First, I'm not a professional developer; I'm strictly indie, and I haven't finished my projects. The two furthest along in development are Metropolis Fallen and Stage!, both of which are still in preproduction. My position on both projects is co-writer, concept artist and artistic director. Both projects are for Inquisitive Arts, a strictly indie collective.
That out of the way, I'll try to be brief for a change, because this topic has a way of getting me talking for hours.
Adventure Games are story-based games that involve exploration, problem solving and narrative advancement. There are a number of genre conventions used to make these three elements into gameplay features, but the most common are rich graphical environments, environmental/logic/manipulation mini-games ('puzzles'), and journals and/or dialogue trees. That is not to say that there aren't other ways to achieve these goals; just that these are the most common elements of your average (and many less-than-average) Adventure Games. More innovative AGs succeed in combining these elements in new ways, using environmental game mechanics that integrate the sleuthing and suspense elements of AGs in less abstract ways than AGs have traditionally relied on in the past, along with the logical placement of hints, clues and devices needed to resolve problems and advance the story.
There. Done. Can I have a cookie?
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