I went through all the adventure games I played in 2013 and my favorite was........Gray Matter - I loved it despite the really bad cut scenes. Now......what was your Best of 2013?

FYI, my favorite I've played so far this year is...... The Next Big Thing and that is despite two really bad puzzles - one took a savegame to get past (thanks gameboomers! Yes, this is the best adventure site EVER!)

SO:

What is your favorite of 2013?

Fav game so far in 2014?

Did you like "The Next Big Thing" at all?

Did you like "Gray Matter" at all?

Check the Annual Games List that GameBoomers voted on - click here.
For previous years - check our archives.

Flotsam with the help of Chief does our annual list.
You can also find the link at top of the page.

Those are indeed, fabulous lists. I am also interested in sharing how others feel - good or bad about Grey Matter and/or The Next Big Thing.

Also, I thought Gray Matter was one of the best adventure games of recent times, but game sales of Gray Matter were not as high as some hoped they would be.

From 2013, I did quite enjoy The Raven -- although I felt that the second and third chapters weren't as strong as the first for gameplay and story.

I've played Gray Matter a few times. For me, it was one of those adventures that improved the second time around. (Also, I experienced terrible movement lag on my first playthrough, which did ruin things somewhat. When I upgraded my computer and replayed, I found a vast difference.) There were some interesting puzzles, particularly the huuuuuge one at the end. So many rooms! So many doors!

Favourite of 2014 so far: Nowt!

Unfortunately, I can't remember all the games I specifically played in 2013, as the years and games blur together after a while. My favorite finished game released in 2013 was Cognition. Great storyline, well developed lead character, really well put together puzzles. I also felt the comic cut scenes worked better in that game than they did in Gray Matter, maybe because the graphics themselves were comic like. I haven't finished all the 2013 games I have quite yet. An honorable mention goes to Memoria. Loved the beautiful graphics, the epic fantasy story, and I especially enjoyed Sadja's role. Though I've only barely gotten into both, The Raven and The Night of the Rabbit also look promising so far. I still think Cognition is going to stay my favorite of the year, though.

So far for 2014, I would say that The Wolf Among Us is my favorite. I don't think it's quite up there with The Walking Dead for me, at least not yet, but it is still very gripping with a lot of twists and turns and an interesting combination of fairy tale characters in a noir setting. Some games that will probably also be contenders once they are released are The Walking Dead Season 2 (remaining episodes), Blackenrock, Moebius, Gabriel Knight remake and The Last Crown if if comes out. This year looks to be one of the best years for adventure games I've seen in a while in terms of how many especially strong ones are coming out at once. My most anticipated game, however, is Dreamfall Chapters, and I'm pretty positive it's going to be my game of the year if it makes it for 2014. I don't expect it to top The Longest Journey, but I think it very well could top Dreamfall, which is a game I also loved. Luckily, Chapters is going to take away the combat/stealth mechanics, and everything I've seen from previews looks really intriguing. Can't wait to get my signed boxed copy.

As for The Next BIG Thing and Gray Matter, I really enjoyed both, particularly the latter. My favorite Pendulo games are still the Runaway series, but I quite enjoyed The Next BIG Thing as well, and Liz just might be my favorite protagonist they ever came up with. She is funny, smart, zany and nonlinear and very unique as far as protagonists go. Like you iPad_Lover, I found Gray Matter to be one of the best recent games, and it's way up there on my list of favorites. I also was not crazy about the cutscenes, but I got used to them and didn't pay much attention after a while. Also, even though I loved it the first I played it, I agree with Rushes that it improved the second time around. Mostly because I was comparing it to the Gabriel Knight games, which was inevitable I think. When I played it more recently, I was not thinking about GK at all, and found I really got into the characters and setting and really appreciated it for what it was. In fact, it made me start craving a Gray Matter 2, probably even more than Moebius at this point.

I played Gray Matter and enjoyed it very much.

The only negative thing I found was the situation when one had to go in the middle of a puzzle to get the needed elements, this seemed to me crazy.

The ending is good, very good I would say. I looked, after playing the game, about the brain of psychopaths, something very interesting. I suggest looking at those articles to anyone who enjoyed the ending. May a difference in brains cause abnormal behavior in people? Not all people with this "abnormality" are criminals but many criminals present it.

The Next Big Thing is the only game from Pendulo that I just couldnt get into and got nowhere near the end. Enjoyed the others though, although Yesterday was shockingly short.

The Next Big Thing has problems - 2 awful puzzles and a story that you watched more than you played in.

HOWEVER, I LOVED the ending and LIZ was just a treasure - zany, funny and great fun to play.

Runaway 3 was similar to this, so since I played this first I could deal with it.

I heard that "Yesterday" didn't sell too well and I hope Pendulo does more games - Runaway 1 and 2 are among my favorite games of all time.

Unfortunately, Pendulo failed at a crowd funding needed to complete Day One so it presently they aren't working on it. It's a shame because they made very entertaining games.

Ana

I would say I barely have time to play anymore, but when I have a crave it must be Gray Matter, Culpa Innata or Moment of Silence. I'd say right now they are my favourites of all time.

Jane Jensen mentioned recently that they want to do Moebius 2, but I hope we will be able to vote because I really want to play Gray Matter 2.

Ipad_Lover, I also loved the ending to The Next BIG Thing. I sort of saw it coming, as I thought that but it made me very happy anyway.

Ana, I know that was really disappointing. I pledged some money to Day One during its campaign. The concept sounded interesting, and I was very disappointed it didn't make it. Same with A Vampyre Story: Year One and The Realm. The Realm looked really good, and I was especially disappointed about that one.

Rmt, those are all fantastic games. I would also prefer Gray Matter 2 over Moebius 2 at this point, though I wouldn't turn down either one. I was also very interested in Anglophile Adventure, as it's so different from anything she's done in the past. That's actually the one I voted for, partly because it had the least amount of votes and I wanted to give it a boost, and partly because I wanted to see her take on something different. I would place both it and Gray Matter 2 ahead of Moebius 2 right now, though I would like to see Moebius 2 eventually. I'm greedy, I want all the Jane Jensen games.

EDIT: As for my favorite games of all time, I would say The Longest Journey, Culpa Innata, all three Gabriel Knights and Grim Fandango are at the top. Very, very close behind are Dreamfall, The Lost Crown, The Walking Dead, Gray Matter and King's Quest VI. In the third "tier" are the Syberia games, Still Life (only the first one), The Moment of Silence, Cognition, and the original Black Mirror (though I love 2 and 3 as well). There are many, many more that I find great, but if I were to list them all, this post would be entirely too long.

Yes, I could compromise for the Anglophile Adventure. Jane has fallen in Love with Old England it seems, and I trust the Anglophile one would be amazing.

And yeah, for some reason Dreamfall is also one I could play again when I have a crave, but these days I feel like playing Overclocked again.

Rmt, yes I often crave a Dreamfall play through as well. Something about its atmosphere really draws me in. It's very different in tone compared with TLJ, yet it still fits in perfectly with that universe. And Overclocked is a great game, too.

Amazingly, I am currently playing a Nancy drew game - "The Ghost of Thorton Hall" and I have to say that graphics wise, the Nancy Drew games have really improved. There were actually several times when I was wowed by the graphics.

After this, it's "Yesterday" for me, I'll give this one a play and hope I like it as much as their previous efforts. My runner up for best of 2013 was "The Black Mirror 2" which was very, very good.

I loved The Next Big Thing. Pendulo was good at doing humor. Hope they stick with it.

I'm playing "Yesterday" right now and it's not as humorous as their previous games.

It's OK so far, but nothing has WoWed me.

I disliked Gray Matter enough that I gave up trying to make it work right. Part of the problem was that the game didn't play well on my XP Pro, 148 gig, AMD TurionX2 64 laptop, being slow to load and respond in general. Also, I had trouble with cursor response and had to click on items several times to pick them up or reveal them. Those may be technical problems and maybe just mine, but I hated the character, her voice, her annoying running monologue and not-very-funny attempts at humor and lightness. I may try again but I doubt it.

I'm not entirely sure what adventure games I played in 2013 - seems a long time ago already! - but since you mentioned "The Next Big Thing" I have to tell you, I absolutely loved that game. Humour, puzzles, aesthetics, plot, characters - I loved them all!

The Journey Down: Over the Edge was also great fun.

Well, since I'm sitting here getting covered with cobwebs waiting for Troll Song (just kidding, CaptainD), I may as well stick my two cents in.
What the heck did I play in 2013?
I hate to say this but the only game I'm sure I played for the first time then was an RPG and I loved it so much it's #2 on my list of greats right behind Grim Fandango.

2013 wasn't the year of The Next Big Thing, was it?
I did enjoy that one, particularly the "dog".

Gil.

I haven't played everything that's been released in the last year,
but some of the games I played relatively recently (and which I thought were the most memorable) are:

• The Inner World
• Lilly Looking Through - short, but very charming
• Oknytt - based on Swedish folklore, needs to be played at night

A couple of games that look good but which I haven't played very far into yet are:

• Night of the Rabbit
• Memoria

I can't remember now all of the games I played in 2013 but my favourite is probably The Cat Lady.

My favourite of 2014 so far is Moebius which I've just finished.

I did enjoy The Next Big Thing which I found more interesting than I thought I would & I loved Gray Matter!

Chrissie, I too REALLY enjoyed "The Cat Lady". It seems that we BOTH have great taste in games. LOL
Sandy

Sadly, the Half-Price books in Arlington, Texas has a copy of Gray Matter in the clearance section brand new for $2 dollars.

I would love to see it have a happy home - it is such a great game.

I'm STILL playing physical PC games and will be for quite sometime - I have a HUGE backlog of PC games.

Then - "Cat Lady" and Jane's new adventure game are on the top of my list.

So far in 2014 "Murder on the Orient Express" is by far my favorite.