I'm like that too. If a player is nit-picking then I'll invest in a game (for instance, despite its supposed irratations, I'm investing in Reah: Face The Unknown).

Also, big boxes can be a factor. In the UK we use DVD boxes for all our games. But sometimes a game in either small Jewel case or massive cardboard boxes can put me off. I'd rather spend a few pounds extra for a DVD box of a game than a chunky big box. I have a house, not a warehouse.

The style of adventure is the biggest deciding factor for me. I HATE myst style games. They're pretty much all puzzle, no adventure. Don't flame me for that.. I've felt that way since the first version of Myst. I like walking around, exploring things.. talking to people.. interacting with the environment. Puzzles are an essential aspect of a good adventure game, but too many is just annoying.

Also, I like being able to control my character (like in Syberia/TLJ/Dreamfall/Broken Sword/Etc). I don't like just clicking corners of the screen to rotate my view. To me, it really helps to involve yourself in the story.

Another thing, is that I don't like spacy sci-fi games, and I don't like cartoonish games. That's an immediate turnoff. I'm anti-startrek and anti-starwars. Need I say more?

Graphics also play a role in it.. but not too terribly much.


I'm a fan of modern adventures. I don't much care for the old 16-color adventures that most people here swear by.. and I absolutely can't stand text games. :)


In a nutshell, I have to have:
- A good story
- A movable character
- Realistic, prerendered and/or realtime 3D graphics
- Some puzzles, but not too many
- Preferably voice acting, but not required.


The only exceptions I can think of would be Bad Mojo and Kings Quest VII. I loved both of them, yet they don't exactly fit the mold of my preferred adventures.

Bloody hell, you can't really like many adventure games. Apart from contemporary setting, realistic games in 3rd person I can't think of anything there you could like.

at least 50% of AGs are Sci-fi orientated (or fantasy - do you think there's a difference? Where would you draw the line?).

Don't like cartoon ones either? :frown:

One of the respondents from another forum said:
I'm finding that, too, except I don't play any other games (apart from jigsaws). So, I've gone back to reading more.
I really wanted to find out how many people would rather not buy an 'evolved for the mainstream adventure' than playing one that didn't appeal to them. In other words a distinction between a fan of the genre vs. a fan of the game. I'm definitely the latter, and if the type of game I like to play becomes less available, I'll revert to my other hobbies rather than playing computer games.

I'm Dutch, so price is a very important factor for me :)

I often wait a year for games to become cheaper, especially when the reviews are not altogether very good, like with Dreamfall.

Action sequences, especially if no other option is presented, like stealth, or dialogue, or something else. Every new character-driven game seems to include action sequences these days. Drives me nuts.

The other thing that keeps me from buying a game is "more of the same" concepts. Like, if you've played a game or two from a company, and the style of game is a letdown, then the next games they put out are pretty hard to justify purchasing. Myst-style games are like this to me. There are SO MANY games set in strange machine-dependent, devoid-of-life, fantasy worlds, that they start to look alike after awhile. And it doesn't help matters when a company re-releases a game like this with a different title to make a few more bucks, lol.

Anyway, those are the biggest obstacles to purchasing a new adventure game, for me, these days.

finding out its first person view, not a fan of em.

Price; while the typical $20 to $30 price tag most Adventure games have isn't strenuous for "my" wallet, the costs of S&H plus possible taxation (60% of total cost) means I very rarely import any game over $10 or $15, not just Adventures. Games above $20 I attempt to purchase when I travel.

System Reqs.; this one's a no-brainer (sp: brainier?!), I won't buy a game I know I can't run. I refuse to upgrade, so pretty much any graphics heavy game will be avoided.

Game style; I try to avoid judging books by their covers, but I often disregard Adventure games in first person perspective or that I know are heavy in puzzles. They're just not my cup of tea.

A boring visual style or lack of interactivity (generally judged by the demo or gameplay videos if there's no demo.) Lack of voice acting in a modern game would also make me lean away from it, but isn't necessarily conclusive, particularly if it's not a dialogue heavy game. First person perspective would make me investigate the game more carefully but isn't a deal breaker. Starforce makes me extremely reluctant, though if it's a game that seems incredibly appealing and there's no other way of playing it I may brave it.

-price
-action
-short length
-kyeboard controls
- too easy puzzles

Sleaze and extreme violence stops me from playing a game. Also, I don’t like that claustrophobic feeling I get with some games where you can’t move around much and you’re faced with one puzzle after another within the framework of a barely existing story line.

I have to say that I've started to get into 1st person AGs all of a sudden. I've started playing Myst 4: Revelations again, and I've been through a bit of Amerzone and I've found, for the first time, I have the patience to go through them.

Also, because of my new job, I only get to play a game from 10pm to 2am so 1st person AGs are really fun and atmospheric with the lights turned off and the sound turned up.

I've noticed 3rd person is more fun for me during the day, but I can't seem to get into many of them during the evening or night.

I don't know if anyone has noticed any certain times in the day they can only play certain games?

A point-n-click interface. It is time for Adventure Games to join the 21st century.

bad word of mouth,

usually the only time i actually buy an adventure game is if its a reputable sequal, like dream fall, or broken sword, or gabriel knight, of course i was sorely dissapointed in all the last installments of these games.

Sorry for the necro-bump but I found it interesting, so...


The most likely reason for me not to be any Adventure Games is a lack of indication that it actually is one. I have noticed a pattern in the descriptions from the backs of the boxes but there's still nothing that says "This is an adventure game". Plus, many shops and web sites will put games that are quite definitely not adventure games, plat formers and games such as GTA, etc, into the adventure game section because somebody who clearly doesn't know better has told them to put it there.

There are so many reviews on different gaming sites which fail to mention ANYWHERE in their description that it's an AG. It might, from time to time, mention it has a 'Point & Click' interface... but still it's quite rare that they do.

After that I'd have to say my second reason to avoid buying any AG is because it's from the same makers as 'Runaway: A Road Adventure' for the truly terrible dialogue and script (a Spanish member confirmed that the Spanish version was also bad).

The final reason would be on similar lines. I wouldn't buy an AG if it happened to be made by Sumo Digital, after the unspeakable horror that was "Broken Sword: The Angel of Death".

If it's referred to as a "Myst-like" game, I won't even give it a second look.

If it's a first-person game with a lot of action (such as Penumbra appears to be), I'm not interested.

If it's a cartoon-styled game, I need to try a demo first. I don't really like cartoons, or cartoony video games, so it has to have some exceptional gameplay and dialogue in order for me to enjoy it.

If the buzz around these parts is almost unanimously bad, I'll avoid a game. I wish I had made this decision regarding Broken Sword: The Angel of Death.

I don't like first person adventure games.

I can look past bugs, bad action/stealth sequences and unrefined graphics if the overall experience is still engaging (see: Dreamfall and Three Cards to Midnight). What I cannot look past anymore is elements that have the potential to completely take me out of the experience, such as insanely illogical puzzle design, bad voice acting, a poorly translated script and severely jerky animation (see: Runaway, Secret Files).

I used to make concessions for those types of games and play them anyway, even though deep down I knew I wouldn't love them, but I've realized that there's no need for me to do that. There are plenty of "my type" of adventure games out there that I haven't played yet.

for me
- I don't really like 1st person Adventure Game
- I'm not really a fan of 3D pre-rendered,
but i still buy it if the character doesn't look like it's come from Poser model :P
Basically the character has to have a unique/certain look, not like lifeless doll
- I know adventure game is about story / dialog and all that, but i don't really like it if the dialog / cut scene goes on and on and on.... :Z

I'm new here, but I've been playing adventure games since I got my second PC, which was my first with a CD-ROM drive. The PC came with Space Quest IV and I've been hooked ever since.

I hate games like Myst, like a few of the others in this thread. But, it's not the first-person as just the lack of people to interact with. I love, for example, the Telltale CSI games (though I think they're a little overpriced).

I also dislike heavy action-based games, though I'll tolerate some action if the story's good. (Like Dreamfall, for example.)

If a game has a lot of time-based puzzles, I won't like it. I'm not very good at solving puzzles, I like to be able to take my time figuring things out.

And, finally, linked to the last one, if a game's puzzles are considered so challenging even the veteran adventure gamers have trouble with it, I won't go near it. As I said, I'm not that good at puzzles, but games are no fun if I have to have a walkthrough beside me just to keep going.