The Zen of the Point-and-Click

An Artistic Representation of the Current State of Adventure Games

Playing StoneKeep all day this week felt like getting knocked down twice in Punch-out; violently mashing A+B to get up damn well knowing its a lost cause. To try and redeem some essence of my childhood, I revisited a realm of video games long forgotten; point and click adventure gaming. A genre that can only be defined as an animated puzzle novel these light-hearted games were known for their stories and often memorable characters.

Anyone privy to these types of games knew there were two developing titans Sierra and LucasArts continually battling it out for glory. Though King's Quest had an amazing run (friggen eight titles), the quirky charm of Sam & Max, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle and Grim Fandango make them not only timeless pieces but unforgettable classic to many.

I'm sure I found this both odd and irresistible at the age of 10...thanks Sierra

The point and click genre represents a time where puzzle solving and, at times, creative thinking won out over skill and button mashing. It was more about the story and trying to think your way through ridiculous obstacles. Bloody months full of naive curse words like "Butter Nuts" and "Butt Licker" were common when you were stuck with escaping a futuristic laser prison armed with only a hamster. Answer: take hamster out of inventory and click on everything.

With today's fast paced games of quick decision making and smart (yet still stupid) AI, I have a hard time imagining room for this genre among modern gamers. Of course they still live on with modern versions of Sam & Max and Curse of Monkey Island. HELL, TellTale games which is pretty much composed of many old LucasArts employees just came out with a Back to the Future adventure game ("Heavy Stuff"). It is a little discerning when all of these games can probably be beat in under five hours with a keyboard, mouse and gamefaqs.com. The personal reward of figuring out how to get Hoagie back from the past in Day of the Tentacle is a personal achievement I seldom compare.

This pic pretty much says it all...

In the end, if you're looking for something to pick up and put down and pick up again these games are diamonds in the rough; a charming and rewarding gaming experience.

If you want to know what its like to beg for mercy during a slow and painful death, play Interplay's Stonekeep.