Hello all!
Long post ahead, but that is just my way, so bear with me, please!

I've recently been the recipient of a lot of generosity on the gog forums, and I figured it'd be time to give some back. And there's a lot of other reasons to celebrate too! As I mentioned in the subject of this post, December is the best month! For example:
-All the best people, including myself, were born in December (I'll be entering my 3rd decade this year)!
-This month also marks my gog birthday (5 years this month).
-It is a winter month, the most wintery of winter months, which is also great.
-There is also my winter break, which while not as long as my summer break, is still pretty cool.
-This year in December my sister is getting married, so that's cool too. Unfortunately, I'll probably have to dance, which is a bit bleh (no, not that sort of dancing, the other sort of dancing, and this being the real world and not a Bollywood movie, it'll definitely be awkward, probably as much as it looks like in this clip).
-I started working on my thesis this month, and despite the fancy name it's got, so far it seems I'll essentially be making a game, which is great!

Anyhow, so yeah, lots of reasons to celebrate! And the best way for me to celebrate is play video games!
I need help to decide which one to play next, however, which is where you all come in!

-I'm looking for relatively short game to play (I'm a university student, so I can't afford to get sunk into some 200 hour Ultima VII adventure yet).
-I'm looking for an engaging story to play (not some mindless "hardcore" achievement game like Super Meat Boy, for example).
-I'm looking for a fun game to play (Story is important, but I probably won't stick with it if it is a chore to play).
-I'm not really a fan of 4X or similar strategy games.
-I'm incredibly bigoted against outdated/ugly 3D (while I have no issue with pretty 2D graphics from as far back as 1989, most 3D games from before 2002, for example, would require having some graphical mods existing).

If you see a game that is REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY incredible despite not fitting one of my requirements, mention it, I guess, but otherwise, with those requirements in mind, here is a list of the games I own on gog that I haven't played yet.
I could've linked you the games I own on gog directly, but there'd be no way to show the ones I have already played.
Also, a list of the games I own on steam, but it's even harder to parse that for the ones I haven't played already (especially outside of steam), and a lot of it is bundleware and shovelware, so you might not want to bother going through it. I suppose everything with less than 4 hours play time is probably not been played by me yet.

Now you may ask, why should you bother with such a cumbersome task? What's in it for you?
Why, the very reason I created this thread in the first place!
If I like your suggestion, or if it appears to be well thought out, with good reasons given (not just "PLAY JACK KEANE 2, IT IS THE BEST GAME EVER!") , you'll have a chance to win on of the following games:

ON GOG (most of these are grouped together as a single key, but you can only enter for one)
Afterlife
Baldur's Gate 2 Complete
Divine Divinity
Dungeons & Dragons: Dragonshard
Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Loom
Outlaws + A Handful of Missions
Sam & Max Hit the Road
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
The Temple of Elemental Evil
Tiny and Big: Grandpa's Leftovers
Torchlight
Special Bonus Prize of a gog game costing up to $3 (in case something cool is on sale, and you're not interested in any of the ones listed here)

While you can only win 1, feel free to list up to 3 of the gog games in the order you want them. Other than those, there are also these Steam keys. They are almost all freebies and bundleware, and there is a slight chance they've been used, but there may be some you'd be interested in, so feel free to mention them, and you can have them in a first come first served basis (if you are found worthy, of course):

Blood of the Old
The Culling of the Cows (x2)
Dead Bits (x2)
Epigenesis
Hyper Fighters
iBomber Defense Pacific
Particula
Realms of the Haunting
Skyborn
Spacechem
Space Hack (x2)
Syberia
Time Gentlemen Please
Zero Gear

New Addition:
Shadowrun Returns

Now the sad but necessary requirements:
No punctuation in name, should have a positive (of at least a 6 months) forum presence, not be on the scammers list, only enter for yourself, redeem the gog keys within a week (and I'll have to add you as a friend for the steam keys).

I'll keep this going on until the 13th, at which point I'll select the winners. So keep the suggestions coming!

As to the dancing - I'd suggest getting drunk but as I've little clue on the (current) legislation on that in Pakistan... O____o

...Khat maybe?!

o____O

At any rate, for a short game, you should always consider Gomo - a rather deliciously short point and click (takes about two hours maybe) with zero frustration factor, a barely considerable plot (yet there IS somehow a story there), and some cool and weird stuff going on. I'll drop back when I've looked at yer steam list - but the GOG one is blocked by my ISP for being "pornography".

O___O7

Hahah...and for some bizarre reason, the normal pastebin.com site is blocked by my university. I guess they hate coders.
Perhaps this works better?
Also, getting drunk seems to be the usual solution. Although it is illegal here (for muslims), that doesn't stop those who still want it. Unfortunately in my case, I'm pretty straight edge, so no intoxicants or stimulants for me.

*shoves bottle of buckfast in your gob and superglues in place

Hmmm...

3...2...1...

HES DANCING! HES DANCING! HES DANCING!!!!

Hes... choking.

HES CHOKING! HES CHOKING! HES CHOKING!!!

o___O

O___o

*hides superglue

Yet? If you don't have time to play super long games while a student, then you probably never will :P

Anyway, there's no contest: The Dark Eye: Chains of Satinav wins due to reasons of being awesome. It fits all of your requirements- 2d graphics, and really beautiful at that (the music is very good too), great story (at least if you like fantasy/fable type stories like Neil Gaiman's Stardust or Lloyd Alexader's Chronicles of Prydain), and it's fun to play, as all the puzzles make sense and I played the whole thing without ever having to consult a walkthrough. It's possibly my favourite adventure game, and I played quite a few.

I'm in for Demon Stone (maybe I'll finally finish it after all these years?)

Thanks for the giveaway, and have fun with whatever game you end up choosing :)

Not in.

Play Driftmoon

Reason? Because other people will chime in and agree that it's a good choice. So play it already.

Anyway, it's a fun, charming, family-friendly RPG that's more about having fun and less about making the perfect character and diving headlong into some enormous worldwide lore.

Hey, babark! Happy birthday and thirty!, happy break! happy sister getting married! happy gogversary!, happy happy happy december to you!!! I hope we get some real december weather soon and some snow! It's been unseasonably warm here.

Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!

What is the title of your thesis? If it is on video games, you reealllly need to play the game I suggest, regardless the result of the GA!

I'd like to STRONGLY recommend/urge/coerce in a friendly way you to play System Shock 2!!!! I mean, PLAY IT ALREADY NOW! haha! I know what you said about 3d games pre-2002, but, really, it's not bad, and I think it has some mods for graphics if you want, and is well well well worth a little pixelization for the game that you get to play. The worst graphics are in the few cutscenes there are, don't let those dicourage you. It's a must-play!

The game's atmosphere is thickly rich. Every element and detail contributes to the overall impact of the game, right down to the aesthetic of the potted plants. It is sci-fi thriller/horror greatness, so if you like that genre mix, you really need to plaly this game just for that. More specifically, if you don't know, it is "ghost ship" type.

Sound effects, music, lighting, the maps, the voice acting, the writing (story, themes, etc.) are all superb. It really is ai piece of art in a video-game. Oh, and, since it is a game afterall:

The gameplay is GREAT. If you're worried about the gameplay at all, don't be. I think it perhaps one of the best tutorials I've ever played in a game. When I first played I was really intimidated as soon as the game started, with the controls and interface, but then I realized all I had to figure out how to do was enter the 1st tutorial and it helped me from there. But, anyway, once you learn all of the ins-and-outs of what you need to learn to do (if you've played Deus Ex, you have an idea already) it's hella fun to play. Sci-fi horror stealther+FPS with skills (that are fun/rewarding once you expand a bit) and everything else mentioned along with it.

On replays I would say 1 thing only bothers me only slilghtly and that is the turrets. Althought once learning the game you know exactly what to do, but, they are a pain in the ass sometimes otherwise, but, it's not so bad and you will learn to handle them well enough.

Again regardless of the results of the GA, I hope you decide to play SS2 sooner rather than later, it is a true classic!!!!

Thanks again! and I'm in for : Outlaws + Handful of Missions

Happy birthday and congratulations on the graduation! December birthdays are the best :-)

As far as shirt games are concerned, FTL, King of Dragon Pass, or Sword of the Samurai. Love all those. KoDP has the best story I guess, but they each have their strengths.

Not, just want to say
1. Good luck with your thesis.
2. Happy birthday.
3. You might like Dark Messiah of Might & Magic. It's fun, easy to learn, and not too long.

*babark is a little tipsy and can't speak*

Thank you for your suggestions so far. They are certainly being backed up by the reputations of the games! You have my condolences :P. Haven't graduated yet, at least 6 more months for that. Just started on my thesis! And I love the suggestion of FTL :D. I've been playing it for 2 years now, and have yet to "win".
Roguelike/lites are a special case, I guess. Technically, the playtime is short, and they are easy to pick up and put down, but there's rarely any sense of progression and it is hard to have an overarching coherent story. I've played several (Dungeons of Dredmor, Eldritch, FTL, Rogue Legacy, Pixel Dungeons, etc.), but I think the only one I finished in recent memory was Rogue Legacy, and even that wasn't REALLY finished (there was still more the game expected me to do to "properly" finish the story).

I've actually played Dark Messiah quite a ways through. It WAS fun, despite being very (probably unintentionally) campy :D.

Many congratulations. Not in. +1.
If I did my math correctly, you joined GOG when you were 15. That's young!

Unless I did my phrasing badly, I hope not! :D
My 3rd decade, not second. I guess there's some confusion in my mind as to whether "my decades" start from 0 or 1, but I'm going with 0.
So I guess I joined when I was 25? That seems weirdly recent. I guess I'm getting old :D.

Oh. That makes more sense, but I think that means that you are entering your 4th decade this year, not your 3rd as you wrote.

Your first decade was 0-10, your second was 10-20, you third was 20-30, and now you enter your fourth.

I see from your Suteam library that Sonic Adventure DX is unplayed. Well, give it a shot. Its all high speed action with genuine bosses, a variety of levels and a variety of gameplays, and a dark story... and if you wanna take a break from all that? You can raise your pets, 'Chao' whenever you like and however you like. There's nothing to be not liked about this game, no matter how old it is!

Count me for Forgotten Realms or Outlaw.

Thank you for the giveaway and happy birthday!