Games come from a very diverse set of roots, much like film and music. However, there are still a few influences in gaming that affect players today, so sometimes going back to these titles would be an experience that’s worth a try every once in a while. One of the deepest roots that you can tap into when trying out old school gaming are the best hidden object games, logic titles, or point and click adventures. However, there are better reasons why you should try out a few old school titles and here are a few of them.
10. Originality at its best
If there was one thing that point and clickers had in spades, it was the originality that was put into the game. By the merits of the design alone, you could find a ton of ideas that were improved upon endlessly or new ones that were experimented upon until they became the gold standards. At the same time, humor in gaming also grew up fast because of these titles. For hidden object games, pictures were often well designed and hid the objective well.
9. Creativity
One of the biggest reasons why games like these are glorified is because of the amount of creativity stuffed into them. Puzzles are often layered, and span many different levels so that no one puzzle keeps your attention for too long. At the same time, most of the solutions to the problems in the game were sort of absurd, so you ended up thinking way outside the box. Probably the best perpetrators of this kind of creativity were the Monkey Island games and most of the titles from Lucas Arts.
8. Endless logic
Besides the Monkey Island series, there were a number of beloved adventure titles that really emphasized logic over obscene strangeness. The Gabriel Knight series was one of the best around, and people still remember the game fondly. This is why if you’re more into logic, then looking through these logic games might be for you. At the same time, you also get to exercise your brain a bit.
7. Absurd logic
Most of the time, people remember point and click titles because of their absurdity. While a lot of other games tasked the player with figuring out puzzles with logic, some of the best asked you to weird stuff. There was a scene in one of the earlier Monkey Island titles where Guybrush had been trapped by vegetarian cannibals, and you’d have to figure your way out with a ton of different tools inside the cell. The kicker of this trap was that Guybrush was trapped in a wooden hut, but had to jump through a thousand hoops just to get out.
6. Some titles have deep messages
While there were a ton of titles in this genre that focused on humor, others chose to change that formula and that resulted in some of the deepest story telling in gaming. I have no Mouth and I must Scream was a great example of this, as it touched on themes most games don’t even speak of. At the same time, it dealt with each seriously, creating a bleak game that painted human horrors properly. On the other hand, games like Grim Fandango were morose and spoke of loss and nostalgia instead.
5. You learn more about the roots of gaming
Point and Click games are a part of gaming itself. They played a huge role in keeping the industry alive and even now, their influences can be felt in many different games. Why not treat yourself to a little history lesson and pick up one of the thousands of titles in the genre?
4. They’re still fun
If ever you find yourself sick of the rattle of gunfire and find yourself bored of the stoic man-heroes, then you might be suffering from curse of repetition. Realistic shooters were fun at first, but eventually charm was wrung from the dry husk of the genre. This situation can happen to anyone, so if you really want to change it up, go back to Monkey Island, or visit Manny Calavera when his shift ends. Just jump back into the earlier days of games, because those games can still entertain, as evidenced by the HD release of the Monkey Island series.
3. You’d be helping some very creative developers
Another reason why the point and click genre was so big is that they were always very creative. At times, it wasn’t about thinking outside the box though and they were often made that way because of budget constraints. They couldn’t be made in 3D and it was cheaper to make situational games as opposed to action oriented ones. These developers still make games in this method, so why not support a creative developer by picking up one of their older titles?
2. New clickers and puzzle games keep coming out
If you really don’t want to try an outdated title, but you find yourself curious about the genre, then you don’t need fret. There are so many new titles that come out featuring the same gameplay style but with an HD makeover.
1. Gaming humor at its best
If you look up any list that contains the words funniest games ever, you’re sure to see at least one or two point and click titles. Some of the funniest titles ever made contained the irreverent humor of Tim Schafer, and so many other games in the genre followed suit. So, if you love funny stuff, have yourself a blast from the past.
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