Episode 47: Point & Click Adventures

For a decade the point and click adventure was one of the most popular genres. Following on from text based adventures a new user interface was brought in made famousby Lucasarts- the SCUMM engine. Although Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken were early point and click releases for Lucasarts, it was Secret Of Monkey Islandthat made everyone take notice of how funny and entertaining this genre could be

It wasn’t just Lucasarts that were getting involved with the genre – Sierra redesigned their adventure games, Delphine software, Revolution Software and others all had strong releases for fans to play. Games such as Broken Sword, Beneath A Steel Sky, Future Wars, Leisure Suit Larry etc were all highly rated by numerous magazines.

Although the genre took a dip in popularity as games tastes changed in the late 90’s, things would pick up. With the Nintendo Wii and DS gamers had new ways to play the genre and some titles took the point and click premise and added twists such as the Professor Layton games. As well as this Telltale games have helped the genre grow again with Walking Dead,Back To The Future etc. Alo PS4 owners are able to play remastered classics such as Grim Fandango, as well as new games in a series such as Broken Sword.

So listen to Paul and Julian discuss their point and click memories and history. What makes a great point and click game? Why do we like them? Which games does Paul dislike much to Julian’s shock?

If you enjoy the episode please check out our other episodes and if possible also leave us an iTunes review as everyone helps the show grow.

Music tracks featured are:

Grim Fandango – Companeros

Monkey Island 2: Lechuck’s Revenge – Largo LaGrande

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Philip Hockaday