I've noticed over the years, button pushing doesn't have the same pleasure it once held, nor is it as fast. I've also noticed time hasn't done anything helpful in allowing my eyes to improve.

"As for no action, that's not quite right, is it? There's often plenty of action, it's just not dependent on fingers that say, "Who, me?" when you ask them to do something."

So how are you defining "action", traveler ?? Would you quote an example ??

The type of action I am referring to is the type found in Broken Sword III, to cite one game.

Most rapid action sequences - especially those that result in death as punishment for failure - are more suited to the "Action Adventure" sub-genre and are not normally enjoyed by the majority of traditional "Adventure" game players.

the story is most important, broken sword 3 was my first game I played that was full keyboard movement. At first I thought " I can't play this game" but once I worked out the keys I started to enjoy it. The puzzels are also important but not everybody wants to shoot & kill everybody in a game. Haven't we got enough violence in the real world without having to spend our free time being subjected to it.

Games should be there to keep your mind active in an enjoyable way.
My first real adventure game was tex murphy & I simply chose it from the story & I wanted a adult game that wasn't going around shooting people.
10 years down the track & I am still playing tex murphy........LOL
adventure games are not dead.

There's a great deal of action in most adventure games. Fenton Paddock flies all over the Orient, Middle East and Europe, swims in an Indian lagoon, tranquilizes a tiger and outwits Nazis and you make him do it by your participation in the game.

Darren Michaels certainly takes action getting out of that bunker. That it's accomplished by his thinking about it (your thinking about it) and doing it step by step doesn't make it any less action, although at some points you have to move it a bit to get through in time.

Everyone whose pulse has come a little quicker in a horror adventure, who has felt that spurt of adrenalin when the danger lurking around the corner suddenly jumps out at them, has 're-acted', quite literally.

In each case, the action (or reaction) is built into the game. It's just not the type of action that depends on your having fast reflexes. And to me, at least, it's far more satisfying than bashing enemies as fast as I can before they bash me or seeing how many gorges I can leap before I fall in.

Gil.

Well, traveler, what you describe is nothing like the "live" action which occurs in games like Broken Sword III - which is what most players (myself included) mean when they complain about action in Adventure games.

[And if "bashing enemies" or "leaping gorges" is what some people enjoy, then so what ?? Every is entitled to their own choice ]

To each his own, indeed, and I said that "to me" the type of action I describe is more satisfying.

Anyway, I was replying to the original poster who said that "Many CORE gamers find adventure games boring.. There's no action, there's no shooting, etc."

There is action and plenty of it whether it meets their definition or not.

Gil.

"And as far as shooters go, I've never understood the compulsion to make someone or something into a messy spot on the landscape"

Well said traveler, to add, the reason I stay away from these types of games is the continuous spinning around,etc. that tends to make this slightly old man "Motion sick" , really no joke and yes I know of a few Adv. games that have this effect and that is why they are on my "Games that are Not Replayable" list.
And before someone pipes in, yes I am sure that not All shoot em up, Kill Kill games have that Spin around motion.

Hey what can I say, I am a Tenderfoot .

I started playing Adventure games so that I could have fun with the Kiddo. We loved solving the puzzles, riddles, getting lost etc.

It was something that we could play together when we had out first PC. And with one Bronze Age mouse! we took turns getting Nancy Drew from place to place


Now, I play adventure games for the story and for brain aerobics

The Casual Adventure games are great when I'm cooking/laundry and need to get up and down to check on things

Djin The anticipation of an adventure and exploration motivate me to play Adventure Games!

I got my start with the Sierra games like Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, Space Quest, and .... well those.

I play them for any number of reasons..

Like solving something, be it a mystery, crime, piece of history, or whatever the game designers can throw at us.

Exploring worlds or places that spark the imagination.

I also like learning along the way. Yes there are games where you can learn about all sorts of things.

I enjoy the relaxation, and fulfillment you get while playing a good game - even a bad one sometimes.

The trading of experiences with other gamers is great too. An exchange with other people with whom you have a common interest.


When I go looking for a new game to play, I get a little upset when I see nothing but the shooters - war games, blood lust stuff the kiddies like so much. They are OK to a point - but what are we telling our kids? If you have to glue yourself to a computer screen, why not learn something along the way once in a while ?? !!

To me an Adventure game is just that - an Adventure!