good point and click games?

[yeah1526]

Hi i'm after some good point and click puzzle games. Here's what I have played and really like

Gobliiins
Ween: the prophecy (my favourite)
Shadowgate
Machinarium (not a retro game but still)
Monkey Island

What I'm looking for is a good challenge, but not too challenging (like Myst). I hate the Hidden Object style games, annoying!
What I like about most of these games is not only the challenge but the darker tones in some titles, (ie Shadowgate and Ween).

Any suggestions? Cheers guys

[scooby105]

Maniac Mansion is a fun one that plays a bit different depending on what characters you choose.

I always enjoyed the King's Quest series as well. I enjoy the point and click ones better than the typing ones.

This site has remade some of them into point and click ones: http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/games.html

You can also find the original Sierra point and click ones.

[Natty Bumppo]

Echo Night for the PS1 might interest you. The puzzles aren't too difficult and the game plays out like a mystery/suspense movie as you uncover the plot via the puzzles. It is slow paced and very atmospheric - the ending dramatically switches mode to essentially a race game (I know it sounds kinda odd) which is somewhat jarring.

There was a second one for the PS2 which I have but have not played yet.

[Cornelius]

Grim Fandango

[Kitsune Sniper]

Telltale's games are always good.

[rmaerz]

Mafia Wars :)

[bb_hood]

Im glad you mentioned Ween: the Prophecy. Its one of my favorites as well.

[Daria]

As for darker titles, the four I'd really recommend are:

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The last 5 surviving members of humanity are held captive by an insane sentient super computer who keeps them alive for an eternity of psychological torture. The prisoners must face their own fears, escape captivity, defeat AM (the computer), and die.

Sanitarium: you wake up in a Sanitarium after a car crash with no memory. Explore the worlds of your own delusions to uncover your past.

Blade Runner: Its like an alternate telling of the movie, the characters and locations are the same but the events are different enough to be new to someone whose already seen the movie. Multiple endings, each support the theory that Decker is either human or replicant.

AMBER: Journeys Beyond: Myst clone about a paranormal investigator and a haunted house. Pretty creepy at times, explore the house, find the ghosts, and then travel through their memories to put them to rest.

I also really like the humor of the Sierra and TellTale games.

Also if you're not opposed to SNES emulation I'd also strongly suggest Clock Tower and Famicom Detective Club.

[Guyra]

Shadowgate is a great game! There are two more games in the series, and a fourth is in development. Sadly, I have only played the NES game(awesome game!), which is like a darked King's Quest game in first person view. But the others look great as well!

I'm a big fan of point & click games, myself. Here are some suggestions for games that, in my personal opinion are a must:

The Longest Journey - I'm not talking about Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, but the original game from 1998. It is one of the most epic stories I've ever seen in a game ever. Starts out a bit slow, but soon picks up the pace!
Still Life - A great, modern style point & click game where you play as an FBI agent tracking a serial killer. Dark, and I'd say it's probably one of the best in the crime thriller category. Sadly, the sequel didn't do it justice.
Day of the Tentacle - This is just a crazy classic that shouldn't be missed, despite the strangeness of the title! Made by the same guys who created the original Monkey Island games. Tons of fun!
King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow - In my opinion the best KQ game by far. Might've had to do with the fact that Jane Jensen also worked on this. Speaking of which ...
Gabriel Knight - All three games here are worth playing. Seriously good games, but all are very different from each other. The first is a classic 2D adventure, the second is an FMV game, and the third is in rather dated 3D with some rather unorthodox controls(though still P&C). But they are all dark, mysterious supernatural thrillers with great stories!
Scratches - This is an incredibly good first person view point & click game! It's rather short, but I highly advise playing through it at least once. In the dark. At night.

That's what I can remember of those that I would say you shouldn't go without at least trying. Some other suggestions:
Beneath a Steel Sky - Dystopian sci-fi thriller. Overall great game! This is also free on GOG.com.
Grim Fandango - By the Monkey Island guys again. Great game!
Syberia - Great modern adventure! There are two games in the series, and they should be played in succession as they are more like two halves of the same story.
The Moment of Silence - If you look away from some annoying glitches, this is a great game! Dark sci-fi storyline.
The Dig - Another classic. Very dark sci-fi.
Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Another really good crime thriller, this one a bit darker than Still Life, and with supernatural elements. It's in episodic format, and the fourth and last episode will probably be out within a month or two.
The White Chamber - Sci-fi horror game. Very cool!
Gray Matter - Another game by Jane Jensen. It's incredibly good, but forgets to explain a few of the plot elements that ought to have been explained.
Barrow Hill - First person horror mystery. A bit short, but it's full of atmosphere and well worth playing!
The Chzo Mythos - A horror series created by Yahtzee, of Zero Punctuation fame. The games in the series are 5 Days a Stranger, 7 Days a Skeptic, Trilby's Notes and 6 Days a Sacrifice, and they are well worth playing!


Okay, that's it for now. If I remember any other games I would highly recommend, I'll post them. :)

[BricatSegaFan]

No one mentioned Kings quest? Or freddy farcas frontier pharmacist?

[biggzy]

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is my all time favorite followed closely by Full Throttle and the Curse of Monkey Island. You can never go wrong with LucasArts adventure games.

[sfchakan]

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream: The last 5 surviving members of humanity are held captive by an insane sentient super computer who keeps them alive for an eternity of psychological torture. The prisoners must face their own fears, escape captivity, defeat AM (the computer), and die.

You neglected to mention it was based on short story by Harlan Ellison, who most forum goers likely know as the guy who wrote "The City on the Edge of Forever" for the original Star Trek series. Ellison actually had a very strong influence on the game's development. Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8yzK7bfVwI) a 1995 interview with Ellison about the game.

BTW, Ellison has no qualms about letting people know what he thinks of video games in general, but he's definitely a collector like us. Check out his comic book collection here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajv592IboH4&feature=endscreen). I can't remember if it's shown in this video or elsewhere, but he also started hoarding type writers and ribbons back in the 90s!

[Tanooki]

I saddened and shocked Fate of Atlantis took that long to pop up. It's considered by many as the best of those SCUMM engine titles. And no love for Sam and Max Hit the Road?

[Daria]

You neglected to mention it was based on short story by Harlan Ellison, who most forum goers likely know as the guy who wrote "The City on the Edge of Forever" for the original Star Trek series. Ellison actually had a very strong influence on the game's development. Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8yzK7bfVwI) a 1995 interview with Ellison about the game.

BTW, Ellison has no qualms about letting people know what he thinks of video games in general, but he's definitely a collector like us. Check out his comic book collection here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajv592IboH4&feature=endscreen). I can't remember if it's shown in this video or elsewhere, but he also started hoarding type writers and ribbons back in the 90s!

Call me pessimistic but I didn't think most people would even know who he was today. But thanks for sharing the interview, I love the end when they start asking him random cultural questions he just goes off on these highly opinionated rants.

When he mentioned wanting to make an unwinable game it reminded me of Titanic: Adventure Out of Time. Another older point and click I really enjoyed. The player travels back in time to affect change on board the Titanic, however the better you do in the game the worst the impact is on history.

[Edmond Dantes]

Here's a game that will fly under most people's radar. Scooby Doo Mystery (Sega Genesis version--AVOID THE SNES VERSION).

It's got two full mysteries, both based loosely on a classic episode. It plays sort of like Maniac Mansion or several other LucasArts adventures, is very true to the feel of the series but has enough charm to work for non-fans as well. It's not too difficult though.

[sfchakan]

Call me pessimistic but I didn't think most people would even know who he was today.

You might not want to watch this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3NeAZG_tgI) then! It was from the mid-90s also. Ends on a really sad note.

[Wraith Storm]

A Vampyre Story is one of the best Click N' Point adventure games I have played in a long time. It was created by Autumn Moon Entertainment, the studio founded by Bill Tiller. He is an Ex Lucas Arts employee that was the lead artist on The Dig and The Curse of Monkey Island.

Unfortunately their publisher screwed them over so they cannot make a sequel anytime soon and they recently had an unsuccessful Kickstarter for a prequel. Regardless, it looks like the prequel WILL eventually happen though! I can't wait.

It has fantastic art direction, hilarious and charming characters, a great soundtrack, and some clever puzzles. I also cant get over how much Mona and Heidi Klum sound alike at times. My girlfriend pointed it out one day while she was watching Project Runway.

Here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58A5T42v0Pc)is the intro and a few seconds of gameplay.

[xelement5x]

You neglected to mention it was based on short story by Harlan Ellison, who most forum goers likely know as the guy who wrote "The City on the Edge of Forever" for the original Star Trek series. Ellison actually had a very strong influence on the game's development. Here's (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8yzK7bfVwI) a 1995 interview with Ellison about the game.

BTW, Ellison has no qualms about letting people know what he thinks of video games in general, but he's definitely a collector like us. Check out his comic book collection here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajv592IboH4&feature=endscreen). I can't remember if it's shown in this video or elsewhere, but he also started hoarding type writers and ribbons back in the 90s!

There was actually an interview with the developers about this game maybe a year ago in Game Informer. It was a quite interesting to read and what piqued my interest about the game as well.

[Daria]

There was actually an interview with the developers about this game maybe a year ago in Game Informer. It was a quite interesting to read and what piqued my interest about the game as well.

A quick google search found it.

Click Me (http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2012/02/03/classic-gi-i-have-no-mouth-and-i-must-scream.aspx?PostPageIndex=1)

Very interesting read, thanks for the suggestion.

[Gameguy]

There are so many good games already listed, so many of these I own but haven't had a chance to play through yet. I need to set enough time aside to play through them uninterupted, just playing 20-30 minutes at a time over several weeks isn't good enough for me.

A game not listed that I enjoy is Gahan Wilson's The Ultimate Haunted House, it's an old one from the Windows 3.1 days that's aimed at a younger audience but has multiple ways to play through it, the inventory items and other characters are never in the same place twice so each game is different. Of course this game seems to be a bit rare now, just finding a copy available is difficult, I believe I've only seen a Mac copy for sale online.

There's also the Tex Murphy games, I believe I have them all but I haven't personally played them yet. I really have to check what PC games I own, I have boxes full of them that are awaiting a playthrough. I also have a bunch of freeware games saved to my PC, I'll list the good ones when I get a chance to play them.


Scratches - This is an incredibly good first person view point & click game! It's rather short, but I highly advise playing through it at least once. In the dark. At night.
I agree with most of the games you've listed, but I found Scratches to be one of the most mediocre adventure games I've ever played. I have no idea why it was named game of the year by one publication, I assumed it was released at a time when there was no decent competition against it.

It took me 10-20 minutes just to get inside the house, I thought it was a puzzle where I needed to find a key, but it turned out to be a bug where the hotspot for the door knob was on the opposite side of the door for some reason. After playing though the game I put on the patch which supposedly fixes this problem and played through again, instead of moving the hotspot they just moved the graphic for the doorknob, yet the door opening animation remained the same so now the doorknob and hinges are on the same side of the door. It looks stupid, and this is the first thing you encounter in the game.

Combine those types of sloppy bugs with easy uninspired puzzles, uninspired voice acting, a poor story with a mediocre jump scare ending, and short game length, it's really not something worth buying. It's worth a playthrough if you get it for free but that's about it. It feels about the same quality as a poorly made freeware title.

[Cornelius]

I agree with most of the games you've listed, but I found Scratches to be one of the most mediocre adventure games I've ever played. I have no idea why it was named game of the year by one publication, I assumed it was released at a time when there was no decent competition against it.

It took me 10-20 minutes just to get inside the house, I thought it was a puzzle where I needed to find a key, but it turned out to be a bug where the hotspot for the door knob was on the opposite side of the door for some reason. After playing though the game I put on the patch which supposedly fixes this problem and played through again, instead of moving the hotspot they just moved the graphic for the doorknob, yet the door opening animation remained the same so now the doorknob and hinges are on the same side of the door. It looks stupid, and this is the first thing you encounter in the game.

Combine those types of sloppy bugs with easy uninspired puzzles, uninspired voice acting, a poor story with a mediocre jump scare ending, and short game length, it's really not something worth buying. It's worth a playthrough if you get it for free but that's about it. It feels about the same quality as a poorly made freeware title.

Have you typed this up before? I swear you have or I'm going crazy. Never played the game myself, but distinctly remember the whole doorknob fiasco.

[Gameguy]

Have you typed this up before? I swear you have or I'm going crazy. Never played the game myself, but distinctly remember the whole doorknob fiasco.
I'm pretty sure I did at some point, it probably was awhile ago. Usually I'm pretty forgiving with adventure games though my standards were set mostly by playing LucasArts games first.

It's just that this problem is literally the first thing that you'd encounter in the game, it feels like sloppy playtesting. Just an example for the puzzles, one problem is with a locked door, your character explains that the key is still in the lock on the other side. Luckily a page of newspaper is close by the door, along with something long a narrow. Just slide the paper under the door and poke out the key, as if no games have ever done this before. Basically all of the puzzles are like this, with most of them having everything you need right beside the puzzles or close by, and pretty obvious like needing lamp fuel for the lamp.

I don't get bothered by games too often but this one got to me for some reason. I think I got the game somehow for free, it still felt like a ripoff.


Another thing I dislike, it has almost all positive reviews. I'll post one below.
http://betax1.justadventure.com/articles/Horror/Number_8.shtm

The thing is, the reviewer still manages to screw up what little story the game gives you.

You are invited by a friend, Jerry, to stay in an old abandoned house known as The Blackwood Manor. You happily accept the invitation as this would allow you to rest and work in a completely silent environment.
What I remember from the game is that sort-of-friend Jerry is your real estate agent, he bought this creepy property for you as you like these types of places as they inspire your writing. You move into this broken down house previously unseen by you. Later on it turns out that Jerry stole your money instead of paying for the house, and you're asked to leave(over the phone) as it doesn't belong to you as it's not paid for.

That sounds a bit different doesn't it? The reviewer makes it sound like you were invited to stay at a friends' house. Though that review seems to be written by a friend or co-worker of the games' creator so no surprise with the high review there.

For horror adventure games I should have played Darkseed or Sanitarium instead, they're still in my to do pile but I've liked what I could see online.

[Daltone]

There's also the Tex Murphy games, I believe I have them all but I haven't personally played them yet. I really have to check what PC games I own, I have boxes full of them that are awaiting a playthrough.


The Tex series is bleedin excellent! Well - UAKM, Pandora and Overseer at least. Martian Memorandum is ok and Overseer is basically Mean Streets. They are three of the best point and click adventure games out there. Unlike rubbish like Myst they use a full 3d environment that you can wander around like an fps. Considering what else was out at the time they are incredibly good looking games. The puzzles are good, the scripts are excellent. Pandora may well be my favourite of all the adventure games I've ever played.

/ fanboy

If you like Tex you may like Gremlin's Realms of the Haunting. The plot starts off a bit naff (haunted house) but gets better. It's actually got fps shooting in it though so it's not exactly a pure point and click.

Broken Sword I & II or Gabriel Knight (certainly the first one) should be worth considering. Darkseed got a mention somewhere in the thread. It's got art by HR Geiger (the chap who designed the titular alien in Alien). It can be frustrating but it's got a good 'small town with dark secrets' vibe about it. Blade Runner (again mentioned here somewhere) is fantastic. The game has some randomly generated elements and a load of different endings, so it's worth going through a few times.

The Last Express, whilst it doesn't look so good these days, takes place in real time (sort of). There's a lot to explore, things you can miss the first time around and a lot of different endings. The animation hasn't aged too well, but if you can get past that it really is worth your while.

I'm playing through Gemini Rue at the moment and finding that pretty enjoyable. I'm not sure if it is quite as good as some reviewers make out but it certainly seems worthy of a quick look.

[Guyra]

I agree with most of the games you've listed, but I found Scratches to be one of the most mediocre adventure games I've ever played. I have no idea why it was named game of the year by one publication, I assumed it was released at a time when there was no decent competition against it.

I have no idea about its release or such, so I'm not going to say anything on that matter. I played the Director's Cut version, so it might've had bug fixes included, because I didn't experience any such problems.

But I must say that while I didn't find it directly scary, I experienced it as a game with a genuinely creepy atmosphere. It's also the most I've enjoyed the gameplay of a first person adventure game. :)

There is an extra game that comes with the Director's Cut, though. A prequel, if memory serves me right. That one I would just tell people to avoid, because it was horrible. :p

[Gameguy]

It was the Director's Cut that I played, which kind of makes the problems worse. That extra part you mentioned is actually a sequel to what happened in the game, a reporter heard about something relating to the house(I forget what exactly) so he comes to the house to examine it. It's about 10 minutes long and you just travel through the house again(on rails) which is in even worse shape, and you discover the "monster" who lives there, and someone fights him off as you escape(I forget who showed up, maybe the doctor?). Of course the look of the monster changes from the original game so this sequel doesn't feel right, not that these points looked right the first time anyway. A lot of these fully 3D games look pretty terrible just a few years later. LOL

No offense if you really did enjoy the game, I just couldn't get into it including the atmosphere, and I played it after midnight as that's about the only time I really have to play long games. At least the Director's Cut included an alternate ending for the first game, one that is pretty much better than the original. :)

I know of another mediocre game, Sherlock Holmes: Mystery of the Mummy. I played the DS port but everything about it is terrible. The puzzles feel out of place, like the developers tried to think up good puzzles first and just wrapped the game around them. Several of the puzzles are pretty stupid too. And the story makes no sense, almost like a Scooby Doo mystery but meant to be taken seriously. There are playthroughs on youtube if you just want to experience it.

I'm glad someone mentioned the Broken Sword games, I've played the first one and enjoyed it. I have most of the later ones too but haven't got around to them yet. There's also Toonstruck, it's a title I haven't seen mentioned yet in this thread. And the Discworld games, most Simon the Sorcerer games, and The Neverhood. These are just PC games, several good adventure games were released on the Nintendo DS as well. Trace Memory/Another Code, Hotel Dusk, Ghost Trick, etc.

[Player_01]

Guyra and Daria already named a lot of good ones but some others would be

The Dig
Shivers
Phantasmagoria
7th Guest
11th Hour

and surprisingly there was a series of Nickelodeon are you Afraid of the Dark games that were pretty good if my memories hold.

[Edmond Dantes]

Someone mentioned Dark Seed. I found that to be "great premise, sloppy execution" as basically the puzzles don't make sense from a character-perspective viewpoint (and in a lot of cases, simply plain don't make sense at all). Kinda wish it had worked out, because it was a game I really wanted to like.

Shivers was a game I had good experiences with, except for that stupid Chinese Checkers puzzle... unless you're good at those things IRL, you WILL need a walkthru. There's also a puzzle with marbles and pinball flippers which irritated me, but I actually solved that myself by working it out on paper.

I'm a major Sierra On-Line fanboy. I'll likely say any of their King's Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest etc. games are good, and that in fact was why I picked up Shivers (and later, Phantasmagoria II... although I wound up not liking that one, sadly). In fact... yeah. Look for any game that's by Sierra On-Line (their earlier games--from the Apple II days--might be labeled as "On-Line Systems")

[CRTGAMER]

Grim Fandango was posted twice and I'm confused. I have this game, you control the character with the arrow keys or joystick and not a mouse.

Though not quite Point and Click games, how about the Broderbund Living Books and Microsoft Encyclopedia series such as Dinosaurs and Musical Instruments?

[mailman187666]

my favorite point and click games have always been the later space quest and kings quest games on PC. I also liked Rise of the Dragon and Willy Beamish on Sega CD.

[StoneAgeGamer]

The Neverhood

[Hudson]

The Neverhood

Yes! Yes! YES!