Adventure Gamers

There are many general-purpose gaming sites that review new games, and often have feature pages, forums and maybe blogs too. But this one is focused entirely on one genre, the "adventure game", which has an unique definition for gamers.

Any game is an adventure, in a broad sense, or at least it should be. But the term "adventure game" has some specific meanings to gamers which sets it apart from all other forms of gaming. It's also a genre with a considerable and respectable history, the first adventures being entirely text-based before graphics were available and long before the arrival of the desktop computer or indeed the whole home computing world as we now know it.

The basic difference between adventures and other games is that adventures are intended to make the player think: it will be impossible to navigate the game world at all without solving many puzzles, or riddles, along the way. The player will need to find and collect items, which may come in useful later or may not, and sometimes those items will need to be combined with each other to perform some task. But there will be no clues to help the player decide what to keep, or not, or how to combine things for useful purposes, though there may be essential information in open view if you have the eyes to see it. So if you don't like the idea of being challenged to work things out for yourself, adventure games aren't going to attract you at all.

If you're intrigued by the adventure concept, check out adventuregamers.com as it's a great resource and starting point to learn about the genre and the games you can play. For more seasoned players there are good reviews of the latest and upcoming games, and for those stuck in locked rooms or up trees or whatever, there are some hints to get you moving again. Should you combine the cat with the cell phone? You might find out here. There's a user forum too, where other players may help you out if you're stuck.

The site also links to other good resources, including a store from which you may download commercial games and a section that offers downloads of freeware games written by adventure fans themselves. An excellent first port of call for anyone interested in the genre.