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 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. 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 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. 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 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 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 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. 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

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.