Current Articles

The Mystery of the Mummy

The Mystery of the Mummy retro

Frogwares is arguably among the most recognized independent adventure game developer, best known for its now long-running Sherlock Holmes series. While a number of adventure games have also been previously released based on Arthur Conan Doyle's seminal character, Frogwares' series has been widely regarded by critics to be the most successful adaptation to date. The Mystery of the Mummy, later…

review  Posted by Jenny Rouse.
Detective Case and Clown Bot in Murder in the Hotel Lisbon

Detective Case and Clown Bot in Murder in the Hotel Lisbon retro

As a subgenre of crime fiction, detective murder mystery stories have been serving as plotlines for many novels, movies, and television shows. These stories have occasionally appeared also in adventure games. When an indie game developer from Portugal decides to tackle this subgenre on its own terms—by adding to it elements of wacky humor, infusing it with tributes to classic graphic adventure…

review  Posted by Patrick Talbot.
Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murdered: Soul Suspect

Murder: Soul Suspect originated as only a game concept for a supernatural thriller from Japanese publisher Square Enix. Wanting to expand with greater appeal to the western game market, the publisher approached American developer Airtight Games (who past credits included the puzzle adventure game Quantum Conundrum) to help to develop this concept into a full-fledged action adventure title. While…

review  Posted by Mervyn Graham.
Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Episode 3: The Oracle

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller - Episode 3: The Oracle retro

There is an intangible compelling quality about a good detective novel—it simply transcend time. Similarly, many classic detective mystery games are remembered because of their great storylines. Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller, from indie developer Phoenix Online Studios in collaboration with veteran game designer Jane Jensen, is another example of a great adventure mystery game because of its…

review  Posted by Gustavo Calvo-Simmons.
Secret Files: Sam Peters

Secret Files: Sam Peters retro

Secret Files: Sam Peters is the fourth game in the Secret Files series from Animation Arts (developer of Lost Horizon). However, this game does not feature Nina Kalenkov or Max Gruber who are the main protagonists from previous games in the series. Rather, it is a spin-off to Secret Files 2: Puritas Cordis, the sequel to Secret Files: Tunguska, and turns a minor character Sam (or Samantha)…

review  Posted by Peter Rootham-Smith.

Past Favorites

Adventure game puzzles: unlocking the secrets of puzzle design

Adventure game puzzles: unlocking the secrets of puzzle design

For a lot of games, you can figure out most of what you need to know about them from simply looking at an in-game screenshot or watching a gameplay trailer. With a quick glance at the head-up display and the quality of the graphics, you can get a good sense of what kind of monster killing mayhem you will be engaging in and what kind of experience you will likely get from playing the game.…

feature  Posted by Mark Newheiser.
The rise and fall of Full Throttle: a conversation with Bill Tiller

The rise and fall of Full Throttle: a conversation with Bill Tiller

Playing Full Throttle is like tasting a rich bowl of roadhouse chili filled to the rim with biker gangs, chick mechanics (covered in engine grease too), and truckers with badass tattoos. An action packed, comical (albeit short), animated graphical adventure set in the backdrop of an apocalyptic future, Full Throttle touches on the subculture of motorcycle gangs and their steel horses. It is also…

feature  Posted by Marshall Ratliff, Philip Jong.
Roberta Williams

Roberta Williams

No adventure game designer had ever achieved the level of success as Roberta Heuer Williams (Roberta Williams) had. Born in 1953, she and her husband Ken Williams co-founded On-Line Systems, which later became Sierra On-Line, when she was only 26. Mystery House, which she wrote in 1979, was the first graphic adventure game ever created for the PC. Her portfolio of games, spanning over nearly 20…

interview  Posted by Philip Jong.

Random Picks

Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail

Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail retro

In the game Monty Python & the Quest for the Holy Grail, your goal is quite obvious—collect the Holy Grail! There are a couple of ways to accomplish this task. You can either select the "Collect the Grail" option from the first screen and the game is over immediately or you can choose to go for it and find your way through a whole bunch of Monty Python silliness. I guess the latter choice should…

review  Posted by Erik Gos.