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I review free adventure games for Adventure Gamers each month. Many of them are made in Adventure Game Studio. These run perfectly in wine on the Mac. I hardly ever have to reboot into Windows to be able to play a free adventure game.

Thank you for restoring a bit of confidence in Firefox in me. I tried Chrome, but FF has a few things I find very handy, like the 'Show All Bookmarks' command that opens a little bookmarks manager. So I will hang on to Firefox for longer.
As to the flash thing: I review free adventure games at Adventure Gamers every month, together with my co-writer. Of course Adventure Gamers has no influence whatsoever over the choices of engine the game developers use. Luckily most people see the need to find an alternative to Flash and more and more games appear using other engines. But some are still stubbornly clinging on to the dying horse. We'll see how that turns out.

Hi There,

It seems you and I play similar games. Recently I found a combination of older games from gametap.com & gog.com and new sleepers from steam hits the sweet spot for locating good solid story driven games. Mind that some old ones (like the elder scrolls, might and magic or wizardry series) are not represented but there is a lot of new blood hidden away especially on steam.

  Recently I've found Wizard101.com to be allot of fun and sans the usual mmorg drama. The buy is quite reasonable - about US$9.99 for the subscription (or they have a pay as you go plan that sounds complex but is less expensive then the monthly fee when taken over a whole year and bought while their sale is in effect).
Other sources I've used are:
http://www.adventuregamers.com/
http://www.freemmogamer.com/2008/09/best-free-mmos-list.html (yes this is an old list -- if the game is still working then it's not likely to be a fly by night operation).

You should know that pure story driven games are dying; if they don't include some serious fps or don't get very casual they are not likely to make it financially outside the indy crowd. Steam seems have a good representative of the newer games, but they are poorly marketed thus well hidden away in page 4-10 ^_^.

hth

Sam S.

Many older games are still extremely good, despite dated graphics and more difficult game play compared to modern creations. I suggest checking out adventuregamers.com if you like Grim Fandango, Syberia, etc: http://www.adventuregamers.com/reviews.php reviews -> all -> sort by ratings Most of the highly rated games are very nice indeed. Some can be difficult to find. Ebay/amaazon/etc may have some, gog.com or such may have others, or your friendly neighbourhood p2p archive probably have most of the rest. Telltale games and some other companies do create good modern adventure games as well. Playing together with others also makes it more fun. My wife and I usually play together, and old adventure games are our staple fare. Coop games can be good, but much more difficult to find. Some old RPG games like Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights are good coop, as well as some more modern arcade games like shadowgrounds and alien swarm. Then there are the MMOs and regular multiplayer, but we have not found any that we both like yet. The good immersive games are few and far between, but looking through forums and fan sites can help find the true gems, whether it is an adventure game that carries you to another world for days, a simulator or fps that is good for a couple of hours, or an arcade that leeches 15min of focus every now and then. List the stuff you really liked then start searching using some of them as search terms.

Try getting a good adventure game like the old Lucasarts point-and-click adventures

There are actually more new point-and-click adventure games released than you probably think. Their biggest difference from the 2D classics are that most of them are rendered with beautiful 3D graphics even though they often have a fixed camera position to emulate the 2D-adventure style of play.

Try browsing around at Adventuregamers or MobyGames for a while.

Some examples:

• Secret Files: Tunguska
• Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis
• Tales of Monkey Island
• Sam'n'Max
• Syberia 1 & 2
• The Runaway series
• Ankh: Battle of the Gods
• ...and many more

Also don't forget that with ScummVM you can play LOTS of those classic 2D adventures that you never had a chance to play when you were younger. :)

And I thought they were the essence of evil. There, got my on-topic statement in. Now to be slightly off-topic for people who want to get some ideas to get their adventure game fix before this thing gets released.

Try an adventure game.

Lots avaiable here

I don't think games always have to be fun. 'Fun' is such a shallow concept. Games can be entertaining, educational, emotional and other things without being 'fun'. As an example may I point you to a game about the Israel-Palestine conflict that hit me hard emotionally and opened my eyes to the circumstances people have to live in every day in some places in Israel? It's called Global Conflics: Palestine and does a very good job of giving an unbiased impression of the situation there.

Well if you want comic adventure games lucasarts style:

A Vampire Story
Ankh 1+2 and 1.5
Runaway 1 (2 is not good but 1 is)
The Westerner 1+2
Clever & Smart
Simon the Sorcerer 4
then about 20 telltale episodic adventure games

Those are just the few ones I can think of there are probably many more
on the mystery road there a load more, the broken sword series is still alive
also there is a very well done broken sword 2.5 done by some fans (dunno if the english version already is released)
memento mori

Also Jane Jensen soon will have another adventure game out:
Gray Matter

Since I am not a fan of mysterie adventures I dont have a list of good games but the mysterie crime adventures outnumber the comical ones about 10:1 best check out a site like http://www.adventuregamers.com/ for more info!

How the hell can a submission titled "The Return of (Old) PC Graphic Adventures," on a geek oriented website, no less, leave out the amazing Adventure Game Studio project and associated community? There is so much original, independent, and FREE adventure gaming awesomeness coming out of of here, I recommend any fan of the genre check it out.

Adventure Game Studio

In particular, I have to give a hearty recommendation to "No Action Jackson." The graphic style is a dead ringer for DoTT, and it's amazing on it's own merits.

"The game centres around Jackson, a young, role-playing obsessed nebbish who's got a D&D game scheduled with two of his friends. The only problem is that his mother refuses to let him leave the house because his grandparents are visiting. Jackson's first task is to somehow get out of the house without his mother and grandparents noticing. After finally escaping, Jackson is horrified to discover that his two friends have completely stood him up. You spend the rest of the game trying to track them down and convince them to play D&D as planned."

No Action Jackson

The dialog and puzzles are all what you would have expected out of a quality Lucas or Sierra game old. Do yourself a favor and check it out! There is plenty more where that came from. I mean, I love what the ScummVM team has done, but AGS is way more interesting to me, as it's delivering a lot more new and original gaming content.

Play a few good adventure games, like The Longest Journey, Dreamfall, and many others. Here you can learn all about them, read reviews etc. Disclaimer: I am in no way connected to the AdventureGamers' staff. I just like the website a lot.

The funny part of this is, sometimes a gaame gets reasonable grades in the review, and then gets flamed to hell and back on the site's forums for being utter crap :) Here is a nice example.

The funny part of this is, sometimes a gaame gets reasonable grades in the review, and then gets flamed to hell and back on the site's forums for being utter crap :) Here is a nice example.

Unfortunately for me, they are ruining one of my favorite genres. RPG - I am big fan of Baldurs Gate (1&2), Planescape Torment, NWN etc...

If "they" refers to "the gamers who voted with their wallets and didn't buy those games", then you'd be right. If "they" is supposed to be Bioware, keep in mind that they are a company that needs to make money to survive. If nobody's buying a certain type of game, they have no incentive to build another game of that type.

RPG: Ruined (for me) by FP/TP view.

Did you try KOTOR or Jade Empire? That's pretty much what Mass Effect should be like. If those gave you motion sickness, then it sucks to be you.

Adventure: Basically dead.

They're not quite dead yet. The new Sam & Max games seem to be doing quite well. I was disappointed that the Bone games didn't do better, but SM makes up for it.

The title of this item on /. is: Funcom no longer making offline games. But the article states Funcom said they decided to stop making "traditional" offline games. This could mean they will only make non-traditional offline games, like the ever more popular episodic games, or games you need to download and activate online to then be able to play offline. Nothing has been said about having to have an internet connection to be able to play the games. You cannot even conclude they will stop making boxed versions of games from TFA. The FA also mentions an AdventureGamers article they don't even bother to link to. You can find it here. There is also a discussion going on about this on the AdventureGamers forums.

The title of this item on /. is: Funcom no longer making offline games. But the article states Funcom said they decided to stop making "traditional" offline games. This could mean they will only make non-traditional offline games, like the ever more popular episodic games, or games you need to download and activate online to then be able to play offline. Nothing has been said about having to have an internet connection to be able to play the games. You cannot even conclude they will stop making boxed versions of games from TFA. The FA also mentions an AdventureGamers article they don't even bother to link to. You can find it here. There is also a discussion going on about this on the AdventureGamers forums.

Blade Runner (the game) by Westwood ( http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,14 ) is a good example of very decent game-by-the-movie.

I remember couple of years ago "Chronicles of Riddick" was applauded for good gameplay, (movie was pretty bad though, according to critics). Not seen/played any of those so wouldn't vouch.

Judging by the screenshots, I'd be pretty surprised if the game has anything to do with the SCUMM engine. Even if it did, it's highly doubtful that it would 'just work' on ScummVM.

That being said, I'm looking forward to this quite a bit; I've got my Gametap subscription primed!

What about gothic-horror title Sadness. According to some forums you'll be using the Wiimote to slit people's throats.

SLIT PEOPLE'S THROATS! What's this about family-oriented strategy?

Yeah, Space Invaders rocks, even after its millionth incarnation! [/sarcasm] I see that there are no new gameplay ideas for a long time now...from the era of Tetris actually; the old stuff is being recycled into better graphics and sound, but that's about it. Personally I find it extremely boring.

Here is another game that will make you use your brainshells:

In the tradition of Maniac Mansion...

There was a sequel in the works, "Hell on Wheels", but because it didn't have enough Star Wars content, it got axed, nearly 3 years ago.

There was a press release about it getting axed, but that most not have had enough Star Wars content either, and it's been deleted, and you get redirected to the home page.

There's a brief article here: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/fullthrottle2 /news_6073105.html

And a bit more here: http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,183

God I wish Lucas would get over the whole Star Wars thing already.

Tim Schafer, one of the greatest game-designers from Lucas Arts have his own developing studio Double Fine,
they made the absolutely fantastic game Psychonauts - while a 'platformer' - it has all the spirit and soul of
the lucas arts classics - in addition to being immensely funny. Telltale games has a lot of other people from Lucas
Arts. Ron Gilbert who together with Tim Schafer created the two first Monkey Island games are currently working
on a yet un-disclosed adventure-rpg game. Funcom is working on a sequel to the adventuregame-classic "The
Longest Journey", its called Dreamfall and will be released spring 2006. White Birds - the developers of Syberia
is working on Paradise - a point'n'click adventure game taking place in Africa - release April 2006.

So please - do go on... (for more info on many of these games, visit http://www.adventuregamers.com/)

Back in September, Telltale bought the rights to the Sam and Max adventure game from Lucasarts

I can't WAIT. I was disappointed when Lucasarts cancelled Freelance Police, but it's great to hear that TT put it back into development. Sam and Max Hit the Road , along with Day of the Tentacle, are among my favorite adventure games.

Good to see a company is trying to revive the genre.

I recommend heading over to http://www.adventuregamers.com/. I think that shorter attention spans and trying to grab market share (and recoup development costs) have driven most game makers away from adventure. I for one would like to see a return to games like the old Sierra Spaequest/Hero's Quest/Leisure Suit Larry games.

Dying adventure genre? There haven't been as many new adventures out in years as in the past two years or so. I'd say the adventure genre is slowly coming back to us. Check out Adventure gamers, Just adventure, and Gamespot

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,502

That is not the reason that Lucas Arts gave.

Here is what Steve Purcell, the creator of Sam and Max had to say about the cancelation.

LucasArts' sudden decision to stop production on Sam & Max is mystifying. Sam & Max was on schedule and coming together beautifully.

I couldn't have been more pleased with the quality of the writing, gameplay, hilarious animation and the gorgeous 3D world that Mike Stemmle's team has created. The rug has been pulled out from under this brilliant team who've so expertly retooled Sam & Max for the 21st century.

I'm extremely frustrated and disappointed especially for the team who have devoted so much effort and creativity to Sam & Max. It's a shame to think that their accomplishments, as well as the goodwill that has been growing in the gaming press toward this project, will all go to waste due to this shortsighted decision.

Thanks everyone, for continuing to make your feelings known.

--Steve Purcell

Sequels or not, i expected th S&M and FT sequels to be QUALITY products, not rehashes. That would be something new for a change. AFAIK the FT sequel got canned for not passing their own quality control. I can't find anything better then this reference though.
(Hmm, why can't I find the official press releases on LucasArts site?)
If this is true or not is another story, however I 'm still pissed off about Sam 'n' Max 2 though...

You're right.

And what's more Nintendo agrees with you

Did you hear about the Tex Murphy radio adventure? The official site which hosted it are down, but here a Google cache link: http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:KaUxV1cZVvYJ: unofficialtexmurphy.com/theater/episode1.shtml+%22 Tex+Murphy+Radio+Theater%22+mirror&hl=no

Also, there was two other Tex Murphy games, preceding UAKM and the others: Mean Streets (review: http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,50 and Martian Memorandum (review: http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,49))

The Underdogs has both, I think, so if you're in for a quick fix, there you go. Here's the Martian M. link, anyway: http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=1901 :)

Did you hear about the Tex Murphy radio adventure? The official site which hosted it are down, but here a Google cache link: http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:KaUxV1cZVvYJ: unofficialtexmurphy.com/theater/episode1.shtml+%22 Tex+Murphy+Radio+Theater%22+mirror&hl=no

Also, there was two other Tex Murphy games, preceding UAKM and the others: Mean Streets (review: http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,50 and Martian Memorandum (review: http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,49))

The Underdogs has both, I think, so if you're in for a quick fix, there you go. Here's the Martian M. link, anyway: http://www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?gameid=1901 :)

After approximately 5 years of lying dormant the adventure genre is finally getting back on steam. I guess you can say that Syberia is the game that put the adventure genre back on the map. Now there are a lot of interesting games that are youst released or in the making. Check Adventuregamers.com and Just adventure + for details! I am not in any way connected to these sites, just very interested in new adventure games. The future is looking good! If only they would start making a new Tex Murphy game!

Interestingly, because "guy" genres on the PC are so prevalent now, I've lost the urge to upgrade my PC and am now almost entirely a console gamer (minus the odd adventure game). I'm even considering a switch to Mac now that I'm not so dependent on Windows for gaming.

I'm obviously not saying that every girl gamer is like me, but I think you'll find a lot of similarities among us. When you have mostly guys developing a game, the game will inevitably have a mostly male point of view (unless the game is specifically geared toward girls). It's just human nature. That is why I think it'll be good for studios trying to attract female gamers to hire female developers (FPS developers needn't bother). However, that would also be tough because since there are fewer girl gamers, there are fewer girls who want to become game developers. I've taken a few game design courses during my stint at USC, but the guys in the classes are generally more into gaming than the girls.

But there are still good female developers who are doing their fair bit out there. Check out Jane Jensen's (creator of the Gabriel Knight series) newest venture called Booby Trap. It's a point-and-click mystery adventure that's being sneaked into the casual puzzle-gaming scene.

Doesn't anyone read my sig? :)

There are usually a dozen or so adventures in development at any given time. Just because you don't buy them doesn't mean they don't exist. A few of them suck outright (usually the MYST clones), but there are a lot of great ones. Click through to Adventure Gamers and have a look at games like Dreamfall, Fahrenheit, and The Westerner among others. The adventure genre is not dead by quite a ways. It's just moved to Europe :)

Doesn't anyone read my sig? :)

There are usually a dozen or so adventures in development at any given time. Just because you don't buy them doesn't mean they don't exist. A few of them suck outright (usually the MYST clones), but there are a lot of great ones. Click through to Adventure Gamers and have a look at games like Dreamfall, Fahrenheit, and The Westerner among others. The adventure genre is not dead by quite a ways. It's just moved to Europe :)

Doesn't anyone read my sig? :)

There are usually a dozen or so adventures in development at any given time. Just because you don't buy them doesn't mean they don't exist. A few of them suck outright (usually the MYST clones), but there are a lot of great ones. Click through to Adventure Gamers and have a look at games like Dreamfall, Fahrenheit, and The Westerner among others. The adventure genre is not dead by quite a ways. It's just moved to Europe :)

Doesn't anyone read my sig? :)

There are usually a dozen or so adventures in development at any given time. Just because you don't buy them doesn't mean they don't exist. A few of them suck outright (usually the MYST clones), but there are a lot of great ones. Click through to Adventure Gamers and have a look at games like Dreamfall, Fahrenheit, and The Westerner among others. The adventure genre is not dead by quite a ways. It's just moved to Europe :)

The NES version of Maniac Mansion is to this day my favorite game ever. I discover new things about it still after all these years.

It was actually a very interesting ordeal for the development team to get the game approved by Nintendo, The Expurgation of Maniac Mansion for the NES gives some insight into how bland they required their games to be in those days.

The sequel, Day of the Tentacle, for PC was great as well. It's a shame that this game genre has died out.

I would suggest you take a look at the engines used by the "underground" adventure game writers.

Adventuregamers.com recently ran a feature showcasing some of the best of these .

The engines used are amongst others
AGS and SLUDGE

I think these are the kind of things you're talking about, rather than SCUMMVM which as the name implies is a VM, not a dev kit.

An article in AdventureGamers confirms these rumors.