As I said before, I would like to play a game that is truly hardcore in terms of difficulty, like Discworld or Blue Ice. In fact, I think those games should be played without a leader, so beating the game would truly be a community effort.

I think those games should be played without a leader

It's good to know that leaderless community playthroughs are an option for games that will suit it.

so beating the game would truly be a community effort.

The community aspect is two-fold from my personal viewpoint:

1. Sharing in our differing interpretations of an adventure game. What we like and dislike, would improve, etc.

2. Helping each other out with puzzles when necessary. It feels like a team effort in those moments.

Whereas the hardship from slogging through a notoriously difficult game is not the shared experience I'm desperately seeking out.

I would join in with a playthrough of any of the games suggested so far except for Discworld (as much as I like it) & Blue Ice because of their difficulty.

All the game suggestions so far sound great. The only one I don't have access to is Kathy Rain 2 as it's quite new and out of my price range.

Anyone up for leading a game? More suggestions are welcome as well.

The idea of a difficult game as a leaderless community effort is intriguing. Could you explain how it would work? I'll add Discworld and Blue Ice to the list.

Here's the options so far. Add a personal favourite, something from your backlog or a game you'd like to revisit. You don't need to lead it; someone else might be up for the job.

NEW GAME CPT:
The Council - no leader yet.
Kathy Rain 2: Soothsayer leader BobVP (or anyone else up to the task).

THROWBACK:
Blackwell Unbound - leader BobVP

FREEWARE:
Out Of Order by Hungry Software no leader yet.
King's Quest II remake - leader BobVP
Clotilde Soffritti in: Never Double Park your Spaceship. leader BobVP
added:
Flight of the Amazon Queen - no leader yet

DIFFICULT:
Discworld no leader?
Blue Ice no leader?

I'd like to throw Flight of the Amazon Queen into the suggestion box, a classic which I've still never played. I believe it's also now freeware.

I believe it's also now freeware.

That is correct, it was re-released as freeware ages ago back in 2004. Here is a direct link to the ScummVM download section for getting Flight of the Amazon Queen:

https://www.scummvm.org/games/#games-queen:queen

Hmm I would love to try a lot of those actually c':
We've just finished IMAGiNE (I didn't talk but I played it) and I would like an easier one before diving back again in a difficult AG. Discworld is definitely in my list though.
Flight of the Amazon Queen is very nice, even if fresher in my mind.
Kathy Rain 2 and King's Quest 2 I haven't done 1 so not those for me.

There is a lot of propositions so far, so I won't give more, I'll see what we'll lend on

I'd be fine playing any of the suggestions so far. I've already played Blackwell Unbound and Flight of the Amazon Queen but it's been a while for both of them so I wouldn't mind replaying.

By the way, in another thread BobVP responded to BehindTimes with a suggestion of a possible text adventure community playthrough if there was interest: https://community.adventuregamehotspot.c...42#pid1842

As someone who has never really scratched the surface of text adventures I quite like the sound of that if it were to happen and I'd try to participate if there was one.