So it seems like there are tons of point & click adventures on GOG and more are coming all the time... Now I never really got into the genre. Part of the reason might be that I never played these back in the day. I only tried the demo version of (what I believe was) Myst. It seemed kinda interesting back then, and I sure would've liked to play a little more (I never got anywhere in the demo), but I had no allowance and my parents weren't into gaming...

Later on, I've made a few attempts. Beneat a steel sky, for instance. I never got anywhere in the game, for a few reasons. First, trying to locate the right bundle of pixels to click on just seems boring to me. The "puzzles" seem to require too much trial and error, but more importantly, the game doesn't do much to compel me. Perhaps the world is a little too alien and uninviting. If the game had a story that got me hooked from the start, and continued to provide me with something interesting to look forward to, I'd probably play longer. The start just didn't do it. Same for sceneries: give me something interesting to look at, and I'll look forward to seeing more. But even so, the puzzles themselves could also be more intriguing.

I actually played through the first monkey island game. I had to push myself a little, because especially at the start the story seemed a little too junevile and didn't interest me much. The visuals were interesting enough, the puzzles early on weren't too hard, and I guess the way the world opened up and the story unfolded was all good enough (not great) to keep me playing. Later on (on the different island where you had to blow something up, I guess using gunpowder and a scope?) a few of the puzzles got tough and I had to cheat using a walkthrough. At this point the scenery & story also got a little more boring for me so I really had to push myself to the end of the game. So I guess it is a decent game, but not great. Or maybe it just isnt for me.

Good enough it was that I went on to play Monkey Island 2. From the start, I loved the visuals & atmosphere. Some of the very early puzzles were ok I guess, but I ended up banging my head against a wall quite soon. And frankly I felt that if I have to read walkthroughs to figure out how to win a spitting contest (along with a dozen other things), I'm probably spoiling too much to enjoy the game. So I quit.

I know there's got to be a ton of great games in the genre, considering that there are so many games to begin with. And they seem quite popular too. I'm sure there are games that I'd love from start to finish. Perhaps they have a story that really gets me excited, perhaps the puzzles will be actually interesting (or maybe there won't be so many puzzless to begin with? maybe they're not inherent to the genre?). Perhaps the scenery, music, and atmosphere just want to make me live in the game. Perhaps I'll be so excited that I just can't wait to make more progress.

And if I made it through a few great games in the genre, perhaps I'd learn and get better with the puzzles and then maybe enjoy the other games that I didn't like so much so far?

Basically, I'd like to condition myself into liking this genre that I've neglected so far. Because I'm afraid I'd otherwise miss out on some amazing games and stories :)

So help me out. Name up to three point & click adventure games that a miserable newbie like me should absolutely try.

Star Trek Judgement Rites
The Dig
Beneath A Steel Sky

I'd say try Sanitarium - it's fantastic. It's available here on GOG. That is my absolute favorite among this kind of games and I'm not a fan of the genre too.

Gabriel Knight 1- this game introduced me to the genre...

For near-universal appeal: Broken Sword.

It seems to click with a wide range of people (including me).

Point and click adventures make me nauseous.

I faintly remember that I liked http://www.gog.com/game/flight_of_the_amazon_queen quite much back in the day. Since free just grab & try ;)

Otherwise I concur with "The Dig". Very beautiful in atmosphere, story, music, visuals. Its quite a masterpiece & IIRC I only used a hintbook once or twice back then.

My first love overall where the Sierra games (Space Quest). I like the scifi humor; the older ones (1-3) might get a bit harder to get into since lousy EGA graphics & text phrasing instead of point & click.

The Blackwell series is a must with great story (serious) and good puzzles (not too obscure and well designed).
Technobabylon is also good. If you liked Blackwell, chances are you'll like Technobabylon.

A good one to start would be Flight of the Amazon Queen: it is good, is available in multiple languages and is free. It is like an Indiana Jones game (adventure, some humour, nazis). It is easier than the real Indiana Jones games (Fate of Atlantis is a must but is more difficult).

Then he should listen to ME when I recommend this game to him. :P

On a more serious note, try "The Next Big Thing". Awesome game.

If you're finding the puzzles in classic point'n'click adventure games too convoluted (and some of them really are), I suggest you try Loom. You may still need to consult a walkthrough in a few places, but mostly the puzzles are fairly easy. The world is quite alien, but the story is very good.

As for what others have said, I concur with the recommendations of The Dig and Flight of the Amazon Queen, and if you're after something targeted specifically at adults, try out Sanitarium. Mind you, "adult" in this context does not mean "tits and gratuitous violence", but rather "a deep story heavy on psychology, symbolism, metaphors and subconscious imagery".

I love point & clicks. But I didn't for a long time. I played them back in the day, and while I loved some, like Monkey Island, in general I found them very frustrating, with too much pixel hunting, backtracking and nonsensical puzzles. Then for many years I barely played them. I returned to the genre some 4-5 years ago, slowly playing more and more of them, untill they became almost my favourite genre.

If you're anything like me, you should go game by Daedalic. Chains of Satinav/Memora if you like fantasy, Deponia for Monkey Island style comedy, Edna & Harvey for some dark humor. I love their games for their humor and stories, memorable characters, but also great gameplay. The puzzles almost always make perfect sense, and there is no pixel hunting, as you can always highlight every interactive object around.

You may want to star with Dirty Split though. It's fun, FREE (but very high quality, including good voice acting) and on the easy side, good for a newbie.

The important thing is that like any other genre, adventure games reward experience. The more you play, the better you get. I've notice that I'm much better at them now then I was a few years ago, usually I'm able to figure out even the absurd and crazy puzzles. You develop sort of an instinct for it, and learn to operate by the particular logic of the game world. So don't feel bad about using walkthroughs if you're stuck- it's part of the learning process.

Other, non-Daedalic games you might want to look into later:
The Book of Unwritten Tales
Early Telltale gmaes (Tales of the Monkey Island, Sam & Max games, Wallace & Gromit
Ben There, Dan That and it's sequel Time Gentlemen, Please!
Emerald City Confidential (unfortunately it's not on GOG, it's really great)
Sherlock Holmes series (mos of all The Awakened and Jack The Ripper)

Mate I was slurping my diet coke when I reead that and

laughed and it made me snort it out my nose XP

I think that Broken Sword can be a good first introduction to the genre, for example.

Let me tell you about my point and click journey. Years ago I bought a game called Syberia. I had no idea about the game it just looked interesting and was the game of the year or something. I played it and was hooked by the story, the beautiful scenes and the gameplay. I have played many good point and click adventures like The Longest Journey, The Broken Sword series, Monkey Island etc. but they just never measured up to Syberia. I don't know you at all so I can't say what you will like but for me it hooked me to the point that I am now trying to play all the classics and keep up with the new stuff.

PS- still waiting for Syberia 3!!