Recommend me some point-and-click adventure games!

[Juste Goose]

I've never played any point-and-click adventure games. They're a little before my time; I didn't start "gaming" until the very late 90's/early 2000's.

Recently, I watched Leisure Suit Larry and Space Quest IV on Steam Train, and they looked like a hoot and a half. I'd like to give the genre a go, but I don't know where to begin.

So, what do you guys recommend I start with? I'd prefer something that isn't too serious, and not impossible to figure out. Bonus points if it's less than $10.

 

[aozgolo]

A good introduction, look for King's Quest 1, 2, and 3, they have been fairly recently remade by a company called AGD Interactive and are all completely FREE with full on voice acting, amazing puzzles, and a great lot of fun to get into.

Not all adventure games you can fail in, a lot of the difficulty is figuring out the puzzles but you aren't punished any for not figuring them out. You can however DIE in King's Quest, and die a lot you will.

As for humorous games, try to find the Discworld Games, Discworld and Discworld II Mortality Bytes are very funny and very fun games with loads of humor, great puzzles and amazing characters.

You can also pick up the Secret of Monkey Island games on Steam for very cheap as well.

Hope this helps, if you have a more specific genre (setting) you would like let us know and we can tailor it more to your liking.

 

[Exhuminator]

I'd prefer something that isn't too serious, and not impossible to figure out.

Well the first three Secret Of Monkey Island games are a must. You can get them various places. I guess Steam is good as any. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkey_Island_%28series%29

Also...

http://www.gog.com/game/deponia
http://www.gog.com/game/deponia_2_chaos_on_deponia
I think you would enjoy the Deponia games.

Also...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Throttle_%281995_video_game%29
Full Throttle is very fun, easy to figure out, and short.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grim_Fandango
Grim Fandango is hilarious and not too serious.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loom_%28video_game%29
Loom is very fun, easy to play, and quite innovative even today.

GOG has quite a few adventure games BTW:
http://www.gog.com/games/adventure

A good site for more research:

http://www.adventuregamers.com/

 

[Weaver]

Give Ceville a try! No one played it and I really liked it.

 

[porous_shield]

I'd put some point and click games on a wishlist and wait for a sale at GoG, Steam, or Gamersgate and you'll end up with a boatload of games when their next sale comes along.

Old Sierra point and click games can be very sadistic. You can die easily or end up redoing large parts of the game because you missed and item or screwed up something in an earlier section. With that being said, the Sierra games are still great fun to play. Space Quest 1 you can play http://sarien.net/spacequest for free and I recommend the rest of the games in the series easily. The Quest for Glory games are great too. They have some rpg trappings but are still very much point and click games.

The Longest Journey and its sequel, Syberia 1 and 2, Gray Matter, and the Circle of Blood (sometimes called Broken Sword) series.

 

[Paulo Belato]

I'd also like to add Time Gentlemen, Please! and Ben There, Dan That! (link [http://store.steampowered.com/app/37400/?snr=1_7_15__13]). The graphics might be a detriment for some, but the story is very comedy focused and nonsensical; and the game is very self aware of being an adventure game. Both games come in a $4 bundle, I believe.

(On side note, these games are from the same responsible for Gun Monkey and The Swindle)

 

[Maximum Bert]

I am not a huge fan of the genre but I have had great fun with The Longest Journey and Dreamfall also the Syberia series was well worth the time I put into it.

The first two monkey island games are also good and can be pretty funny but I dont think they are as good as the above two even if the writing is pretty good.

 

[bluepotatosack]

The Gabriel Knight series. I still think the first one is the best, though. So, I'd start there.

Fantasticly written and researched. Tim Curry voices the main character! Also Mark Hamill is in it. The entire series is up on gog.

Annnnd I'm going to second Grim Fandango, Full Throttle, Loom, The Longest Journey, the Monkey Island games, Indiana Jones and the Secret of Atlantis, and Deponia.

Never actually played the Quest games...

 

[Rack]

Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition and it's sequel are a great mix of classic gameplay updated to modern convenience.

I'm not even going to suggest anything beyond those, depending on whether you can cope with the pixel hunting or not I'd suggest something different.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

Wadjet Eye's stuff is pretty fantastic. The Blackwell series is what really got me into point 'n' click adventures, but Gemini Rue is often considered their best. Resonance is probably better in the puzzle department, though (whilst still having a very good plot).

Broken Sword might be one of the most beautiful games ever made, with fun puzzles, a good plot and some hilarious dialogue.

 

[EyeReaper]

Well, my personal favorites are the Quest For Glory games. They're a hybrid adventure rpg, made by sierra, with a subtly different playthrough depending on which class you choose. you can get a free remake of the second game here: http://www.agdinteractive.com/games/qfg2/homepage/homepage.html
but i would recommend buying the entire series on GoG, because then you can take the hero used in QfG1 and import him to 2,3,4 etc., Mass Effect Style

 

[Blunderboy]

Definitely going to have to second Grim Fandango. Such an awesome game.

 

[unindexedsearchengine]

The lack of Broken Sword in this thread is greatly disturbing...

Seriously, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars is the most beautiful game. It has wonderful music, the voice acting is phenomenal, and the story is one of the best in the whole industry. It's gameplay is basic point and click, and while there is the occasional pixel-hunt and illogical puzzle, it generally avoids all stereotypical point and click issues. The story pulls you in immediately.
Just make sure you avoid the new director's cut versions. They cut out quite a bit of random clickable stuff, and you'd miss the unabridged beauty of the originals.

I'm telling you, if you want a good point and click game, look no further.

(NOTE: the praising content of this post refers only Broken Sword : Shadow of the Templars and Broken Sword 2 : The Smoking Mirror. BS 3 & 4 did not happen. period.)

 

[Mortons4ck]

My first foray into adventure games was with Emerald City Confidential by Wadjet Eye.
[link]http://store.steampowered.com/app/37260/[/link]
The puzzles aren't too hard and the story tends a bit towards the serious (well, as serious a Noir re-imagining of the Wizard of can be).

I recommend the aforementioned ECC and LOOM from LucasArts, if you're just starting. The DIG is pretty fun as well, if a bit more intermediate.

 

[briankoontz]

You should try Myst. There was nothing like it when it came out and it's been quite influential, though just for indies.

 

[Jynthor]

Noticing a distinct lack of Broken Sword 1 and 2.
Very fun games with fantastic characters, nice nostalgic sprites and more!

 

[metaphyzxx]

I think Kings Quest VI was my first point and click, and loved it. If you can deal with the age of the property, Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle show you how the genre is supposed to be done. I also had a lot of fun with a game called Noctropolis. It's about a comic-book geek who got sucked into a "Gotham-esque" world as the hero "Darkshear". It was AWESOME!

 

[busterkeatonrules]

Any of the Sam & Max - games, both the original one from LucasArts and the newer ones from Telltale Games. The Telltale Games ones are more accessible, though. Less of that dreaded moon-logic associated with the genre!