Although i really liked Gray Matter my vote goes to Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Its not only my adventure game of the year, but also my overal GOTY. That game is a modern masterpiece.

Sadly I haven't had a chance to play any games on the list, but the one game I would vote for is Heavy Rain. It's not an AG in the classical sense, but it's maybe the most immersive game experience I've had. Great story, great writing, and great execution.

My vote would go to Gray Matter but since it's not here I will wait a bit. Currently I consider Black Mirror II to be the best but I'll wait until I've played some of the others. Whispered World and SamnMax have had very nice reviews and I will probably play them at least. Simon and Ghost Pirates should get a chance too. I don't think Art of Murder or Nancy Drew would win but might even check them out if I am bored in the future. Lost Horizon and Alter Ego were decent but neither of them is really Game of the Year material.

I think to compare Lost Horizon with Alter Ego is a little harsh

Btw is Heavy Rain really an ag,that's subject of another topic.

well, since this site reviews it as an adventure game, i think for the purposes of this forum that question is solved ;)

Nope, actually I liked Alter Ego better. Lost Horizon has incredibly boring and illogical middle chapters that really drag the game. I have no idea why so many people think it's amazing game. If the whole game was as good as the last chapter then I'd agree but I can't be won over by just one great chapter (and like 2 other goodish ones) no matter if it's the end. Alter Ego had good potential but it is just completely unfinished. If they actually let us play the ending there instead of hearing it out in 2 minute long cutscene it would have been excellent game.

It is an adventure game, even more than Fahrenheit was. I guess there's no doubt about it on this forum. And it's far better than most of the regular ags today.

My vote goes to Heavy Rain. From that list I would choose Lost Horizon.

i propose we do the following: we have 4 nomination threads, 1 at a time, each thread lasting 2-3 days before we close it and start the next. In those threads each person can nominate 2 games from that category: the categories being, 1. puzzlers: logic puzzles 2. inventory/social games: standard point and click 3. interactive novels/text games 4. miscellaneous: anything that hasnt already won a nomination.
The top 2 of each category can then move on to a final vote between 8 games that we have for a week or so ending with new years.

I haven't played most of those games, but I'd probably choose Shadow at Water's edge, the other 2010 Nancy Drew release. It was much better than Trail of the Twister IMHO.

Just put Lost Horizon over the top.

Technically thats obvious but it's still action based adventure anyway.

Still heads and shoulders above the rest of a massively disappointing year for adventures.

Not one of the games listed above would have been in contention in previous years.

Since "Grey Matter" is considered as 2011 release, and "Monkey Island: Le Chuck's Revenge" isn't listed, I can easily say that "Lost Horizon" is my favourite among 2010 adventures.

My vote goes to The Whispered World. The only ag in last few years (along with Machinarioum) that I would consider a true classic. Characters, story (especially after you know the ending), atmosphere, puzzles, graphics.. it's just great.

The second best was in my opinion Black Mirror2.

The Lost Horizon was good too. Very polished and entertaining.. but not much else beyond that.

I agree! I would vote if it were on the list.

I've bought a PS3 because of Heavy Rain.

Heavy Rain is great and gripping game, but as said many times before - it's more of an interactive movie and an offpring to adventure game with emphasis on the story. Since interactive movies existed since early 90's it's nothing groundbreaking even it's a fantastic game.

So, while Gabriel Knight 2 for example is also a sort of interactive movie the reason why we call it adventure game and not interactive movie is because of many puzzles integrated into the story. I'm not saying Heavy Rain is without puzzles or that is not adventure game especially since AG and interactive-movies were always related and hard to separate, but i wouldn't give it an edge over other titles this year with more interesting puzzles, like The Whispered World or Black Mirror 2.

That's stretching the definition of an interactive movie. GK2 is a series of stills with an avatar walking across the screen. An interactive movie MOVES, if you know what I mean. Non-stop. The Psychic Detective is an interactive movie, so is Tender Loving Care. Bad Day on the Midway and Fahrenheit too I suppose (because the game goes on if you don't do anything), and I might even consider calling The Last Express one. But by your definition every single adventure is an interactive movie with lots of stops so the player can solve puzzles.

Yeap, you're right and i don't intend to argue with you because i'm scared of what you're capable of :D :P

But really, genre definition is "heavy". You know, i remember when Phantasmagoria was advertised as a whole new "interactive-movie" experience. In reality, even it was light on difficulty and with many in-game movies it was still more of a traditional adventure game experience than typical interactive movies like those you mentioned or even Quantic Dream works.

The reason why GK2 might be called "interactive-movie" to some extent is probably because of the fact that live-action FMV during the 90's was automatically recognized as "interactive-movie" experience. For example, Wing Commander 4

http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/2310/221553.th.jpg

was also called interactive-movie while it's still more of a simulation/shooting game.

well, the thing is - maybe every adventure game has some elements of full-fledged interactive movie (and vice versa) but not enough and not in that way that we can actually call it an interactive movie.

i agree that "real-time" is a dead giveaway to distinguish interactive movie, but you can also have traditional gameplay without time restraints but with emphasis on choices, story branching... that will be more of an interactive movie than adventure game. Same as i would call The Last Express adventure game with extra-ordinary cinematic experience rather than interactive movie.