First off, I want to thank the moderators for creating this forum and I want to say that I'm not creating this topic in bad faith, but to find out where certain lines are around game discussion. I'm happy to follow whatever rules the moderators set, they are just a little unclear at the moment.

Sex and adventures games have a long history with games from Sierra like Leisure Suit Larry and French developer Coktel Vision having explicit nudity in them. More recently, FMV games like Immortality even have (simulated) sex scenes in them with actors. Since the latter is included in the site database, I'm assuming it would be an example of a game that is okay to both mention and talk about as long as we aren't posting screen shots with nudity in them.

However, there are also narrative games that are sold on PC storefronts like Steam, itch.io and GOG that are quite a bit more explicit and are often age restricted. In the news last year many of these adult games were removed from Steam and itch.io (in some cases only temporarily) to comply with payment providers. On some other forums, I have seen rules banning these type of games from being discussed at all or even mentioned by name, which is why I am creating this topic.

In many cases their artistic value may be low, but in other cases they are some of the highest rated games on itch.io and the vndb and many would argue that they do have artistic value and are worthy of discussion. If a list of specific games would help, I'm happy to provide it to the mods.

I don't want to make too big of a deal with this so to simplify, my interpretation of the rules currently is that no explicit screenshots should be shared or links to game pages showing explicit images. On the other hand, no specific games are banned from discussing or mentioning as long as the discussion around them doesn't become too overtly sexual. Would that be a fair assessment?

Again, happy to follow any rules that are set, even if I disagree with them, and thank you in advance for taking the time to read this post and to reply.

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, Jack suggested I come join up and let people know about my new game that I just released, Nothmere.  I'm not a game developer, I'm a longtime fan of adventure games who kind of stumbled into making a full length adventure RPG.  Growing up, I played all the Sierra and Lucasarts games, Quest for Glory being my all-time favorite.  I created some games about 10-12 years ago in AGS, which were learning the engine, learning how to code, etc.  I won some AGS awards with those games back in the day, and about 3 or so years ago I decided I wanted to play around in AGS again in my spare time after work and events with the family, so I began developing Nothmere as an homage to my favorite game series of all time, QFG.

After about two years of development I realized it had gotten a bit out of hand and turned into a whole big thing that I never anticipated, a fully fleshed out and full-length adventure RPG.  I decided to put it on some Adventure Game facebook groups I'm in, and the responses there gave me the drive to keep it going, put up a website and put the game on Steam.  I just released it last weekend, and so far the reviews are all positive (fingers crossed).  One of the reviews suggested I post it here, but since I'm not about self-promotion and all that, I reached out to Jack instead, who suggested I go ahead and post, so here we are

The game has a playable Demo if anyone is interested, and I set the price very cheap since it's not exactly an AAA title and I'm not exactly a professional game developer.  Here is the info on the game:

SYNOPSIS

You awaken alone on a cold, rocky shore beneath a moonless sky, dragged from the sea through a sewer pipe with no memory of who you are, how you arrived, or why you’re still alive.

Beyond the beach lies Nothmere, a remote town nestled deep within an inescapable ring of jagged mountains. No one leaves. No one ever has. Every soul who arrives does so the same way you did: broken, memoryless, and stranded.

Despite this, the town endures.

Nothmere is protected by powerful magical wards embedded into its stone walls, holding back the void creatures that stalk the surrounding wilderness. These defenses are maintained by the town’s Mage guild, while order and survival are enforced by the Warrior guild.  Thieves lurk in the shadows, secrets whisper through alleyways, and every citizen carries gaps in their past they cannot explain.

As you explore the town and its outskirts, you’ll uncover fragments of truth about Nothmere’s origins, the nature of the wards, the monsters beyond the walls, and the terrible cost that keeps the town standing.  What begins as a search for escape becomes something far more unsettling; the realization that Nothmere exists for a reason and you may be part of it.

Your choices will determine how the story ends.  Will you preserve the fragile balance that keeps the town safe? Will you uncover a way to break the cycle? Or will you doom Nothmere, and everyone within it forever?  In Nothmere, memory is a weapon, sacrifice is inevitable, and some truths are buried for a reason.

Trailer



Screenshots

         


FEATURES

• Retro point-and-click Adventure RPG developed in the AGS engine, heavily inspired by the Quest for Glory series.
  
• 1920 x 1080 resolution
  
• Customizable (drag-and-drop) GUI
  
• Play as a Warrior, Thief or Mage (or a hybrid combination)
  
• Full timed day and night cycle
  
• Puzzles which fit each character class, each with separate solution paths
  
• Full RPG stats, with branching dialogs depending on character intelligence, speech skills, etc
  
• Experience from completing quests, vanquishing monsters, and progressing the story levels the player up. Stat points added each level
  
• Scrolling Combat Text effect inspired by World of Warcraft so gained experience, health, magic, as well as HP and MP used/taken scroll up from the character as it happens
  
• Equippable inventory system with bonus stats on armor, weapons and jewelry
  
• Equippable items from basic junk items to epic gear for all classes
  
• Potion system with temporary stat buffs, purchasable from vendors
  
• Full shop system with multiple vendors, each selling different types of items
  
• Separate buy and sell functionality, with prices dependent on reputation and speech skill
  
• Dynamic quest log that updates as you progress on the various quests
  
• Spellbook with learned spells
  
• Battle system with spells, special attacks, etc based on class and abilities
  
• Stupid humor and easter eggs to old Sierra and Lucasarts games mixed in throughout
  

AI Disclosure - Since there are people who feel very strongly about AI, I wanted to put this out front and foremost so as not to anger anyone.  As I mentioned, I'm not a developer, I'm a middle aged IT guy who is knowledgeable about everything except art.  Therefore I used GenAI to create the raw images for this game and then massaged/edited/manipulated them by hand, did the animations and such for them myself using paint.net (as I said, I'm not the most graphically talented person), and used them in the game.  All sounds/music are by real people credited for it, and I did all the coding, dialog, storyline, etc.  If GenAI art makes you twitchy or upset, please keep that in mind about this game.


LINKS
My Website:  Wraithwood Studios  (Includes downloadable demo of the game)
Steam Site: Nothmere on Steam (Includes game and demo, trailers, screenshots, info, etc)

Thanks,

Bill

Hello everyone. I'm the author of The Secret History of Mac Gaming and writer/director of the documentary series TerrorBytes: The Evolution of Horror Gaming, and I want to share with you a new project I'm working on called Passport to Adventure: The SCUMM Story.



Passport to Adventure will peer behind the troop of three-headed monkeys and into the world's largest ball of twine to discover the inner workings of both the games and the engine that revolutionized a genre. With an expected runtime around three hours and interviews with at least 20 genre legends and experts (most of whom worked on the games covered), it'll be an in-depth developer/interview-led game-by-game retrospective documentary film about the LucasArts and Humongous Entertainment SCUMM games (Monkey Island, Sam & Max, Maniac Mansion, Loom, The Dig, Freddi Fish, etc).

We'll celebrate the greatest moments and the inventive satire, as well as provide a thoughtful and (I hope) insightful exploration of the games' development processes, design/art/music innovations, and cultural impact/influence — with numerous breakout discussion segments scattered through the film to talk about things like the SCUMM University internal training program, the overarching design philosophies Ron Gilbert and co put at the core of their games, the impact of new technologies such as the arrival of "talkies" when the CD-ROM format took off in the early 90s, and so on.

The documentary is in development right now, which in the film world means pre-production — concept work, market research, audience validation, casting, budgeting, etc. I'm working with a company called CREATORVC, which makes high-spec, long-runtime crowdfunded pop culture documentaries. They're best known for the In Search of Darkness series of horror film superdocs, and for the hit documentary Aliens Expanded. I previously worked with them on both their gaming docs — I co-wrote and produced FPS: First Person Shooter, and as noted above I wrote and directed TerrorBytes. I'm writing and directing this project as well, and I've had various versions of this concept in my head for about 15 years — going back all the way to my first paid freelance article.

I'll have more to share soon, but in the meantime I want to ask two things of the AGH community:

1. If this sounds like something you'd like to see get made, and especially if you'd be willing to support it on Kickstarter or some other crowdfunding platform¸ please sign up to our waitlist at scummdoc.com. (And follow us on Bluesky, if you're active there.) We need some clear signals that there's a viable audience for the project, and waitlist signups are the best indicator we have right now.
   
2. Tell me what you think of the concept. I consulted with several notable members of the community late last year on a draft synopsis, including AGH's editor Jack, but I'm interested in what the adventure game community at large would want out of such a documentary and I'm happy to answer any questions.
   

Who is up for another community playthrough?

Here's a place for your suggestions. If you feel up for it, take te lead! We already have one proposition: Perfect Tides: Station to Station, a game that is about to be released. No leader (yet).

If you'd like to play a text adventure community playthrough, post here.

Hey friends! While fighting with my crippling insomnia yesterday I stumbled upon this pleasant surprise of a game and decided to make this thread since I haven't seen a lot of coverage for it. The Jester and the Madman is the continuation of the free game  "Curse of the Old Gods", which you are encouraged to first play upon entering a new game. The latter is a minimal color and resolution slideshow first-person adventure with a lot of filters and a digitalized photograph look. It's a short game that sets the mood for the second one, although nothing remarkable so to speak. The second one upgrades its scope in every category, it has more length, tells a more coherent story, has crisper graphics, adds speech and more importantly has a lot of puzzles. And I really liked the puzzles, they ranged from exploration, to logical - deduction and to elaborate inventory puzzles offering a nice variety never feeling unfair and nicely integrated for the most part to the story. There are a couple of instances that you can die but the game auto loads on the previous screen, also a hotspot indicator and unlimited saves  make way for a relaxed gameplay. I found the game delightfully challenging and the hidden true end was nicely clued along the way and feels satisfying to get (something I can't say for the prequel that essentially sets you up to replay the game even if you are on the right path). The game kind of reminds me of "Lost in time" by Coctel Vision (another game I recommend, especially if you enjoy this one) but I can't exactly pinpoint why. There is not a thematic connection between the two though, "The Jester and the Madman" being a horror Lovecraftian game like so many games the last years. The game is dead cheap that kind of surprised me, but I guess it's justifiable because the creator acknowledges the usage of AI

So many questions!

Do you replay games? Certain ones specifically, over and over? Or just whatever strikes your fancy when there's nothing new on your menu?
How often do you replay those specific games that you play over and over?
 
I'll answer in depth later, but I generally wait 2-4 years before replaying a game, unless there's a really good reason...like Fate of Atlantis with the different paths, for example.

Steam Detective Fest is live this week if anyone's in a mystery mood.

Features some discounts on games like The Seance of Blake Manor (from the Darkside Detective devs), The Drifter, Disco Elysium and Case of the Golden Idol.

Even features the demo of our upcoming game, Five Day Detective, but you've got to scroll down quite a way to find it!  

Thanks in advance!

Both games came out in the last 5-6 years, I think. Both got good reviews. Both have 2d graphics, but Game #2 was more polished looking than Game #1.

Game #1
The developer had a thread about it on the old AG forums.
It was regarded as kind of Broken Swordy, but seemed more humorous and the graphics were a little less pro looking.
Protagonist was a young male, had long or longish brown or dark hair.
There might have been some religious themes.
I think it took place in a slightly BC or slightly AD setting.
There might have been a sequel, or there is/was a sequel in development.

Game #2 -- FOUND! It's The Holy Gosh Darn. 
You played as some sort of angel, but dressed kind of modern, if I recall (not dressed as an angel).
Colorful innocent graphics but...
...the game was actually pretty "blasphemous".
Religiously themed story.
The kind of game that looked G-rated but was actually PG-13 or R rated, so to speak.

I've been digging through sites like itch.io and ags to find some hidden gems, maybe a diamond in the rough. I think the genre owes a lot to the diy (freeware) scene and I intend to put a couple of games in the spotlight every once in a while.

Here's my first selection. 

Celestial Coffee Quest by Wavey Games

It's bright, fun, a little garish and full of adventure. It'll take you about half an hour, which'll mostly be dedicated to puzzles. The music is fitting and enjoyable.

MALLICIOUS by jfrisby, Bani Gala Games 

Like Celestial Coffee Quest, this goes for the EGA aesthetic. It has a survival-mechanic, with health and money, but the approach is distinctly point & click adventure. The kind where you can and will die. A lot of the game is about dialog decisions, there are also light inventory puzzles. More characters and locations than I expected. Music also goes pretty hard in this one.

Pumpkin Happenz - free Point & Click Adventure

This one was recommended by Wild Boar in the free and discounted thread. The developer posted one for the game itself (see link). It's a proper adventure game with some 2011 sensibilities. A lot of info in the thread itself. Soundtrack is good as well.

The Comedy of an Eternal Life by Evan Betterer  

This one's a little rough around the edges and some gameplay elements may be exasperating. That said; the writing is solid. It's bold, ambitious and hits a lot of unexpected and interesting notes. The music is nice.

Cascade Failure by futur_null

A "lost media" adventure, made with an obsolete version of AGS for good measure. This surrealist adventure reflecting on living in a society takes on a  more sombre tone than the others. It is quite fun, though.  I recommend the entire saga (links on the itch.io page).

A small pumpkin comes to life one night on a pumpkin patch in the Midwestern United States. Together with the Halloween ghost Siegfried, he sets out on an adventure. Along the way, the unlikely duo must uncover why the Halloween festival in the nearby small town of Orange Town has been cancelled... something that, of course, does not sit well with a living pumpkin!

Originally developed as a university project in 2011, the free point-and-click adventure finally receives an English text version in 2025.