Best Adventure Games | Why People Choose to Play Adventure Games

Thought to have been beaten by role-playing games and side-scrollers, adventure games seem to be seeing resurgence. These games offer a true immersive quality comparable to reading books or watching movies. They appeal to gamers looking for games that are engaging, thoughtful, and intelligent. They are also quite mentally challenging—and often addictive (in a good way).

There are many types of adventure games for all kinds of gamers. From fantasy to horror to sci-fi and even westerns, there’s a hand-to-put-down adventure game for all tastes. By definition, an adventure game is any game that focuses on solving a mystery or puzzle within a narrative framework. They are also called ‘graphic adventure games’ or ‘point-and-click adventure games,’ but these terms can be misleading as they only represent a small part of a diverse range. Adventure games aren’t quite based on the dictionary definition of ‘adventure.’ Some adventure games are action-packed, but may others are relaxed and more thoughtful. Newer adventure games push the traditional boundaries of this genre is new and exciting ways while remaining true to their nature as adventure games. You will now find games with fight and stealth scenes, plus motion controls. But the most popular ones are still the classics - good old scavenger hunts.

People love adventure games because they are exciting. To play an adventure game is to unravel a plot, explore a world, and solve a difficult puzzle. Perhaps its main selling point is its unpredictability - you never know what you’ll end up getting.

Those who love adventure games enjoy stories. They take pleasure in the different plots, scopes, tones, and settings. The best adventure games boast highly original stories—a voodoo murder mystery in a small town, for example, or traveling through time using a portable toilet. Some of the best selling adventure games are open-ended; the outcome changes depending on your choices. Players are challenged to use exploration, careful observation, and dialogue to get the best outcome.

Finally, adventure games appeal to people who enjoy solving puzzles. Most of these types of games contain inventory and logic puzzles, and some of the best ones test you with exotic challenges. Simpler puzzles typically involve accumulating and items in an environment, or interacting with characters in order to get directions and clues. Some adventure games also incorporate standalone puzzles, from chess to sliders to jigsaws. A good adventure game uses puzzles not just as obstacles, but also to develop the story creatively.