Month: March 2013

Computer Gaming has been in my life from as far back as I can remember. I started playing them at my cousin’s place each time we visited, and especially in this part of the world, very few people had computers. The Internet was non-existant at the time. The entertainment value of games was not in the graphics, but largely in the story and gameplay interaction. I remember sitting behind my cousin as he played through Kings Quest, unveiling the story and solving puzzles along the way. I felt that was really cool!

I think that was the start of my own journey with point and click adventure games. I fondly remember Lucasarts classics like the Monkey Island series, Full Throttle, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Sam and Max Hit the Road, and Day of the Tentacle, Sierra classics like the King’s Quest series, Torin’s Passage, and even Phantasmagoria, at the time requiring a whopping 7 CDs. The dialogue was witty, and the gameplay had a puzzle solving approach which brought hours of entertainment. I remember playing Robin Hood, trying to win the tournament splitting an arrow, and having Indiana Jones find Atlantis – these are some of the moments that defined my early computer game experience.

Over the past 10 years or so however, the genre has seemingly faded into the background, with some occasional gems like The Longest Journey and Syberia giving us a taste of how fun and witty story telling can be captivating and thoroughly enjoyable. However, it hasn’t been a genre that has gotten a lot of attention. Strategy games, RPGs, FPS, and even simulation games seemed to be doing a much better job drawing players and retaining them. Lucasarts all but stopped investing in the genre, and Tim Schaffer, one of the designers of much of the classics at Lucasarts left forming Double Fine Productions back in the year 2000. Other game designers also left Lucasarts and formed Telltale Games, taking over releasing further episodic titles of titles such as Sam and Max and Monkey Island as well as some other game adaptations.

It was a struggle initially, as these new developers and publishers fought to release their games in a time when the market seemed to have eyes only for RPGs and FPSs. Story telling in games appeared to have fallen by the wayside. However, thanks to initiatives such as Kickstarter, things may be looking up. Also, in this age where every IP gets milked for all its worth, new and exciting ideas and IP are uncommon and present a risk that these game developers and publishers face. However, there is a huge demand in the market for fun original ideas, and what better way to establish this than with games that tell a story with wit, humor and character development.

Recently, I’ve had the privilege of playing Deponia and The Book of Unwritten Tales, both fun and interesting releases that make me hope that the genre is again on the rise. Kickstarter has given Double Fine a breath of life, and I hope my contribution to it will further contribute to the revival of this genre. I’m excited for it!