[Captain Blondebeard]

When I think of rare, I think of complete boxed games.

I'll add Chewy: Escape from F5.

[hagstrumpa]

Originally Posted by SamNMax

Gilbert Goodmate and the Mushroom Phungoria

SamNMax - are you sure that Gilbert Goodmate is considered a rare game? It sells at a really low prise here in Sweden.
Maybe I should buy a couple of games?

Pretty rare in America.

[Jacques l'aliéné]

Hi everyone ! I've compiled a very exhaustive (though not complete by any means), list of games that are quite hard, and very hard, to get hold of. Please feel free to comment, or to add. All of this is based on my experiences of hunting down games over the last few years. I've only considered English verion, PC Adventure games. Some rare Playstation games exist too, but there are comparatively few.

I like discussions about rare games and collections (whether they be good, or bad, rare games). I'm in Europe and my viewpoint is one based on my experiences of which full English version games are hard to get hold of in stores in the UK and Europe, and as used games from private traders, AND on eBay and GameTZ.

Of the ones mentioned so far in this thread, there are some that are most definitely NOT hard to come by by these methods. The following are fairly frequently found on eBay, at least, if you look hard, and long, enough ;

The Last Express - occasionally
Gabriel Knight 1 - very often
Gabriel Knight 2 - very often
Are You Afraid of the Dark ? - occasionally
Drowned God - occasionally, but rarely boxed these days
Gilbert Goodmate . . - very often
Jerusalem - very often
Kingdom : The Far Reaches (Reaches) - quite often
Kingdom : Shadoan - occasionally only
Liath - quite often
Under A Killing Moon - quite often
Missing On Lost Island (Verschollen) - Frequently on German eBay (English version)
Flight Of The Amazon Queen - very often (less so in box)
Innocent Until Caught - Quite often

That covers the ones that I'd regard as by no means rare. Now, the rarer ones ;

Of those mentioned, so far ;

Extremely rare (on eBay, or anywhere else) - those that have, keep them in their collections (I'm talking English PC versions here - NOT Mac versions) ;

The Vampire Diaries
Blue Heat (Covergirl Murders)
Hard Evidence : The Marilyn Monroe Files
Cassandra Galleries
Dracula's Secret (even moreso in a box)
Celtica (though there was a small surge of them last year from one seller)
GAG (moreso in a box)
U.F.O.'s (box is very flimsy and rarely survives a second hand sale)
Alice : An Interactive Museum (goes for megabucks)
Treasure Hunter (English version incredibly scarce)
Riddle Of The Maze
A.D. 2044 (Polish version appears occasionally - Only seen two English ones in the last two years)
Igor : Objective Uikokahonia (Made by 'Runaway' makers, Pendulo Studios - Spanish version occasionally seen)
Cosmology Of Kyoto (As rare as 'Alice')
Gadget : Invention, Travel and Adventure (seldom seen boxed)
Duckman : Adventures Of A Private Dick (English version very rare. Anglo-German verion not so rare)
L'Affaire Morlov (English version is very rare)
Master Of Dimensions (Very rare, especially boxed - one on eBay now !)
Chewy : Esc From F5 (Original boxed version is very rare. Rerelease occasionally seen)
Orion Burger (German version is common on German eBay - English version = BIG bucks).

Rarely seen, but not 'Never' ;

Ghosts (Not always in the video games section of eBay - other places !)
Hamlet : A Murder Mystery (Other places also, sometimes)
Opera Fatal (German commonly seen. English version still available from Heureka Klett - pricey !)
Touche : Adventures Of The Fifth Musketeer (Rare, but not as rare as some say. Occasionally on eBay)
3 Skulls Of The Toltecs (Rare in box, but frequently seen in jewel case)
Secrets Of The Luxor (Only rare in box)
Dinotopia : A Land Apart From Time (pops up now and then - sometimes in the children's sections)
Synnergist (German - frequent. English - rare)

Not particularly rare, but not common ;

L-Zone
Callahan's Crosstime Saloon
Tex Murphy : Martian Memorandum
Little Big Adventure (Unconventional game - not an Adventure in my book)
I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream (Available, directly, from Harlan Ellison's website, in the U.S. Thanks FGM !)
The Neverhood Chronicles (watch out for pirated copies)
Versailles 1685
Gold Rush (Sierra 'forgotten' classic)
The Arrival

Now then ! I'll add my list of Extremely rare titles, some of which I've never, YET, seen ;

Yellow Brick Road (YBR 2 is NOT English version)
Clay Agent (may not be English)
Clay Dreams (may not be English)
Case Closed (may not be English)
The Blob Job
Who's Fat Lou ?
Gilbert (NOT Gilbert Goodmate)
Mystery Of Greveholm 2
New Robinson
Piri : The Explorer Ship
Teen Agent (Shareware - may exist in a box)
Stay Tooned! (Box version ??)
Bargon Attack
Black Sect
Escape From The Haunted House
The Case Of The Cautious Condor
Murder Makes Strange Deadfellows
Fascination (English version is rare. Italian not so rare)
Grackon's Curse (Two sold last year, by the same seller, for over US $250 each)
Secret Mission
Blue Beard
Blue Beard 2
Louis Cat Orze : The Mystery Of The Queen's Necklace
Hariboy's Quest
The Adventures Of Hyperman (boxed)
Maupiti Island
Mortville Manor
Hound Of The Baskervilles
Puppet Motel
Ecoquest 2 : Secrets Of The Rainforest (Don't think there was a CD version. Ist one did have)
Backpacker : The Lost Florence Gold Mine
Evidence : The Lost Report
Bud Tucker In Double Trouble
Venice Under Glass (A demo, would you believe - Game was never made)
Hook
The Adventures Of Willy Beamish (CD version is rare)
Erevos
Rumpelstiltskin : Labyrinth Of The Lost
Zeddas : Servant Of Sheol
Plague
Trick Or Treat
Kama Sutra (French, but it's 'playable' - ;-))
Riana Rouge
Chronoquest
Dick Tracy : The Crime Solving Adventure
Armaeth : The Lost Kingdom
Agharta : Hollow Earth
Legacy : Realm Of Terror
Zak McKraken And The Alien Mind Benders (Original box)
Alien Incident
Nippon Safes Inc.
The Big Red Adventure (CD version)
Jack The Ripper (Original - excellent - 1994 version)
The Kyrandia Series (Yellow and silver diamond pattern box)
Night Cafe
Night Trap


and my list of Rarely seen, but not 'Never' titles ;

Eastern Mind : The Lost Souls Of Tong Nou (Sequel is non-English)
Secret Of The Pyramids
Cracking The Conspiracy (No box ever existed - Seldom on eBay, but available (in plentiful supply), from CDAccess, in the U.S. - Thanks SirDave !)
The Gene Machine
Time Paradox (Boxed version is extremely rare as English version)
Pepper's Adventures In Time
Milo
Mode
Drascula (No box for English version)
Hollywood Monsters (Pendulo again - No English version as commercial release)
Tex Murphy : Mean Streets (Becoming rare)
Queen : The Eye
Queensryche : Promised Land
Devo : Adventures Of The Smart Patrol
Opsys
Latex
Latex 2 (Shock)
Gothos
Astronomica : Quest for The Edge Of The Universe
Dreams To Reality
The City Of Lost Children
Dive : The Conquest Of Silver Eye
The Sacred Mirror Of Kofun
Hell Cab (boxed version)
The Adventures Of Valdo And Marie
Ark Of Time (KOEI version)
The Dark Eye
Gord@k
The Residents : Bad Day On The Midway
The Residents : Freak Show
The Residents : Gingerbread Man (not really a game at all)
The Space Bar

There ARE others, but, quite frankly, I'm exhausted !

[Fairygdmther]

Only one comment - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is available from Harlan Ellison's website in the box, new with a mousepad in it. You need to look thru his book list and find the order blank and order from there, at $30. So this isn't rare, just not available from commercial sites.

Otherwise I agree with everything else on your list. Lotta hard work! Good job!

FGM-Lyn

[Jacques l'aliéné]

Originally Posted by Fairygdmther

Only one comment - I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream is available from Harlan Ellison's website in the box, new with a mousepad in it. You need to look thru his book list and find the order blank and order from there, at $30. So this isn't rare, just not available from commercial sites.

Otherwise I agree with everything else on your list. Lotta hard work! Good job!

FGM-Lyn

Thankyou FGM. It was fun to do, though. The last time I looked, Harlan Ellison's website stated that it wouldn't ship outside the U.S., which is a shame. I'll edit my list and check back on the website to see if the policy has changed. Thanks again, and thankyou, too, for all the work that you put into your comprehensive list of Adventure games on your website too, FGM. I frequently refer to it. You are missing the odd one, however. 'Mission Sunlight' springs to mind.

[SirDave]

Originally Posted by Jacques l'aliéné

Thankyou FGM. It was fun to do, though. The last time I looked, Harlan Ellison's website stated that it wouldn't ship outside the U.S., which is a shame. I'll edit my list and check back on the website to see if the policy has changed.

Thanks for the very impressive list although I'm not so sure some of those are 'pure' adventure games, still, very helpful.

BTW: You might want to remove Cracking the Conspiracy from the 'Rarely Seen but not Never' category. There are, at the moment, over 700 copies available here (ie. in the U.S.):

http://www.cdaccess.com

[Jacques l'aliéné]

Originally Posted by SirDave

Thanks for the very impressive list although I'm not so sure some of those are 'pure' adventure games, still, very helpful.

BTW: You might want to remove Cracking the Conspiracy from the 'Rarely Seen but not Never' category. There are, at the moment, over 700 copies available here (ie. in the U.S.):

http://www.cdaccess.com

Hi SirDave . . and thanks for your comments. You're correct about CDAccess and 'Cracking The Conspiracy'. The only (major), drawback with CDAccess is that they are unwilling to ship games in their original (old-fashioned), large cardboard boxes, to Europe. They only send the contents. This doesn't matter in the case of 'Cracking The Conspiracy', of course. It's jewel case only. I've edited the list. Cheers !

[wildcat]

Pretty exhaustive list I would add Guilty (not rare but not common) and Blue FORCE as being quite hard to get hold of.

[Manhunter71]

No-one has mentioned the "Gabriel Knight Mysteries Ltd Ed Box Set" - this includes GK1 + 2 + soundtrack and also the "Sins of the Fathers" original novel.
This an amazing set which is very rarely found for sale as a complete set!

Another one I must mention is Final Fantasy VIII for the PC - although this can be found regularly on ebay, and is not an adventure game per se, it always seems to sell for a very high price!!!

[Jacques l'aliéné]

Originally Posted by Manhunter71

No-one has mentioned the "Gabriel Knight Mysteries Ltd Ed Box Set" - this includes GK1 + 2 + soundtrack and also the "Sins of the Fathers" original novel.
This an amazing set which is very rarely found for sale as a complete set!

Another one I must mention is Final Fantasy VIII for the PC - although this can be found regularly on ebay, and is not an adventure game per se, it always seems to sell for a very high price!!!

Hi ! The Limited Edition GK series does crop up occasionally on eBay, but, I agree, it is becoming rarer and is a guaranteed future collectable.

FFVII tends to get higher fiaal prices than FFVIII, at least in the UK. Pirated copies exist, too.

I'm not so sure about 'Blue Force', though. There are quite a few (at least 6), on eBay at the moment, worldwide. Though, none are boxed. 'Guilty' is certainly becoming rarer. 'Blue Ice', in it's original, holed, box, is pretty rare.

If we're considering collections, then rare and (or), expensive ones, include ;

The Lost Adventures Of Legend
Kyrandia Series
Leisure Suit Larry Ultimate Pleasure Pack
Wing Commander : Kilrathi Saga (action/ adventure)
Quest For Glory Collection (Not 'Anthology)
Roberta Williams Anthology
Stagefright
To a lesser extent : Space Quest Collection
Monkey Island Bounty Pack
Monkey Island Collector's Edition (All 4 games - released in Australia)
King's Quest Collection
Journeyman Project trilogy
etc..

Also ; Text Adventure Masterpieces Of Infocom
Lost Treasures Of Infocom (1 & 2)

P.S. ; In reference to your username, the 'Manhunter' games aren't too easy to find these days either.

[Manhunter71]

Originally Posted by Jacques l'aliéné

FFVII tends to get higher fiaal prices than FFVIII, at least in the UK. Pirated copies exist, too.

Seriously?? - I haven't seen that many copies of FFVII for sale, but I don't really rate it anyway!

Originally Posted by Jacques l'aliéné

If we're considering collections, then rare and (or), expensive ones, include ;


Kyrandia Series
Leisure Suit Larry Ultimate Pleasure Pack
Wing Commander : Kilrathi Saga (action/ adventure)
Quest For Glory Collection (Not 'Anthology)
Roberta Williams Anthology
Stagefright
To a lesser extent : Space Quest Collection
Monkey Island Bounty Pack
Monkey Island Collector's Edition (All 4 games - released in Australia)
King's Quest Collection
Journeyman Project trilogy
etc..

Quite a few of the games you have mentioned here are available as free downloads -

I have got Kyrandia, the Leisure Suit Larry series, and the Kings Quest Collection as free downloads, so obviously they can't be that rare?

One thing I do agree with is the Roberta Williams games - they are very hard to get hold of!

The following are fairly frequently found on eBay

Well, there's the thing. I think butting eBay in the argument is a little unfair. Considering that I've seen every game listed in this thread on the site at one time or another.

[fov]

I think the PC port of FF8 is harder to find in the US. FF7 was out on store shelves longer and was rereleased in the "platinum edition" at some point. I get the impression it's easier to find (or maybe I just come across copies more often?) As far as I know, there was only the one release of FF8 (in the shiny prism-like box... WHY did I throw that away?! ) and it was not available in stores for very long.

The Kyrandia Series (Yellow and silver diamond pattern box)

Actually, that is ocasionally seen on Amazon.

[zxby]

Here is my list of rare games: only 2

Escape from Rungistan
And a true original working copy of Willie Beamish. (I have never found a working copy that actually works all the way to the end of the game!)

[Jacques l'aliéné]

Manhunter, I don't consider free downloads (whether legal ones, or not), as part of the discussion. I thought the discussion referred to hard copies of games. That's what I was talking about at any rate. Apologies if I've misunderstood.

SamnMax. I'm amazed that you say you've seen every game listed on eBay, if that's what you mean. I know quite a few very avid collector's that have never seen hide, nor hair, of some of those games . . anywhere (In English). Why is including eBay as a source of games unfair ? Is it that different to GameTZ or an online store selling used games ? Or are we only talking about new, unplayed games ?

I hope the list will have helped many who've wondered about rare games, and provide a good basis for aspiring collectors in any case. I'm just sharing my experiences, that's all, as a player, and collector, of a wide range of graphic Adventure games.

[Jacques l'aliéné]

Originally Posted by zxby

Escape from Rungistan

Hi zxby !

Wow ! That's a new one to me. Got any more info. on it ? Is it a proper Adventure game ?

Edit : Okay. Got it now. 1982 game. Phew ! Times have certainly changed.

Really? Hm, guess I was just at the right place at the right time. Anyway, your list is very impressive and I'm sure you've helped the thread starter out a lot. And I guess eBay isn't so bad.

[Wimli]

Impressive list Jacques l'aliéné!

I'dd add DogDay and Chrono Master (at least the boxed original release) to the list. And I don't know whether they're really rare, but I'll mention them anyway: The Dame Was Loaded, Genesys, Dream Web, Daria's Inferno and Lost in Time? Haven't seen them too often on ebay either.

Apart from that, about 1/4th of the games you mention, I haven't even heard of! Must keep a close eye on your list next time I check out ebay.