I grew up playing point-and-click adventure games in the 90s. Memories of booting up our family’s IBM-whatchamacallit before being greeted by the beeps and buzzes of an ancient motherboard. Hand drawing maps on notebook paper to navigate through the catacombs of King’s Quest VI. Clearing The Secret of Monkey Island‘s anti-piracy measures with its included paper-dial thingie. “Magic smaps”.
It’s a genre far too underrated for my liking. These relics of the past, with their MIDI-filled soundtracks and bit-crushed voices, retain a charm that few games can replicate. Wonderous adventures packed with intricate puzzle-solving. Curious characters painted across pixelated bitmaps. There’s something strangely alluring about their place in gaming history: a cross-section of technology’s past limitations and how our imagination fills the gaps.
Recently, I had an urge to dive back in; to see if the magic of this niche genre was still kicking. I stumbled upon The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, a game on Steam by a studio I’d never heard of. Its pixelated yet modernized art style reminded me of the games I grew up loving. Its dark and mysterious undertones gave me that same dread I felt when danger approached in King’s Quest. After just a few days, I would roll credits on a wonderfully-paced and surreal adventure of English folkore and Lovecraftian horror.
That’s when my dive into the rabbit hole began. Searching for more information on Cloak and Dagger Games, the two-person studio behind The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, I found a portfolio of unique spins on the beloved genre. Then, I found even more teams doing the same thing. After a little more digging, I discovered a piece of free software that helps make all this possible and a newfound inspiration to try it myself.
Passionate devs are keeping the point and click adventure vision rolling, and I love them for it
Shaun Aitcheson and John Inch, the duo behind Cloak and Dagger Games, have been creating point-and-click adventure games since 2013. The passion behind their projects trumps any lack of funding most studios would require, however, as the team would once operate with virtually no budget. The studio states on their Patreon page:
“We have a dream of being able to work on games full time, or at least work part time so we have way more time to get things done…
… we spend as much of our spare time as possible programming or working on art and assets/stories.”
Evidently, that would change with The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, published by fellow point-and-click studio Wadjet Eye Games. The 2022 PC Gamer GOTY nominee would include enhanced animation, a soundtrack by The Machine. The Demon., and professional-level voice acting, including Baldur’s Gate 3‘s own Samantha Béart.
Wadjet Eye Games, a studio formed in 2006 by Dave Gilbert, seems to share the same vision. The New York-based developer founded the studio to publish his own games, building a portfolio similar to Cloak and Dagger’s. Adding even more to my list of ‘Point and Click Games I Must Play,’ I combed through both studios’ catalogs. I skimmed through their social media profiles, desperately searching for any crumbs of a new project in the making.
That’s when I found Postmodern Adventures, another indie developer with a goal to push the genre forward. Their new game, An English Haunting, immediately caught my eye with its striking, gorgeous pixelated visuals. Peeking through the developer’s comment threads on X/Twitter led me to Adventure Game Studio. The free software, a tool shared by several of these studios, aids developers in keeping this wonderfully unique genre alive.
There’s a wide world of point and clickin’
Adventure Game Fan Fair, a convention uniting fans and developers around the shared love for this genre, just happened in 2024. While Legendary point and click veterans like Ken and Roberta Williams, Al Lowe, and Jane Jensen made appearances, developers shared their upcoming projects. Planned to return in 2026, the three-day event clearly shows a healthy, beating heart for adventure games and the undying support they have.
The amount of dopamine I’ve been riding for the past few hours is through the roof. An entire world of creators, fueled by passion and a determination to see their dreams become reality, sits before me. I’m left with a long list of new adventures to explore and an overflowing feeling of inspiration I can’t seem to shake. Maybe, one day, I can see my name up on the Itch.io and Steam storefronts, too. Maybe I can finally give back to the genre I was blessed to grow up alongside. Until then, I’ll keep giving these indie devs all the flowers they deserve.
The post Point and Click Adventure Games Are Entirely Too Slept on, but These Devs Are Keeping Them Alive and Well appeared first on VICE.
The post Point and Click Adventure Games Are Entirely Too Slept on, but These Devs Are Keeping Them Alive and Well appeared first on VICE.
