The rebirth of a genre

Point and click games are slowly returning, mainly because gamers are becoming more sophisticated, researchers say that the average age of a gamer is now 35. Today, they want games with a rich and in-depth storyline, interesting characters and environments, games that determine their role by the decisions they make, games with replayability and that have additional content.

A lot of people at one point felt that this genre was dead and thought there was no way that any company could turn a profit with this type of game anymore.

With the current trend in games, we have seen the return of the point and click adventure genre. In 2007, Telltale Games decided to revive the Sam & Max franchise in a new episodic adventure now called Sam & Max Season 1. Recently, that same company brought back the Monkey Island franchise with The Tales of Monkey Island, Sam & Max Season 2 among others. In addition, LucasArts released an updated version of the original, The Secret of Monkey Island. If you have played Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Funcom is planning to continue the series with Dreamfall Chapters.

Game Accessibility

Point and click games are accessible to many types of disabilities including physical impairments, hearing impairments and color-blindness. What has always made these games so accessible to disabled gamers is that they can be played entirely by mouse, they are always text based, and if they are fully voiced, they have Closed Captioning.  The colors of the text in most games are usually distinguishable but be careful when choosing a game.

Often, these games can be played at your own pace but on occasion, you must do a puzzle with perfect timing.

A fad or hear to stay?

Is this trend just a fad? On the other hand, are gamers looking to this genre because they want to return to something that has had a big influence on story-driven games?

Either way, these games seem to be back for another run. I believe it is because the old school gamers want them back and the younger gamers are realizing that they are fun, at times funny and intriguing, they have great stories, the puzzles make it just difficult enough and in the end, and they usually leave you wanting more.

If you think about it these types of games have never truly died and I personally do not foresee them going anywhere for a long time. So, you tell me, fad or hear to stay?

Comments (4)

miri weaver

August 20, 2009

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Thanks for the article. Adventure games are by far one of my favorites, and I think one of the most accessible types of games, too. I would love it if they were here to stay! Developers can do so much with the genre rather than being ruled by it.

Michelle Hinn

August 23, 2009

Votes: +0

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great article!!!!

Aaron Baker

August 23, 2009

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I think they're here to stay, especially the ones that aren't fully text based.

I hope they bring back Space Quest & King's quest. Even though at times I had to use the hint books, I loved those games!

This was an excellent article!

SarahG

August 24, 2009

Votes: +1

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http://www.bigbluecup.com/games.php
Here you go - hours of free fun!

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