Hi all. I was hoping to get some thoughts from those who have made to jump to Windows 11 now.

Being in Europe, we've got another year of Windows 10 updates for free so don't feel an immediate need to upgrade, but am wondering whether it would be worth it in the near future. Currently Win 10 is beautifully stable and fast for me and all my software runs happily on it.

Time for another one of those fun forum games. Remember those from back in the day? 

Fun fact: I once attended 10 different magic shows in the space of 48 hours. No, I wouldn’t recommend it, it's a lot to take on board. Luckily I like focusing on the impromptu jokes magicians use to show us that they are properly interacting with the audience.

Bonus fact: My username is an original portmanteau that I created. It's a combination of legerdemain (sleight of hand) with the suffix mancy (divination).

Do you know of an adventure game that you personally consider to be underappreciated? Good news, you’ve found the right thread to bring greater awareness to those unsung heroes of the adventure developer community. This is where we will shine a spotlight on those hidden gems to help them sparkle with the recognition they deserve.

To get things started, I would like to draw your attention to a little-known demo called Odd. The protagonist is an avid rock collector and hiker from Norway. Wouldn’t it be funny if this quirky man stumbled upon a massive secret that planet Earth is actually a giant mental ward? Hats off to the creators for having an original premise.

I played this short demo back in the early 2010s. It still stays with me to this day for several reasons. The starting location is a picturesque Norwegian cliff with a camper van parked on top. The hand-drawn artwork is beautiful. Humour is weaved seamlessly into the storyline and the peaceful background music ties it altogether into an atmospheric delight. I don’t want to spoil too much, play it first-hand to experience it yourself.

I’ve tested it on a Windows 11 computer and miraculously it still works. Use the following Game Jolt link to download this fantastic adventure:

https://gamejolt.com/games/odd/929

After you’ve finished the demo, there is also an expanded backstory and lore on the official website:

https://www.lysator.liu.se/odd/synopsis.html

I’m looking forward to all of your game suggestions. Let’s transform those underrated games into cherished classics.

The new game from Lee Petty and Double Fine releases today. Anyone planning to play Keeper?

Maybe my Adventure Game Hotspot review will help you decide.

Short version is: I loved every minute of it, and it's the most fun I've had with a game for a long time. And holy hell, is it gorgeous. But know what type of game it is, because it's definitely not your traditional point-and-click.



Would love to hear what other people think of it!

From the latest Cressup video interviewing Charles Cecil last week, forgive me if this has already been posted. But it doesn't look good for this to be coming out anytime soon... Relevant section begins around 16:00. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiWpyHbeyw

Several Cryo Interactive Entertainment adventure games have been republished over the years on both Steam and GOG. One of the outliers is the 1994 game Commander Blood, which is exclusive to the ZOOM Platform:

https://www.zoom-platform.com/product/commander-blood

I’ve never played it, but I do like the unique art style they went for. The French have always expertly produced eye-catching graphics. Has anyone on here got opinions about the gameplay itself? Also do you think most people even know ZOOM Platform exists?

I would love to get your various viewpoints on when you consider the penultimate time period for playing adventure games was. Defining an adventure game in that other thread by Jackal was easy enough, something Specs from the Soda Poppers could probably manage in his sleep. But even Specs would balk at something this daunting, so I’ll get the ball rolling on this one.

Focusing solely on commercial adventure games, I would posit that it began in 1990 and ended in 1998. The catalyst was The Secret of Monkey Island. The 1993 release of Day of Tentacle firmly cemented this as a golden age, technology was no longer a barrier to offering a multi-faceted experience encompassing animation and voice acting, which in turn further enhanced the most crucial element at the heart of all adventure games: story.

Humongous Entertainment would ramp up the production value already observed in Day of the Tentacle to an even higher echelon. In 1994 they released Freddi Fish and the Case of the Missing Kelp Seeds. An edutainment point & click adventure game featuring television-quality animation, nine different voice actors, an extensive soundtrack nearly to CD-quality standards by George Sanger despite the compression. All of which was spooled directly off the disc drive onto the computer screen. The forward momentum had been achieved for Humongous and they continued this for many years.

Side note - there were numerous companies doing wonderful things during this golden age for adventure fans, to name a few of those: Adventure Soft creating the first couple of Simon the Sorcerer games. Westwood Studios with the Legend of Kyrandia trilogy. Presto Studios crafting The Journeyman Project series. Great direction by all of those talented visionaries.

However, it was definitely Revolution Software, Humongous Entertainment and LucasArts that invested in the ideal style of 2D hand-drawn animation to still stay relevant, even well and truly into the 21st century. Visual distinctiveness balanced with immersive storytelling and harnessed by innovate technology. They clearly had the competitive edge in the adventure game market during the 90’s.

The selection of creative releases from Sierra and LucasArts was fading out by the turn of the new millennium. With those prominent developers gone, it begs the question what caused that to happen? My opinion is that awkward 3D technology contributed to the downward trend of the adventure game industry. Working within a new 3D engine framework would have caused workflow issues for the game designers. Plus the consumers weren’t used to the changeover from pixels to polygons.

It’s also worth mentioning that full motion video from this time period still looks quite nice. Dark Side of the Moon by SouthPeak Interactive is a decent example. Not to mention, the final two Tex Murphy games developed in the 90’s by Access Software.

1999 to 2005 represents the dormant years of adventure games being commercially viable. Even Humongous Entertainment was fizzling out by this point under the guidance of Infogrames/Atari. They would still release a few more superb adventures, but nothing was left of value by the time 2002 rolled around.

Simon the Sorcerer 3D. Broken Sword 3. Please don’t make me list anymore disappointing examples from this desolate hellscape era. There is a saying that 2D artwork ages like a fine wine, whereas 3D graphics age like milk. That aforementioned Simon game lends immense credence to this. 3D was a huge boon to console gamers, but not so much for PC gamers seeking narrative-driven gameplay rather than button mashing.

Every cloud has a silver lining, even in the middle of those bleak times. Her Interactive was able to capitalize on the lack of rival game developers focusing on adventure games. Conveniently they already had a solid game engine developed from when they released The Vampire Diaries back in 1996. Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill was placed onto store shelves in 1998, a clunky mishmash of 2D characters transposed onto 3D backgrounds. Not a brilliant start, but an okay beginning nonetheless. Their next game Stay Tuned for Danger was more refined graphics-wise.

They finally hit their stride with Message in a Haunted Mansion (2000). The golden age of consistently high-quality Nancy Drew games started with their 7th game release in 2002: Nancy Drew – Ghost Dogs of Moon Lake, and ended with their 13th mystery in 2005: Nancy Drew – Last Train to Blue Moon Canyon. Though it may sound paradoxical, a miniature golden age (at least for Nancy Drew fans) did exist within the darkest timeline of 1999 to 2005.

Speaking of timelines, the freeware point & click adventure community may have well been part of a different dimension altogether, because it was absolutely booming during the early 2000’s unlike the commercial scene. Games made with Adventure Game Studio and the Sludge engine were readily available online and heaps of fun to play. Tim Furnish of Hungry Software released Out Of Order in 2003 and it was a particular favourite of mine. Re-releases of Lure of the Temptress and Beneath A Steel Sky also solidified 2003 as an excellent year for freeware. The AGS community continued to expand over time culminating in some great games. A Tale of Two Kingdoms by Crystal Shard feels like a proper spiritual successor to the King’s Quest series. Alongside LucasArts homages such as Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth demo by Screen 7.

Youth? Sounds like the perfect segue into the last section of my post. What truly rejuvenated the retail market for adventures was irrefutably Telltale Games. Bone: Out from Boneville was the perfect way to test the waters in 2005. A 3D engine with cartoon-esque colouring showcasing familiar comic book characters created by Jeff Smith.

Telltale Games quickly moved onto their main juggernaut series in 2006 with the dynamic duo we all know and adore: Sam & Max Freelance Police! Telltale benefited from two core demographics wanting to buy their games: Older players that had already experienced Hit the Road in 1993, and young people discovering Steve Purcell’s iconic characters for the first time. Selling the games in episodic format kept things manageable for the company to develop things smoothly. The consumer benefited from being able to digest the storyline at their own pace.

The renaissance era for commercial adventure games had officially been ushered in thanks to Telltale.

Now it’s your turn, forum friends. What do you personally consider to be a golden age for adventure games? Be as objective or subjective as you like.

Today Adventure Game Hotspot turns three years old!

It was October 14, 2022 that the site did a soft launch, followed the next day by an insane 12-hour marathon livestream to really kick things off, and it's been full speed ahead ever since.

In some ways it feels like only yesterday, in some ways it feels like a lifetime ago, but we sure have come a long way since then.

Thanks to all the Hotspot staff for helping to make it possible, and to our fine community for making it all worthwhile!

Here's to many more.

(A blast from the past. Not from opening day, but same basic design.)

Disk 22-36-114 / SNES ROM HACK 
A voodoo platformer tribute for Monkey Island’s 35th anniversary



Ahoy, pirates and pixel-loving adventurers!
I’m an indie developer on a mission to revive the magic of the '90s by creating completely free games for the legendary Super Nintendo (SNES). And to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Monkey Island, I’m working on something special: Disk 22-36-114, a voodoo-infused platformer inspired by the mythical Disk 22 — the legendary joke that drove fans wild back in the day!

 Remember that mysterious floppy that never actually existed? I’ve decided to make it real. This game is a cheeky, nostalgic tribute packed with:

[*]Environmental puzzles and acrobatic jumps
[*]Voodoo magic and deep-cut references
[*]A nimble Guybrush (scaled to SNES limits: 16x32 pixels!)

[*]And a twist: the sheriff is the main villain!




After catching Guybrush picking forbidden flowers (banned by local law for reasons still unknown), the sheriff chases him through the catacombs to arrest him. 
It’s a surreal pursuit through traps, voodoo, and... municipal regulations.
The game will be 100% free and playable on SNES hardware. 
I’ll be sharing screenshots and gameplay details soon.
Stay tuned, mates. The legend of Disk 22 is finally coming to life.

The word is out in my area and people know that I am a huge collector. I have been getting a lot of people bringing some old treasures into my store. I got all of these in the last month for a total of 180 bucks  [attachment=undefined]