TheEvolutionofPointandClickAdventureGames

Whatisapointandclickadventuregame?Wellapointandclickisagame,similarto
manyoftheearlygraphictextadventuregames,wherethetextinputwasreplacedbypreset
commands,suchaslook,walk,andtalk.Therearealsotextadventuresinwhichthereareno
commands.Theplayermayclickonitemsonthescreentoeitherinteract,pickup,learnabout,
oruseanitem.Wewillexplorebothtypesinthispresentation.
Thefirstknownpointandclickadventurewasreleasedin1983fortheFM7computer.
Thegamewascalled
PlanetMephius
andwasonlyreleasedinJapan.Oneofthefirst,most
wellknownpointandclickswasLucasfilmGames
ManiacMansion
,releasedin1987.
Maniac
Mansion
wasoriginallyreleasedontheCommodore64andAppleIIandwaslaterportedtothe
NES.Inthegame,theplayertakescontrolofDave,akidtryingtosavehisgirlfriend,andtwo
friendstheplayerchoosestohelpDave.

Playersmustexplorethemansion,collectingitems,andsolvingpuzzles,allwhile
avoidingbeingcaughtbytheEdisonfamily.WhenthegamewasportedtotheNES,someofthe
contentwasaltered.Imagesandgraffitiwereremovedfromsomeoftheroomsinthemansion
andNintendoalsoaskedthatthephraseNESSCUMM,referringtotheenginebeingusedin
theNES,beremoved.Nintendodidinitiallyleaveasceneinthegamewheretheplayercould
microwaveahamster,thiswasremovedinlaterversionsofthegame.Thegamewaswell
received,beingcalledinnovativeandpolished.MoregamesweretofollowManiac
Mansionsleadinthecomingyears.
Afewyearslater,the
KingsQuest
seriesdriftedawayfromatypinginterfaceand
th
becameafullpointandclickgameinthe5
installmentoftheseries.
KingsQuestV:Absence

MakestheHeartGoYonder!
wasreleasedin1990bySierra.Inthegame,playerstakecontrolof
KingGraham.WhileGrahamwasout,amysteriousfigurecomesandenchantsthecastle,
causingawhirlwindtoappearandthecastletodriftaway.PlayersmustjourneythroughSerenia,
gatheringitems,information,andmustfinallyarriveontheislandthemysteriousfigureis
locatedatinordertosavehisfamilyandcastle.
Unlike
ManiacMansion,KingsQuestV
didnothavepresetcommands.Playersmerely
neededtoclickonitems,orpeopletointeractwiththem.Thegamewouldautomatically
determinewhattypeofactionwouldbeused.Thegamedidencountercontentissueswhen
portingtotheNES,justas
ManiacMansion
had.InordertoreleaseontheNES,Sierrahadto
takeoutmuchoftheviolence,orimpliedviolence,language,andreligiousthemesfromthe
game.


Thegamewaswellreceived.Itwaswidelyseenasagoodstartpointforgamersnewto
adventuregames,asthepuzzleswererelativelyeasy.ThegamewaspraisedforitsVGA
graphicsandsoundcardaudio.
KingsQuest
wasnamedAdventureGameoftheYearandBest
FantasyRoleplaying/AdventureProgramin1991.
KingsQuestV
wasthefirstintheseriestobeapointandclickadventure,butearlier
installmentsoftheserieswerelaterredone.In2001,theoriginal
KingsQuest
,wasremadetobe
afullpointandclicktitle,removingthetextinterfacetheoriginalhad.Inthefollowingyears,
KingsQuest
II,III,andIVwereallredoneaswell.

Original

Remake

In1993,
Myst
wasreleasedbyCyanforMacOS,laterbeingportedtoseveraldifferent
consoles,includingthePlaystation,NintendoDS,andMicrosoftWindows.Inthegamethe
playertakescontrolofTheStrangerandmustusespecialbookstotraveltotheislandof
Myst
as
wellasotherworldscalledAges.Unlikeearlierpointandclicktitles,
Myst
wasafirstperson
adventure,theplayerneverseestheircharacter.ThegamealsoincludedaZipfeature.This
allowedplayerstoquicklyskipframestogettolocations.Thiswasausefulfeature,asitoften

couldbecomeverytimeconsuminggoingthrougheachframewhenmovingfromonelocationto
amuchfartheronethathadalreadybeenpreviouslyexplored.
Myst
wasalsooneofthegamestobereleasedonCDROM,givingthegameamore
cinematicfeelthanearliermorecartoonlikepointandclicks.Aroundthissametime
,The7th

Guest
wasalsoreleasedonCDROM.Bothtitleswerequitesuccessful,though
Myst
wasableto

standthetestoftimemuchbetterthan
The7th
Guest
did.Bothtitlesusedfullmotionvideo,a

fadthatdiedoutinthemid90s.
Myst
hasbeenremadeseveraltimesandwasfollowedby5
differentsequels.

Myst

The7th
Guest

Afterthereleaseof
Myst
and
The7th
Guest,
manypointandclicksweremovingintothe

horrorgenre.Inthefollowingyearsgameslike,
Phantasmagoria,Phantasmagoria2,The11th

Hour,
and
IHaveNoMouthandIMustScream
,werereleasedashorrortitles.
Phantasmagoria
wasoneofthefirstgamestousealiveonscreenactorasthemaincharacterofthegame.The
gamealsocauseabitofcontroversyduetoitsviolenceanddepictionofarapescene.Thegame
wasbannedinAustralia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLzVrfPwyaY
<Avideoshowcasingthedeathscenes
displayedinthegame.
IHaveNoMouthandIMustScream
alsocausedsomecontroversyin1995becauseofits
depictionoftheholocaust.Inoneoftherequiredstorylinesofthegame,theplayertakescontrol
ofNimdok,aNaziScientistduringtheholocaust.Theplayerisforcedtomakemoraldecisions
thatwillaffecttheoutcomeofthegame.
IHaveNoMouthandIMustScream
alsowentbackto
havingpresetcommandbuttonsfortheplayertouse,ratherthanjustclickingonobjectsand
automaticallychoosingthecommandforthemanditmovedawayfromFMVgoingbackto

animation.Itwasalsooneofthefirstpointandclickstoofferanonlinearstorylinewithseveral
differentendingpossibilities.

Bythelate90s,pointandclicktitlesbegantobeararesight.Itwasntuntilrecentlywith
titlesuchas
TheWalkingDead,
and
TheWolfAmongUs,
bothTellTalegames,thatpointand
clicksbegantoresurface.Bothtitlesuseacomicbooklikeartstyle,andarereleasedinepisodes
ratherthanonefullgame.Thegamesoffermultipleendingtoeachepisodeandplayerchoices
impactthestorylineofthenextepisode.Playersaregivenoptionsonhowtorespondto
situationsaswellastheclassicpuzzlesolvingandinvestigation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLX79XLi408
<WalkingDeadGameplay

TheWolfAmongUs
Pointandclicktitleshavebeenaroundsincethe80s,andthoughtherewasadeclinefora
while,theycameback.Eachnewtitleaddsnewandinnovativefeatures.Thegenrehascomea
longwaysincethedaysof
ManiacMansion.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Guest
th
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Barton,M.,Loguidice,B.(2009)
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KingsQuestVWikipediaPage

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolf_Among_Us
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