[cbman]

I don't think certain genres are inherantly more fun beause what constitutes fun is so personal and subjective. But I think the type of fun to be had in a shooter or driving game is more popular than the more cerebral fun to be had in an AG. I think this is mainly because those games utilize things that people would consider that they would like to do in their leisure time; they are linked to 'real world' hobbies, like playing football for instance, or fantasy professions they would dream of having.

Whereas Adventure Games, from a gameplay point of view, are about problem solving, method and, as many would see it, hard work, which are things most people would more associate with their working life than their leisure one. We are, unfortunately, socialized from a young age, through schooling (dividing our lives into 'work' / school and pleasure / home, the format we must learn to deal with in our adult lives) into associating indolence with pleasure. We need to constantly be reminded that effort has its own level of satisfaction and pleasure (me as much as anyone; i'm not being condescending here).

That is the inherant limiting factor in an Adventure Games audience. Unfiortunately, not enough developers put enough work into making the game appear to be less of a chore with a good interface. As much as it galls someone introduced to the genre through the Myst series maybe it is time more games went the Nancy Drew route and had different difficulty levels. Even if the differing challenge levels are not in reality much different it will at least give someone who may be put off the perception that the game may be more approachable. And if they do, they'll find it's not really that difficult after all. I'm not talking about changing the content of Adventure games (though I would love to evolve them a bit, particularly the dreary inventory based ones) or making them into bloody hidden object games or things like that, just rethinking how they're presented. Why don't all games have hot spot finders? Why don't they all have a built in notes system if you want to use it. Why don't they have a Help function to explain the mehanics of a puzzle, if you want to use it? The best ones do.

The biggest thing is they need to understand the player wants reward. solving a puzzle should always do one of the following:

Open up a new area for exploration (The journey is the reward, as was the Myst motto)

Trigger a cutscene / meaningfully evolve the story

At the least, provide a firm clue to another puzzle.

Please no more locked chests inside a chest. Adventure games can sometimes give the impression that its designer is insufferably smug.