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General discussion (archive)Top 100 Adventure Games of All Time(63 posts)(63 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted July 25, 2011
Alright GOGers, everyone loves a top list...don't they?!

I've put in the hard yards and created a list of 100 PC adventure games that I think might make the cut. Now I need your help to fine-tune it and I need your help! I’m sure there are games I’ve forgotten and others I’ve included that people might totally disagree with. Let’s discuss!

Before commenting, please understand the following information:
1. The list only contains purely adventure games. So no action adventure games! If you're not sure whether a game is adventure or action adventure, go to www.gamerankings.com and look it up.
2. This is not necessarily the best 100 adventure games. It's the ones you should play to have a really good understanding of what the genre has to offer. That means two things really. Firstly, games like Zork might not be the amazing today, but they're hugely important and deserve their place in the list. Secondly, I've included some sequels that possible wouldn't have made it had they not been part of an otherwise awesome series. Space Quest II might not be all that amazing, but the rest in the series are. It just wouldn't seem right to play through the whole series but leave out game 2.

Let the discussion begin:

1981 Zork: The Great Underground Empire (on GOG)
1982 Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz (on GOG)
1983 Zork III: The Dungeon Master (on GOG)
1984 King's Quest (on GOG)
1984 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
1985 A Mind Forever Voyaging
1985 King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne (on GOG)
1986 King's Quest III: To Heir is Human (on GOG)
1986 Space Quest: Chapter I - The Sarien Encounter (on GOG)
1987 Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards
1987 Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (on GOG)
1987 Space Quest II: Chapter II - Vohaul's Revenge (on GOG)
1988 King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella (on GOG)
1988 Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (In Several Wrong Places)
1988 Maniac Mansion
1988 Police Quest 2: The Vengeance (on GOG)
1988 Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
1989 Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure
1989 Leisure Suit Larry III: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals
1989 Quest For Glory I: So You Want To Be A Hero
1989 Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon (on GOG)
1989 The Colonel's Bequest
1990 Conquests of Camelot: The Search for the Grail
1990 King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder! (on GOG)
1990 Loom
1990 Quest for Glory II: Trial by Fire
1990 Rise of the Dragon
1990 The Secret of Monkey Island
1991 Conquests of the Longbow: The Legend of Robin Hood
1991 Leisure Suit Larry 5: Passionate Patti Does a Little Undercover Work
1991 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
1991 Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (on GOG)
1991 The Adventures of Willy Beamish
1992 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
1992 King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (on GOG)
1992 Quest for Glory III: Wages of War
1992 The Dagger of Amon-Ra
1992 The Legend of Kyrandia
1992 The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Serrated Scalpel
1993 Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
1993 Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
1993 Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (on GOG)
1993 Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
1993 Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
1993 Myst (on GOG)
1993 Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness
1993 Sam & Max Hit the Road
1993 Simon the Sorcerer (on GOG)
1993 Space Quest V: The Next Mutation (on GOG)
1993 The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
1994 Beneath a Steel Sky (on GOG)
1994 Death Gate
1994 The Legend of Kyrandia: Malcolm's Revenge
1994 Under a Killing Moon (on GOG)
1995 Discworld
1995 Full Throttle
1995 I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream
1995 Ripley's Believe It or Not!: The Riddle of Master Lu
1995 Simon the Sorcerer II: The Lion, the Wizard and the Wardrobe (on GOG)
1995 Space Quest 6: Roger Wilco in the Spinal Frontier (on GOG)
1995 The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (on GOG)
1995 The Dig
1996 Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars (on GOG)
1996 Discworld II: Mortality Bytes!
1996 Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail!
1996 The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The Case of the Rose Tattoo
1996 The Neverhood
1996 The Pandora Directive (on GOG)
1996 Toonstruck
1996 Zork Nemesis: The Forbidden Lands (on GOG)
1997 Blade Runner
1997 Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror (on GOG)
1997 Riven: The Sequel to Myst (on GOG)
1997 Tex Murphy: Overseer (on GOG)
1997 The Curse of Monkey Island
1997 The Last Express (on GOG)
1997 Zork: Grand Inquisitor (on GOG)
1998 Grim Fandango
1998 Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire
1998 Sanitarium (on GOG)
1999 Discworld Noir
1999 Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (on GOG)
1999 The Longest Journey (on GOG)
2000 Escape from Monkey Island
2001 Myst III: Exile
2001 Runaway: A Road Adventure (on GOG)
2002 Syberia (on GOG)
2003 Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon (on GOG)
2004 Myst IV: Revelation
2004 Syberia II (on GOG)
2005 Indigo Prophecy
2005 Myst V: End of Ages
2005 Still Life (on GOG)
2006 Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
2007 Sam & Max: Season One
2008 Sam & Max: Season Two
2009 Machinarium
2009 Tales of Monkey Island
2010 Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse
2011 Gemini Rue
Post edited July 26, 2011 by tricksterben
Posted July 25, 2011
Nice list. Sadly, I've only played two of the games on the list, (The longest Journey, Beneath a Steel Sky), I've been meaning to try a lot of those.
Post edited July 25, 2011 by swizzle66
Posted July 25, 2011
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swizzle66: Nice list. Sadly, I've only played two of the games on the list, (The longest Journey, Beneath a Steel Sky), I've been meaning to try a lot of those.
Plenty of great gaming to be had!

By the way, I haven't played them all either. Some of them I've included on reputation alone. I reckon I've played about 75% of them though. :)
Posted July 25, 2011
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors should be in that list.
Posted July 25, 2011
sweet list, i think i have played almost all the games in that list :D except for three sam & max: season one, two and Gemini rue
Posted July 25, 2011
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SpirlaStairs: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors should be in that list.
Neither of those games are available on the PC. If I wasn't clear earlier, this is a list of the Top 100 Adventure Games of All Time on PC! Sorry SpirlaStairs.
Posted July 25, 2011
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SpirlaStairs: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective and Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors should be in that list.
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tricksterben: Neither of those games are available on the PC. If I wasn't clear earlier, this is a list of the Top 100 Adventure Games of All Time on PC! Sorry SpirlaStairs.
Hmm... I should probably read the whole post next time >__>
Posted July 26, 2011
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liquidsnakehpks: sweet list, i think i have played almost all the games in that list :D except for three sam & max: season one, two and Gemini rue
Then you're a perfect candidate to give an opinion on whether there's anything missing. :) Is DreamWeb really any good (seen conflicting reviews)? Do any other Infocom games deserve a place? Are there any other games since the year 2000 that deserve a lookin? Should BioForge really be considered an adventure game? (I remember it being quite action based).
Posted July 26, 2011
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liquidsnakehpks: sweet list, i think i have played almost all the games in that list :D except for three sam & max: season one, two and Gemini rue
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tricksterben: Then you're a perfect candidate to give an opinion on whether there's anything missing. :) Is DreamWeb really any good (seen conflicting reviews)? Do any other Infocom games deserve a place? Are there any other games since the year 2000 that deserve a lookin? Should BioForge really be considered an adventure game? (I remember it being quite action based).
the advenuture games released after 2000 are always challenged,will look around and see
Posted July 26, 2011
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tricksterben: Are there any other games since the year 2000 that deserve a lookin? Should BioForge really be considered an adventure game? (I remember it being quite action based).
Not too many great adventure games came out in the 2000s as far as I can recall. Even a few of the ones on that list I didn't find to be anything special, yet I can't think of any other 'recent' games I'd rather replace them with.

Also, a couple of them are pretty action-y, like Twinsen's Odyssey for example. I personally wouldn't call it a 'pure' adventure game.
Posted July 26, 2011
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tricksterben: Are there any other games since the year 2000 that deserve a lookin? Should BioForge really be considered an adventure game? (I remember it being quite action based).
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GoJays2025: Not too many great adventure games came out in the 2000s as far as I can recall. Even a few of the ones on that list I didn't find to be anything special, yet I can't think of any other 'recent' games I'd rather replace them with.

Also, a couple of them are pretty action-y, like Twinsen's Odyssey for example. I personally wouldn't call it a 'pure' adventure game.
I agree with you, but I decided to go with whatever Game Rankings has to say as opposed to using my own subjective opinion. Twinsen's Odyssey is listed there as Adventure - General, so that's that.

As for games from the 2000s, I think Syberia I &II and Dreamfall deserve to be there personally, but I agree that some of the others are not exactly screaming for inclusion. Anyone played the Black Mirror games or the Secret Files games? I've got very conflicting opinions on most games from the last few years, those included. It seems it's popular to hate on adventure games these days.
Posted July 26, 2011
Is it the best the genre has to offer, or the longest running series? If the latter is the case, the list is missing 27 or so titles about Nancy Drew ;)

No Level 9 Computing's "The Worm in Paradise" (you can take jobs and sell own organs for money)? Or their Gnome Ranger with puzzles based on giving orders to NPCs? Or Infocom's Border Zone (first puzzle "clean up before the officers enter the compartment" later replicated in The Last Express). Or Magnetic Scrolls' Corruption (again, a plot developing on its own). Or The Sentient for that matter.
Posted July 26, 2011
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tricksterben: As for games from the 2000s, I think Syberia I &II and Dreamfall deserve to be there personally, but I agree that some of the others are not exactly screaming for inclusion. Anyone played the Black Mirror games or the Secret Files games? I've got very conflicting opinions on most games from the last few years, those included. It seems it's popular to hate on adventure games these days.
Played Black Mirror 1, not good, especially the pacing. I've heard the 2nd and 3rd are much better though so I'll try those at some point. The Secret Files games were more enjoyable, but there wasn't anything great about them either. Haven't played Lost Horizon, but plan to.

Gemini Rue was definitely the best adventure game I've played in years though. I also recently just played The Whispered World, which would have been worthy of the list if it didn't mess up the most important aspect of adventure games - the puzzles. Many were illogical and pretty frustrating.

And grviper's right, the Nancy Drew games are actually pretty good. I've only played one so far, but I'd definitely play more if I can get my hands on them. Also, Pepper's Adventures in Time! It actually did its job and taught me a lot of stuff (this was when I was like 12) while being a genuinely fun game to play. It was also responsible for my love of adventure games.
Posted July 26, 2011
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grviper: Is it the best the genre has to offer, or the longest running series? If the latter is the case, the list is missing 27 or so titles about Nancy Drew ;)

No Level 9 Computing's "The Worm in Paradise" (you can take jobs and sell own organs for money)? Or their Gnome Ranger with puzzles based on giving orders to NPCs? Or Infocom's Border Zone (first puzzle "clean up before the officers enter the compartment" later replicated in The Last Express). Or Magnetic Scrolls' Corruption (again, a plot developing on its own). Or The Sentient for that matter.
Haha...yeah, if I'd included the Nancy Drew series that would have been over a quarter of the list. Thankfully I'm unaware of any of those games demanding entry despite being a popular and more than adequate series for teenage girls.

I can't find much on The Worm in Paradise or The Sentient to be honest. Border Zone doesn't seem to be one of the more popular Infocom games from what I can see. Corruption does indeed look interesting so I'll have to check that one out some time. :) These are all fairly underground titles though. Should they objectively be in a list like this?
Post edited July 26, 2011 by tricksterben
Posted July 26, 2011
I can't find much on The Worm in Paradise or The Sentient to be honest.
WiP reiews http://www.worldofspectrum.org/infoseekid.cgi?id=0007201

Sentient (forget The) http://www.mobygames.com/game/sentient
It's bad in many ways, but the whole real time "space station falling to its doom, while mutiny is about to happen" thing is quite unique. Multiple endings too, look up a walkthrough.
Border Zone doesn't seem to be one of the more popular Infocom games from what I can see.
It's the only one of theirs that had a world timer still going while you were typing or thinking what to do next.
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Community
General discussion (archive)Top 100 Adventure Games of All Time(63 posts)(63 posts)
(63 posts)