Monday 2 December 2019

The Year That Was... 1992

By The TAG Team




Luckily they didn’t convert this movie into an adventure game

Licensed adventure games have appeared from time to time, but this year their number was considerable. We had games based on books (Gateway and Dune, which might also be based on a movie), games based on TV series (Star Trek: 25th Anniversary, Inspector Gadget and L.A. Law Game), games based on contemporary movies (Hook and Batman Returns) and games with main characters lifted from other media (Fate of Atlantis, The Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes and Consulting Detective II, which is also an adaptation of a board game). The usual story is that licensed games are just a way to sell garbage to suckers, but despite the few stinkers in the mix, some of these licensed games were quite good in their own right.

Let’s talk about numbers then. I think for the first time, most of the games we played scored around forties, where you’d pretty much expect most of them to be - vast majority of the games were not awesome, but not that bad either, having some good qualities and some things that needed fixing. The score given to largest number of games this year was 45 (with four games scoring that exact number), which was pretty close to mean (48.79) and median scores (47).

While most of the games in 1992 were pretty average, plenty of the games certainly weren’t typical adventures. We had several games with CRPG elements (Koshan Conspiracy, Quest for Glory remake and Quest for Glory 3), games where combat was at least as important as clever inventory management (Inca, Waxworks and Alone in the Dark), puzzle games (Island of Dr. Brain, and to some extent, Gobliiins) and even adventure-strategy hybrids (Dune and Rome). The results of combining extraneous elements to an adventurish core were somewhat mixed, Quest for Glory 3 being most successful of the lot, while in worst cases hybrids meant just combining two inadequate games into a monster that almost no one would like to play.

The appearance of so many hybrids is just one example of diversification of adventure game business. Not anymore can we speak of Sierra as a synonym for adventure gaming, as their products form a minority of all the games we played this year. An interesting trend is the proliferation of European adventure game designers. Coktel Vision is responsible for a bulk, but they are certainly not the only French adventure game designers anymore. Indeed, we’ve also met our first Italian adventure game (Nippon Safes). Notably we also have our first European adventure game in the Top 10 list (KGB).

Since it’s the end of the year, we will pick some examples of games we've played for special awards. But first, let's cash out the prizes for the Full House Awards.

Full House




The last Straight of the year was won with a perfect guess by Laukku, which means he will get the full 10 CAPs reward. No one figured out the exact order of Top 5 games of 1992, so half the prize (5 CAPs) will go also to Laukku, who was clever enough to have the closest guess. And to top it all, Laukku was even the closest guesser in Bottom 5 of 1992, receiving again half the prize (5 CAPs).

Laukku's othewise perfect winning streak breaks with Full House. No one managed to guess the exact order of all the games of 1992, but the closest guess for Full House came from Charles, who ironically thought at first he had no idea what the correct order would be. Charles receives half the prize of Full House award (39 CAPs).

Now, it’s again time to award the games with the best and the worst qualities. Majority of the awards have been decided by our group of reviewers, but readers have also had a chance of voting for their favourite.

Reader's Choices


Let’s start with the best Missed Classic this time. Anyone who has played the game probably won’t be surprised. Yes, the winner is Infocom’s innovative text adventure, A Mind Forever Voyaging, with 20 % of all the votes!


Serious game of serious issues

The best game of 1992, as chosen by our readers was, with 50 % of all votes... well, you all guessed it, Fate of Atlantis.


The reward ceremony is just beginning

Let's move on to the awards chosen by our regular reviewers!


Charles Darwin Award
For the Most Evolutionary Game of 1992



5th place - Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: This is a more than competently-produced game by a first time developer. While they didn't innovate much, they took what LucasArts and others were doing and proved that they could do it just as well. The journal is an excellent addition to the genre. The game also had a great mix of in-engine work with cutscenes.

4th place - Putt-Putt Joins the Parade: It was the beginning of one of the first successful children's adventure game series, spawning a number of sequels and making children all around the world learn the wonders of adventuring. It's still a rough beginning, but rumor says the series will get better.

3rd place - Fate of Atlantis: Multiple paths that we raved about were a great development and would have been excellent if other games followed suit, though we know why they didn't - a lot of cost for the benefit of a few customers .

2nd place - Lure of Temptress: Both the Virtual Theater mechanic, and the ability to give commands to AI-controlled NPCs were embryonic ideas that would soon become standard in adventure and RPGs. Interesting, even if half-baked, but there was something even more revolutionary around the corner.

Winner - Alone in the Dark: What other choice we could have for the title of the most evolutionary game? Alone in the Dark pioneered the use of 3D models for characters, items and monsters, and spawned a genre of its own.


No it isn't! We still have awards to go

Lament Configuration Award
For the Most Ridiculous Puzzle of 1992



6th place - Chain of keys (Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes): Some of the puzzle chains in the game were a bit contrived. We had to find a claim ticket, to get a box out of a pawn shop, which contained a key to a desk, which contained a key to a lockbox. That just feels excessive, especially as it seems dangerous to hide a key in a pawn shop item and, if you were to do that, why wouldn't you hide the key to the lockbox instead of the desk? And if it was a mistake that the key was in the box of tarot cards, then we only solved the game because of an excessively contrived coincidence. (Not the only one by far. Remember the key to the room you were in locked in a safe that was mistakenly left unlocked? That was fun...)

5th place - Winning wet T-shirt contest (Spellcasting 301): In order to win a wet t-shirt contest, you have to get some suction cup-covered gloves from Batman and give them to a wrestler so she can win a mud pool fight, which convinces her to participate in the contest in spite of her being flat as a table. Then you have to give some dehydrated falsies to another girl and UPPSSY the wrestler... It is the gloves part the one that we find more infuriating.

4th place - Getting rid of liquour (Lure of Temptress): Having to give the flask of liquor to Luthern in order to empty the flask so Diermot could get the wizard's transformation potion instead of just . . . .dumping it out was stupid.

3rd place - Getting on boat (Amazon): We are trying to pay for a trip on The Amazon Queen:
  1. The captain asks what we'll give him.
  2. He never tells us what he wants
  3. There's no indication we need two things until we offer him one of the things he wants
  4. Both things we need are easily missed (and we indeed missed both of them)
  5. Even if we knew we needed cigarettes, opening a random  truck door is nowhere near the first place we'd look for them
  6. Most vehicles are a single clickable item, but that specific truck contains the second hotspot of the truck door
  7. If we knew we'd also need a nugget of gold the presumably lowly-paid serving boy is the last place we'd expect to get it from.
  8. We should have still had a few thousand dollars in US currency anyway, but it wasn't in our inventory any more, just because.
  9. The captain is planning to sell Maya as a slave anyway so why's he so damn keen not to let us on the boat - he'd lose her as a slave if we weren't stuck in an adventure game dead-end. If we offered him everything we had and it wasn't enough he should have told us he'd let us on for the price of a used jerrycan anyway just so he has a slave to sell
  10. A gold nugget AND a packet of cigarettes - is that the standard price for a trip partway up the river? - how does he get any business at all?
2nd place - Recovering second leaflet (Bargon Attack): As it was noted on the first post, the bar riddle to recover the second leaflet is incredible  (play the pool three times so one of the balls is sent flying in the bull head on the wall, so it drops a key on the ground. Use the key to open the trophy cabinet, then search every cup for ANOTHER key then use this one to open the office, where you find a switch that turns on the electric fan, which blows one of the papers on top of the cabinet to the ground…) It's not particularly hard considering most of the answer consists in randomly clicking on stuff until something happens, but it's aggravating in the sense that all of this leads to recover a leaflet from above a furniture and there is no less than three chairs around it... At least it's way more entertaining than the rest of the game, and still not the most ridiculous puzzle.

Winner - Blutack puzzle (Curse of Enchantia): And the award for the most ridiculous puzzle in 1992 goes to ... wearing blutack on your head to capture a rock... enough said.


If only they had told us it's blutack

Captain Marvel is a Woman Award
For the Most Memorable Moment of 1992



6th place - Virtual reality (Gateway): Our favorite moment is at the end when the message from the AI reveals that the PC hasn't returned to Gateway after all. You break the VR again and think you've won, and then the rug gets pulled out from under you. It's a great twist.

5th place - Simbani initiation rite (QFG 3): With multiple ways to complete the tasks, and some portions which rely on the player's skill, it's a memorable culmination of several things the Hero has done before, thrown in with some drama in that he's competing against one of his friends, Yesufu.

4th and 3rd places (tied):

Alien in head (Dark Seed): The first nightmare with the alien embryo being placed in Mike’s head is pretty memorable indeed. It’s a pretty well-known image and quite traumatic. The music adds only to the uneasiness of the scene.

Beginning of Alone in the Dark: The most memorable moment is right at the start, the attic room. It is well-lit, but immediately surrounds you with danger and there's plenty of things to find. The initial feeling of being able to block out those monsters makes you wonder how much more interacting with 3D objects you'll get to do, but unfortunately it is few and far between after that point.

2nd place - Laughing gas (Star Trek): Kirk and McCoy are trying to create a vaccine for the Romulan plague and accidentally gasses themselves with laughing gas. (And later, you can douse Spock with a Vulcan equivalent.) They proceed to spend the remainder of the episode laughing their heads off, telling jokes, singing songs, and behaving completely out of character in ways that are hilarious. Fantastic writing in this section, especially as you don't even need to ever see this segment if you never release the gasses into the air by mistake. But this is still not the most memorable moment.

Winner - Meeting Malcolm (Kyrandia): The greatest moment of the year 1992 was the first encounter with Malcolm: the dialogue between him and Brandon is great and there is even a bit of interaction (throwing the knife back at him) in what is otherwise a cutscene.


The award is handed out by King Brandon himself!

Needle's Eye Award
For the Most Unsolvable Puzzle of 1992



7th and 6th place (tied):

Ending combat (Star Trek): We remain unable to win. It's an arcade sequence where you face off against three ships (a replica Federation starship with incredible firepower plus two Elasi pirate ships that move fast but have weaker weapons) at once and we die very very quickly. Over and over again, we played this mission. That it was the last segment of the game, in the weakest episode, just makes the unsolvability of this puzzle even worse.

Needing a hat to beg for money (Nippon Safes Inc.): We need to get money for a metro ride. The solution is to present a hat a to a passerby that so far in the game has given no indication of being anything more than background scenery. There's no mouseover text unless you have the exact right item.

5th place - Banishing ghost (Hugo 3): We find banishing the ghost quite troublesome, as the book needed to perform the exorcism is hidden, and nothing in the game tells you that it can be used for that purpose, or that you need a bell and a candle in addition.

4th place - Opening a vault (B.A.T. 2): The final puzzle of the game required the player to solve some sort of logic puzzle to open up a vault. There are no clues what the player should achieve, and due to an invisible timer, every move might end with a game over, which makes even brute forcing the solution an impossibility. Solving the puzzle required a help from a commenter.

3rd place - Cleaning the wall with the cloth to make a button appear (Curse of Enchantia): Nothing makes sense in this puzzle because the items are nondescript.

2nd place - Blutack puzzle (Curse of Enchantia): The most ridiculous puzzle is also quite unsolvable, when you can't even tell it's blutack you should be using. But this wasn't still the most unsolvable puzzle.

Winner - The final chapter of Rome: The game goes out of its way to make the final chapter unsolvable.
  1. It's possible to totally miss the dagger vendor in Chapter 1, and even if you notice him it's easy to dismiss him as the flavour detail of a vendor at the docks while we try to find a way to safety.
  2. Taking the dagger costs all our money and we need money to buy our passage off the doomed city making buying the dagger a clearly stupid decision
  3. If we escaped the city but wanted to replay the first chapter to try different things like buying a dagger, we'd lose our saved game because there's only one.
  4.  In the last two chapters the previous three ways of making money are gone. We can't loot Egyptian villages, we are not allowed to gamble because it's beneath our station and we are not allowed to win a gladiator contest because the Emperor competes at every single contest and can't lose.
  5. The game has made finishing Chapter 4 without 100 extra gold to spare or a dagger a dead-end with no indication it's a dead-end.
  6. The idea of a military commander needing to have bought a cheap dagger back when he was a slave in order to have a murder weapon is absolutely absurd - we even have a slave with a sword in our inventory but can't use his sword!

What Rome needs is a dagger - cutting the game disks in half!

Magic Square Award
For the Best Puzzle of 1992



7th place - Elephant puzzle (Hugo 3): We are very fond of the elephant puzzle. It it is a long chain that involves giving some condiment to the natives to get a blowpipe, escaping the witch doctor hut, making a voodoo doll of him with some clay, capturing a mouse in that same hut and shooting the elephant with the blowpipe at the appropriate time after freeing the mouse in front of him so that the elephant can fall asleep in the middle of the nearby river, blocking the water source and allowing Hugo to cross a waterfall below to the magic garden.

6th place - Mathematical puzzles (Star Trek): We enjoyed the number-based puzzles from the second to last section. Having to convert numbers between bases to better relate to an alien culture was a nice use of a science fiction trope in puzzle form. There are so few good math puzzles in adventure games.

5th place - Tape recorder (KGB): Some of the puzzles pertaining to the tape recorder were pretty good. The one where we are interrogating Chapkin and have to trigger the voice-activated playback to distract him comes to mind. To achieve this, you have to first switch the tape recorder to voice-activated playback, but shortly before this scene, when you're at the hotel, interrogating a prostitute, you'll accidentally trigger the playback, making Rukov switch it to manual playback. This serves to both set up the puzzle and remind you of the voice activation function

4th place - Finding Atlantis with Plato's dialogue (Fate of Atlantis): This set of puzzles required us to read Plato's Lost Dialogue - like telling the boat captain where to go by:
  1. working out/remembering that Thera was the lesser colony
  2. take into account the tenfold error mentioned in a different part of the dialogue
  3. reversing direction because the dialogue is talking about directions from, rather than to, Atlantis.
3rd place - Sense gnomes (KQ6): It was good largely because it had a simple predictable premise which you could link specific inventory items to, even if you found them after finding the gnomes themselves. The only thing keeping it from being amazing is that it's quite easy if you have the right items - their use is really obvious.

2nd place - Virtual reality (Gateway): The whole ending scene in the VR hell was tightly plotted and finely tuned to be just tricky enough without getting too frustrating. Getting the hydra to multiply and explode the scene without killing you is arguably the best puzzle in the game - but not the best puzzle of the year.

Winner - Trottier ghost puzzle (Fate of Atlantis): We had to use the sheet and flashlight from the hotel room and also the mask from Algiers. But the best part of this puzzle was that we can use either the sheet or flashlight or both of them without the mask to get Trottier amusingly telling us to stop being annoying. But despite the best part being the funny comments, each comment gives us a clue that our disguise needs more to make it convincing.


The audience is gasping


Golden Mop Award

For the Most Memorable Character of 1992



4th place - Kirk, Spock and McCoy (Star Trek): The banter between Kirk, McCoy, and Spock was excellent and was true to the tone of the original show.

3rd place - Rolf (Gateway): That crazy old man managed to survive for years by himself on an uninhabited planet and made the best of it by cataloguing the wildlife. Then when the PC shows up, he holds to his ideals even if it means he'll stay stranded on his planet longer. He's a little loopy from all the solitude, but he's got a good attitude and some wonderful one-liners. For instance, after you destroy his raft and nearly go over a waterfall in order to retrieve his cane: "I'll make me another raft in no time. Then we'll do it again."

2nd place - Cast of QFG 3: The writing is great, and even the merchants at the bazaar and the various liontaur guards are unique and well-drawn. Some favorites among the main cast:
  • Rakeesh: The grizzled vet who acts like the hero's mentor
  • Kreesha: The only liontaur magician (save for her and Rakeesh's son Shakra, who lives in Silmaria).
  • Johari: Mercurial leopwardwoman who helps the hero achieve peace
  • Yesufu: Son of the Simbani leader. The hero's friend and rival.
  • Harami: Thief and honorless one turned hero. Saves the hero's bacon at the end.
Winner - Malcolm (Kyrandia): Even the whole cast of QFG 3 cannot beat with this guy! Malcolm is a crazy, mean, devious peace of **** that’s only here to kill, laugh and destroy. He’s very close to Final Fantasy's Kefka and just as memorable. Both are obviously heavily inspired by Batman’s Joker anyway. The first time we see the jester, he blows an innocent squirrel to smithereens and laughs about it. He’s really just a psychotic bastard as we love them. Forget the third episode retcon (he was tricked all along and is mainly innocent), the Malcolm in this game is every inch evil and loves it.


Hey, stop the insults, Brandon!


Boars, Anyone Award
For the Most Memorable Sidekick of 1992
-And Not Necessarily in a Good Sense



5th place - Manu (QFG 3): He's a talking monkey who helps the hero reach the demon-infested Lost City, even though he doesn't want to go. AND he helps at the very end, filling the part of the prophecy when Harami wimps out. Also: he's a talking monkey!

4th place - Brain (Inspector Gadget): He is up there for sidekick of the year: you can play and solve puzzles as him, he rescued Penny from kidnappers like seven times, he is a master of disguise, and best of all has a collar with a built-in cellphone. Also pay attention to how he's usually walking on all-fours when Gadget is around but on two feet when he's not. He's subtle! This is even more impressive if you think that Penny is Gadget's sidekick: that makes Brain a sidekick's sidekick!

3rd place - Ratpouch (Lure of Temptress): The only useful NPC in the game, and the only one who doesn't give Diermot any grief.

2nd place - Watson (Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes): Watson was our sidekick through the adventure, although he had much less to do than you would hope. His crowning moment of awesome at the end isn't even that awesome when you think about it: he stayed behind to try to defuse a bomb and FAILED, only surviving the explosion because he somehow hid in a trapdoor that no one ever saw. Perhaps Watson is an immortal? Even so, there's an even better sidekick to choose.

Winner - Sophia (Fate of Atlantis): She doesn't do a lot when it comes to puzzle solving, but having conversations with a sidekick is fun, even if all she does is comment sarcastically on our not knowing what to do next. We liked the back-and-forth banter of Sophia and Indy making fun of each other and enjoyed having her along for the ride and liked it when we met up with her again after her numerous kidnappings. We also enjoyed noticing that the closer we got to Atlantis the more possessed she appeared to be. In New York she wasn't concerned, but when we were in Crete, Thera or the submarine she was very protective of Nur-Ab-Sal and then got fully possessed in Atlantis' middle ring.


Maybe, but you still deserved the victory

Severed Head Award
For the Worst Game of 1992



6th place - B.A.T. 2: The game's not a complete disaster, and especially the game world is intriguing, as attested by many commenters who remember just moving around the planet, admiring the surroundings. Still, Koshan Conspiracy really fails as a satisfying adventure game, being more of a conglamaration of very non-adventurish minigames.

5th place - Inca: Adventure game parts are OK, but these are so few and short. Instead, majority of the game is spent with repetetive and aggravating simulator and action sequences. To top it all, the progress is made almost impossible, because there is no saving, but only codes used for checkpoints that are too rare.

4th, 3rd and 2nd places (tied):

Hugo 3: We think it is an improvement for the series, but the graphics, the parser and the simplistic puzzles will put it at the bottom compared to other games in the same year. It is simply too old for 1992.

L.A. Law: It barely qualifies as an adventure game, for starters. But its biggest sin is not being fun. The time limit mechanic was poorly implemented, and success at trial boils down to doing myriad things in the exact right sequence. There is an unforgivably slim margin of error, and the only way to figure things out is to replay the cases multiple times until you figure out the sequence. This is not fun, nor is there anything humorous, interesting, optional, or remotely entertaining to keep you playing.

Rome: It's not even primarily an adventure game and is much more frustrating and repetitive than fun.

Winner - Curse of Enchantia: We think there should be a special place in hell reserved for the developers of this game and their own purgatory would be to spend eternity playing their game over and over again with the music cranked up to 11.  Hell, it may just be the worst game of the year… or the decade… just warn the population about this game! The people deserve the right to know!


For once, a review that's on the nose

Atlantean Medallion Award
For the Best Game of 1992



6th place - Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes: The well-polished graphics, story, and setting of this game places it in the top-five of all time (so far). It's a game that's more fun than you think it should be.

5th and 4th places (tied):

KGB: We think the quality of the story and setting, and the virtually flawless interface should put this in the top 5.

Quest for Glory 3: It is a, for the time, technical tour de force that captures the vibe of an old adventure pulp/serial that perfectly blends RPG and adventure game elements. It has a satisfying, logical story, no wacky unsolvable puzzles, fantastic music, great writing and dialogue, and memorable characters.

3rd place - Kings Quest 6:  It does many things well and is a major step forward in the King's Quest series. But it still doesn't hit the excellence of the better Lucasarts games.

2nd place - Gateway: It's only handicapped a little bit by being a hybrid parser game, but it's also a polished game with a dramatic story, good puzzles, and a fun cyberpunk soundtrack. It easily broke the top 10 for the blog when the score was established, so it should also be in the top 5 for the year.

Winner - Fate of Atlantis: We already gave the game our highest score ever.


It would have been a bit embarrassing, if the game hadn't won this award 

***************************************************************************************************************************************************

Those were the TAG awards for 1992! And just like last year, you’ll have a chance to guess the TOP 5 for the next year. If you can state which 5 games will be the best games of 1993, you’ll get 10 CAPs. You won’t have to know the exact ratings the games will get, but you do have to get the exact order of the top five games. If no one pinpoints the exact order, persons with closest guesses will get 5 CAPs as a reward.

You’ll also get to guess the BOTTOM 5. The rules and the prizes are same as in the TOP 5, but you’ll have to guess the five worst games of 1993, in the exact order.

And to top it all, you’ll also have a chance to compete for the FULL HOUSE. Guess the exact order of all the games of 1993. If you get them right, you’ll get the TOP 5 and BOTTOM 5 awards, but also 2 CAPs for each game not in TOP or BOTTOM 5. This year getting FULL HOUSE will thus mean a prize of 90 CAPs. Again, if no one gets the exact order right, persons with the closest guess will receive half of the total prize (45 CAPs).

For ease of reference, here are the games we’ll be playing in 1993, in the order they will be played:
  • Ween: The Prophecy
  • Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
  • The Journeyman Project
  • Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
  • The Legacy: Realm of Terror
  • Eric the Unready
  • Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
  • Veil of Darkness
  • Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
  • Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
  • Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
  • EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
  • Return of the Phantom
  • An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
  • The 7th Guest
  • Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
  • Simon the Sorcerer
  • Blue Force
  • Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
  • Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
  • Dracula Unleashed
  • Gateway II: Homeworld
  • Lost in Time
  • Pepper's Adventures in Time
  • Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
  • The Beverly Hillbillies
  • Sam & Max Hit the Road
  • Black Sect
  • Wayne's World
  • Return to Zork
  • Myst
  • Cosmic Spacehead
  • Companions of Xanth
  • Star Trek: Judgment Rites
  • Bloodnet
  • Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
  • Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
  • Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
  • Innocent Until Caught
  • Isle of the Dead
  • Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
  • Inca II: Nations of Immortality
  • Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
  • The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
  • Curses!
Please make your guesses for TOP 5, BOTTOM 5 and FULL HOUSE in the comments for this post. The guesses should be made before the first two final ratings of the year 1993 are published. The prizes for the winners will be handed out at the end of the year 1993.

By taking part in the FULL HOUSE competition, you’ll also be automatically competing for STRAIGHTS. After a sequence of five games from the main game list has been completed, we’ll look at who has guessed closest the order of those five games. If someone got the exact order, she’ll be awarded 10 CAPs, otherwise, those with closest guesses get 5 CAPs.

Let the contests begin!

43 comments:

  1. Best 5: DOTT, Sam & Max, Gabriel Knight, Simon the sorcerer, Veil of Darkness (from best to worst)
    Worst 5: The beverly hillbillies, Kronolog, The Legacy, Black Sect, Isle of dead (from bad to worst)
    Full house: 1) Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2) Sam & Max Hit the Road
    3) Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    4) Simon the Sorcerer
    5) Veil of Darkness
    6) Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    7) The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    8) Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    9) Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    10) Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    11) Myst
    12) Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    13) Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    14) Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    15) EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    16) Gateway II: Homeworld
    17) Blue Force
    18) The Journeyman Project
    19) Innocent Until Caught
    20) Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    21) The 7th Guest
    22) Eric the Unready
    23) Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    24) Wayne's World
    25) Return to Zork
    26) Lost in Time
    27) Return of the Phantom
    28) Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    29) Ween: The Prophecy
    30) Dracula Unleashed
    31) Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    32) Companions of Xanth
    33) Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    34) Pepper's Adventures in Time
    35) Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    36) Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    37) Cosmic Spacehead
    38) Bloodnet
    39) An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    40) Curses!
    41) The Beverly Hillbillies
    42) Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    43) The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    44) Black Sect
    45) Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ok! That's Graham Nelson's "Curses", right? Modern IF ur-text, must score pretty well...

    Best #1 to #5: Day of the Tentacle, QfG4, Sam & Max, Simon the Sorcerer, Larry 6

    Worst #41 to #45: Inca 2, Kronolog, Bloodnet, Beverly Hillbillies, Isle of the Dead

    Full list:
    1. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2. Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    3. Sam & Max Hit the Road
    4. Simon the Sorcerer
    5. Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    6. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    7. The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    8. Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    9. Eric the Unready
    10. Gateway II: Homeworld
    11. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    12. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    13. The 7th Guest
    14. EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    15. The Journeyman Project
    16. Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    17. Curses!
    18. Myst
    19. Blue Force
    20. Companions of Xanth
    21. Innocent Until Caught
    22. Pepper's Adventures in Time
    23. Lost in Time
    24. Veil of Darkness
    25. Return to Zork
    26. Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    27. Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    28. Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    29. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    30. Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    31. Wayne's World
    32. Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    33. Dracula Unleashed
    34. Return of the Phantom
    35. The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    36. Ween: The Prophecy
    37. An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    38. Black Sect
    39. Cosmic Spacehead
    40. Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    41. Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    42. Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    43. Bloodnet
    44. The Beverly Hillbillies
    45. Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, it's that Curses! Incidentally, Digital Antiquarian just had a post on it: https://www.filfre.net/2019/11/new-tricks-for-an-old-z-machine-part-3-a-renaissance-is-nigh/)

      Delete
    2. It might be interesting comparing the different versions of Curses, just to see which parts were added (and removed? I know of at least one response that's in Release 12, but not in Release 15) when. Five of the eight public releases mentioned in the credits are still available from the IF Archive.

      Though if you're going to play the original release, I would advise saving often. I did, until I ran into a walking dead situation which I'm pretty sure was fixed in later versions. But even before that, the game crashed a couple of times.

      Delete
  3. This is a tough year, a lot of great adventure games this year, and not a lot of out-and-out bad ones. Not a lot of well-known bad ones.
    Also, I want to point out that Dare to Dream's three episodes are intended to be a single full game, not like the Hugo series, but like the more typical three episode shareware game.
    Best:Quest for Glory 4, Maniac Mansion, Freddy Pharkas, Myst, Gabriel Knight (from best to worst)
    Worst:Isle of the Dead, An American Tail, Wayne's World, Beverly Hillbillies, Kronolog (from worst to mediocre)
    Full House:
    1:Quest for Glory 4
    2:Maniac Mansion 2
    3:Freddy Pharkas
    4:Myst
    5:Gabriel Knight
    6:Sam & Max
    7:Leisure Suit Larry 6
    8:Simon the Sorcerer
    9:Return to Zork
    10:Pepper's Adventures in Time
    11:Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    12:Police Quest 4
    13:Curses!
    14:Space Quest V
    15:The Journeyman Project
    16:Eric the Unready
    17:Lost in Time
    18:Putt-Putt
    19:Call of Cthulhu
    20:7th Guest
    21:Innocent Until Caught
    22:Gobliins 2
    23:Blue Force
    24:Black Sect
    25:Dracula Unleashed
    26:EcoQuest 2
    27:Companions of Xanth
    28:Return of the Phantom
    29:Legacy: Realm of Terror
    30:Ween: The Prophecy
    31:Fatty Bear
    32:Dare to Dream
    33:Veil of Darkness
    34:Alone in the Dark 2
    35:Legend of Kyrandia
    36:Bloodnet
    37:Sherlock Holmes
    38:Gateway 2
    39:Cosmic Spacehead
    40:Inca II
    41:Kronolog
    42:Beverly Hillbillies
    43:Wayne's World
    44:An American Tail
    45:Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, Dare to Dream 1-3 is one big sequence, but Mobygames had a different release year for the first (1993) and for the second and third games (1994), so that's what we followed!

      Delete
    2. Okay, I just wanted to get it out there that Moby is wrong on it. '94 would be a retail release, as opposed to the mail-order of the shareware model.
      Also, while I'm whining about things that don't matter, is that the reason why Ween and Gobliins 2 are here and not in 1992? I've seen some sources put them there.

      Delete
    3. About the release dates of Ween and Gobliins 2, it's hard to find reliable info from this time period, and different sources give different info, so we take what seems to be the most reliable, though any source can potentially be just as wrong as any other so reliability is hard to measure. (I've just noticed Mobygames has both Ween and Gobliins 2 released in 1992 in Europe but 1993 in the USA which could partly explain the discrepancy)

      As for Dare to Dream, with a quick look it seems you're right, though with a shareware model like that it's not as clear as a fully retail game.

      Usually the games we play and when are firmly set after our 'Year Ahead' post where this game was listed as 'Borderline' and selected for play. We could change that if the reason is strong enough - looks like it's at least worth a discussion.

      Delete
    4. Yes, especially the European games with separate US release dates have caused us troubles (particularly as our rules still speak of PC release date, and many European games were still released first for Amiga).

      It is also a problem that internet sources, like Mobygames, tend to change over time (and hopefully become more reliable in the process). I particularly remember that only the 1993 release date of Ween was for a long time the only date mentioned in Mobygames, and the 1992 release date was added to Mobygames later, when it was too late to move the game to our blog's 1992 schedule. In such cases we have usually decided to err on the side of inclusion, when the alternative would have been just to drop the game altogether and hope that someone picks it up as a Missed Classic. Hopefully, when we start to reach the time when WWW becomes the part of everyday life, the release dates will become more accurate.

      As for Dare to Dream, certainly the best option would be then to take it as a one game released in 1993. Consider it done!

      Delete
    5. I'm not sure. According to my (preliminary) research, the episodes of "Dare to Dream" were actually released in three separate years. Also, it does have a consecutive story but the episodes apparently differ in some respects.

      Delete
    6. Maybe it'd be best if the US release date was chosen? If one exists? Because I just remembered that Cosmology of Kyoto was originally released in '93, even if it wasn't translated until '95.
      As to Dare to Dream, the ordering form and about screen refers to them as a trilogy of graphical adventures and games respectively. Each game has a copyright date of 1993, and both the Wikipedia list of Graphic Adventures and Epic Games only mention 1993. Moon Doggie, the company listed as publisher for the game, isn't actually the original release, as can be seen with Zone 66. Plus, it'd be weird for a game released as shareware to have the two episodes you're supposed to pay for be released a year later. I guess it'd technically be true if the shareware release was uploaded in December or something, but still.
      I can't actually think of any way the episodes differ (beyond the obvious of being the next part of the game) beyond Episode 1 having an easy mode.
      I think that's all I got to say, since I'm biased since I like it and I don't want to have to defend it three times.

      Delete
    7. I see, thank you for clarifying! I will play "Dare to Dream" as one game, then. So far, I have only started the game once or twice to see if it works but it looks very interesting - maybe you won't have to defend it after all ;-)

      Delete
  4. Best 5:

    Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    Sam & Max Hit the Road
    Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness

    Not doing full house because I am too unfamiliar with most of the list, however, I'm secretly hoping my 2 least favorites make it there (even though I know they'll score much higher)... so bottom 5, I don't think is realistic but it's my feelings...

    Blue Force
    Myst
    Police Quest: Open Season
    Wayne's World
    Beverly Hillbillies
    Myst

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ahhh, did you notice you had Myst twice on the list?

      Delete
    2. the dislike of Myst is so strong, it has to be named twice!

      Delete
  5. This is going to be a busy time for our reviewers, just so many adventure games to play! There are definitely a few great games in there, but how many hidden gems will we find?

    Anyway, here's my somewhat random list in which it's mainly the games I've played and enjoyed that are at the top... hopefully they should score highly!

    1 > Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2 > Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    3 > The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    4 > Sam & Max Hit the Road
    5 > Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    6 > Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    7 > Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    8 > EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    9 > Simon the Sorcerer
    10 > Gateway II: Homeworld
    11 > Return to Zork
    12 > The Journeyman Project
    13 > Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    14 > Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    15 > Lost in Time
    16 > Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    17 > Wayne's World
    18 > Return of the Phantom
    19 > The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    20 > Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    21 > Myst
    22 > Veil of Darkness
    23 > Black Sect
    24 > Ween: The Prophecy
    25 > Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    26 > The 7th Guest
    27 > Bloodnet
    28 > Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    29 > Pepper's Adventures in Time
    30 > Innocent Until Caught
    31 > Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    32 > Blue Force
    33 > Dracula Unleashed
    34 > Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    35 > Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    36 > Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    37 > An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    38 > The Beverly Hillbillies
    39 > Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    40 > Eric the Unready
    41 > Curses!
    42 > Companions of Xanth
    43 > Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    44 > Cosmic Spacehead
    45 > Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is the third year in a row that a Lucasarts game has won both the reader and reviewer award.

    Will this trend continue? Looking at people's guesses so far, yes it will!

    I'll consider my Full House guesses in more detail later, but for now, I'll predict that 2 of my favourite all-time games take the first 2 spots.

    1. Day of the Tentacle
    2. Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers

    And I'll predict that Myst's position in the Full House guesses will have the highest standard deviation.

    ReplyDelete
  7. And here are my guesses:

    Best #1 to #5: Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle, Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Gateway II: Homeworld, Simon the Sorcerer

    Worst #41 to #45: Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise, Cosmic Spacehead, Wayne's World, The Beverly Hillbillies, Isle of the Dead

    Full House:
    1- Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2- Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    3- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    4- Gateway II: Homeworld
    5- Simon the Sorcerer
    6- The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    7- Sam & Max Hit the Road
    8- EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    9- Pepper's Adventures in Time
    10- Innocent Until Caught
    11- Eric the Unready
    12- Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    13- Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    14- Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    15- Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    16- Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    17- Myst
    18- The Journeyman Project
    19- Return of the Phantom
    20- Companions of Xanth
    21- Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    22- Return to Zork
    23- Lost in Time
    24- The 7th Guest
    25- Ween: The Prophecy
    26- Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    27- Blue Force
    28- Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    29- Bloodnet
    30- Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    31- Curses!
    32- Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    33- Veil of Darkness
    34- The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    35- Dracula Unleashed
    36- Black Sect
    37- Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    38- Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    39- Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    40- An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    41- Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    42- Cosmic Spacehead
    43- Wayne's World
    44- The Beverly Hillbillies
    45- Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
  8. Here are my estimates as well :

    1 - Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2 - Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    3 - Sam & Max Hit the Road
    4 - The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    5 - Myst
    6 - Simon the Sorcerer
    7 - Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    8 - Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    9 - Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    10 - Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    11 - Lost in Time
    12 - Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    13 - Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    14 - Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    15 - Gateway II: Homeworld
    16 - Return to Zork
    17 - Ween: The Prophecy
    18 - Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    19 - The Journeyman Project
    20 - Innocent Until Caught
    21 - Eric the Unready
    22 - Bloodnet
    23 - Pepper's Adventures in Time
    24 - Veil of Darkness
    25 - Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    26 - Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    27 - Blue Force
    28 - Companions of Xanth
    29 - EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    30 - Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    31 - Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    32 - The 7th Guest
    33 - Return of the Phantom
    34 - Dracula Unleashed
    35 - Black Sect
    36 - Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    37 - An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    38 - Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    39 - The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    40 - Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    41 - Wayne's World
    42 - Cosmic Spacehead
    43 - The Beverly Hillbillies
    44 - Curses!
    45 - Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
  9. These are my guesses. I've played many of these games but it's still a very tough list to make.

    1. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    3. Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    4. Sam & Max Hit the Road
    5. Eric the Unready
    6. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    7. Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    8. The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    9. Simon the Sorcerer
    10. Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    11. The Journeyman Project
    12. Myst
    13. Lost in Time
    14. Return to Zork
    15. Gateway II: Homeworld
    16. Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    17. Bloodnet
    18. Ween: The Prophecy
    19. The 7th Guest
    20. Pepper's Adventures in Time
    21. EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    22. Companions of Xanth
    23. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    24. Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    25. Alone in the Dark 2
    26. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    27. Blue Force
    28. Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    29. Dracula Unleashed
    30. Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    31. Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    32. Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    33. Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    34. Veil of Darkness
    35. Innocent Until Caught
    36. Return of the Phantom
    37. Curses!
    38. Black Sect
    39. Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    40. An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    41. Wayne’s World
    42. The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    43. Isle of the Dead
    44. The Beverly Hillbillies
    45. Cosmic Spacehead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Also I predict a vivid discussion over the final rating for Myst.

      And that "Simon the Sorcerer" turns out not to be as good as people remember it to be.

      Delete
    2. Simon the sorcerer has some particularly annoying puzzles, as far as I can remember.

      Delete
    3. Exactly, and a LOT of slogging to and fro.

      Delete
    4. I particularly remember Simon for some infuriating pixel-hunting, but I think it had not any very bad puzzles, per se.

      Delete
    5. All this talk about Simon the Sorcerer's frustration makes me feel for whoever's lined up to review it.

      Let me look up which poor schmuck's got that assignment... ... ...

      Oh... okay, then. Something for me to look forward to. :)

      Delete
  10. Time to pause the catching up reading and cheat by reading this post, cause I can`t miss the bettings.
    1993, for me, is the last year of the golden age of Graphic Adventures. Maybe the release of Myst is to blame for this, though I never played it. Some day, maybe….
    Of all this list, I played back in the day 20 games, so a lot of guessing and random choosing.
    I think N1 in the list would be none other than Day of the Tentacle. That`s an easy guess.
    And in the bottom of the list, Curses is there just because is IF and the lack of graphics and sounds will drag it down.
    So, here are my candidates:

    Top Five:
    1- Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2- Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    3- Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    4- Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    5- Sam & Max Hit the Road

    Bottom Five:
    41- Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    42- Curses!
    43- Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    44- Wayne's World
    45- The Beverly Hillbillies

    The remaining:
    6- Simon the Sorcerer
    7- Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    8- The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    9- Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    10- Myst
    11- The Journeyman Project
    12- Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    13- Blue Force
    14- EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    15- Return of the Phantom
    16- Lost in Time
    17- Dracula Unleashed
    18- Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    19- Innocent Until Caught
    20- Ween: The Prophecy
    21- Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    22- Veil of Darkness
    23- Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    24- Gateway II: Homeworld
    25- Eric the Unready
    26- Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    27- The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    28- Pepper's Adventures in Time
    29- Bloodnet
    30- Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    31- Isle of the Dead
    32- Companions of Xanth
    33- The 7th Guest
    34- Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    35- Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    36- Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    37- An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    38- Return to Zork
    39- Black Sect
    40- Cosmic Spacehead

    ReplyDelete
  11. Good to see that the two worst games for me are in the bottom places of most of the advenutre gamer community. The Beberyy Hillbillies i remmebered i fired it up once, played it for about five minutos, thought "is this even an adventure game" and never return to it. With Wayne World was different. Being a huge fan of the first movie (not so much of the sequel) i really really want to like it, but the gameplay was awful. The same thing happened with another game from the same developer, The Dark Half, which i thought was from the same year buy maybe is's from 1994 seeing that it isn´t in the list

    ReplyDelete
  12. Here's my guess:

    1. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    2. Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    3. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    4. Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    5. Sam & Max Hit the Road
    6. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    7. Gateway II: Homeworld
    8. The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    9. Pepper's Adventures in Time
    10. The Journeyman Project
    11. Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    12. Simon the Sorcerer
    13. Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    14. Return of the Phantom
    15. EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    16. Lost in Time
    17. Alone in the Dark 2
    18. Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    19. Veil of Darkness
    20. Ween: The Prophecy
    21. Myst
    22. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    23. Companions of Xanth
    24. Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    25. Curses!
    26. Eric the Unready
    27. Blue Force
    28. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    29. Innocent Until Caught
    30. Bloodnet
    31. The 7th Guest
    32. Black Sect
    33. The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    34. Dare to Dream
    35. Dracula Unleashed
    36. Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    37. An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    38. Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    39. Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    40. Cosmic Spacehead
    41. Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    42. Return to Zork
    43. Wayne's World
    44. The Beverly Hillbillies
    45. Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So I'm not the only one who thinks that "Pepper's Adventures in Time" is a charming little gem of a game...
      And good choice on "Gateway II" also.

      Delete
    2. That gives me hope as I will be playing through Pepper's Adventures for the blog. I'm already looking forward to it!

      Delete
  13. For my part, I disagree with the AMFV as being the best Missed Classic. Having played it, I am sure that Wishbringer was a significantly better *game*. Maybe AMFV inspired interactive fiction's future in some way, but outside of Infocom I have little idea how the genre evolved. This is why I am so looking forward to Curses.

    Here is my list. There are about 10 of these that I know nothing about and too many where my dim recollection may be tinged with nostalgia...

    Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    The Journeyman Project
    Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    Sam & Max Hit the Road
    Myst
    Simon the Sorcerer
    Curses!
    The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    Pepper's Adventures in Time
    Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    Eric the Unready
    Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    Gateway II: Homeworld
    The 7th Guest
    Ween: The Prophecy
    Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    Veil of Darkness
    Lost in Time
    Cosmic Spacehead
    Bloodnet
    Innocent Until Caught
    Isle of the Dead
    Return to Zork
    Dracula Unleashed
    Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    Black Sect
    An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    Return of the Phantom
    Blue Force
    Wayne's World
    The Beverly Hillbillies
    Companions of Xanth


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. If you want to track the evolution of text adventures after Infocom, there are probably some earlier games worth looking at as well. I can't speak for the AGT era, but I seem to remember some of the early TADS games getting quite a bit of attention.

      Delete
    3. You missed one. I can't tell you which one I'm afraid.

      Delete
    4. Perhaps meant as the bottom game?

      Delete
  14. Here's my list. Everything below 10 or so is subject to vast amounts of randomization, but what are you gonna do...?

    1. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2. Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    3. Sam & Max Hit the Road
    4. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    5. Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    6. Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    7. Simon the Sorcerer
    8. Eric the Unready
    9. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    10. Bloodnet
    11. The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    12. Veil of Darkness
    13. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    14. Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    15. Myst
    16. Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    17. Return of the Phantom
    18. Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    19. Blue Force
    20. The Journeyman Project
    21. The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    22. Dracula Unleashed
    23. Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    24. Gateway II: Homeworld
    25. Lost in Time
    26. Pepper's Adventures in Time
    27. Ween: The Prophecy
    28. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    29. An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    30. Black Sect
    31. Return to Zork
    32. The 7th Guest
    33. EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    34. Cosmic Spacehead
    35. Companions of Xanth
    36. Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    37. Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    38. Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    39. Innocent Until Caught
    40. Isle of the Dead
    41. The Beverly Hillbillies
    42. Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    43. Wayne's World
    44. Curses!
    45. Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise

    ReplyDelete
  15. This is certainly a tough year to select top games. And I think it is the first year that I have played more games than not. Still, I will probably mess up royally with those titles I haven't played, as I didn't bother to look them up. Why do informed predictions when you can be the one everybody points a finger at? Here they are:

    1. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    3. Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    4. Sam & Max Hit the Road
    5. Simon the Sorcerer
    6. Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    7. Myst
    8. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    9. The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    10.Gateway II: Homeworld
    11.Ween: The Prophecy
    12.Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    13.The 7th Guest
    14.Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    15.Eric the Unready
    16.EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    17.Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    18.The Journeyman Project
    19.Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    20.Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    21.Innocent Until Caught
    22.Return to Zork
    23.Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    24.Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    25.Lost in Time
    26.Veil of Darkness
    27.Companions of Xanth
    28.Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    29.Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    30.Bloodnet
    31.Dracula Unleashed
    32.Pepper's Adventures in Time
    33.Return of the Phantom
    34.Black Sect
    35.The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    36.Isle of the Dead
    37.Blue Force
    38.An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    39.Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    40.Cosmic Spacehead
    41.Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    42.Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    43.Wayne's World
    44.Curses!
    45.The Beverly Hillbillies

    ReplyDelete
  16. I've been putting this off, but should not be too late yet according to the rules. Here's my list:

    1. Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    2. Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    3. Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    4. Sam & Max Hit the Road
    5. Simon the Sorcerer
    6. The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    7. Myst
    8. Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    9. Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    10. Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    11. Gateway II: Homeworld
    12. Pepper's Adventures in Time
    13. Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    14. The Journeyman Project
    15. EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    16. Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    17. Eric the Unready
    18. Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    19. Lost in Time
    20. Innocent Until Caught
    21. Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    22. The 7th Guest
    23. Return to Zork
    24. Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    25. Veil of Darkness
    26. Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    27. Ween: The Prophecy
    28. Blue Force
    29. Return of the Phantom
    30. Companions of Xanth
    31. Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    32. Bloodnet
    33. Dracula Unleashed
    34. The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    35. Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    36. Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    37. Black Sect
    38. An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    39. Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    40. Curses!
    41. Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    42. Cosmic Spacehead
    43. Wayne's World
    44. The Beverly Hillbillies
    45. Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
  17. So, blatantly copying Laukku's list, editing for my own guesses, and making a few random changes to avoid plagiarism charges, here I go... The game is afoot!

    1 Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle
    2 Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers
    3 Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness
    4 Sam & Max Hit the Road
    5 Gateway II: Homeworld
    6 The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate
    7 Space Quest V: The Next Mutation
    8 Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist
    9 Leisure Suit Larry 6: Shape Up or Slip Out!
    10 Simon the Sorcerer
    11 Myst
    12 Pepper's Adventures in Time
    13 Star Trek: Judgment Rites
    14 The Journeyman Project
    15 Daryl F. Gates Police Quest: Open Season
    16 Alone in the Dark 2 + Jack in the Dark
    17 Companions of Xanth
    18 Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet
    19 Eric the Unready
    20 EcoQuest II: Lost Secret of the Rainforest
    21 Lost in Time
    22 Gobliins 2: The Prince Buffoon
    23 Innocent Until Caught
    24 Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective: Volume III
    25 Return to Zork
    26 The 7th Guest
    27 Veil of Darkness
    28 Ween: The Prophecy
    29 Return of the Phantom
    30 Putt-Putt Goes to the Moon
    31 Bloodnet
    32 Blue Force
    33 Dracula Unleashed
    34 The Legacy: Realm of Terror
    35 Fatty Bear's Birthday Surprise
    36 Dare to Dream Part One: In a Darkened Room
    37 Curses!
    38 An American Tail: The Computer Adventures of Fievel and His Friends
    39 Kronolog: The Nazi Paradox
    40 The Beverly Hillbillies
    41 Inca II: Nations of Immortality
    42 Cosmic Spacehead
    43 Wayne's World
    44 Black Sect
    45 Isle of the Dead

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. >So, blatantly copying Laukku's list,
      >editing for my own guesses, and making a few
      >random changes to avoid plagiarism charges, here I go...

      What if I told you I calculated the median guessed ranking of each game, ordered the games based on that, and edited for my own guesses and made a few random changes to avoid plagiarism charges?

      Delete
    2. And I assumed you'd gone through the effort of researching each game individually and come up with a perfectly-researched and considered list.

      I'm not angry with you, Laukku - just disappointed.

      Delete
    3. If anyone's out there still considering how to order the games, here's a suggestion: a) check what ranking each reviewer has given to the games they are playing and b) combine these to form your list of the games. You'll probably have to do some tweaking to make that work (to avoid games with same rankings and adding some games to the list), but the results might be surprisingly accurate (or not).

      Delete