I liked Runaway: Dream of the Turtle so much that I continued to play through the screen lag in Chapter Four after crashing and discovering on a forum that I could by turning off the antialiasing if I were willing to put up with the lag. I normally kiss a game goodbye after encountering such an annoying problem. The dialog in Runaway 2 sparkled which made the long conversations a pleasure that when necessary I could pause mid-word with the space bar. I even forgave the inauspicious cliff hanger ending, a technique that almost guarantees no sequel will be forthcoming for that particular adventure game series and is usually poor dramatic construction anyway.

My question is: Given the crash and subsequent flawed play throughout Chapter Four, should I edit my list to include Runaway: Dream of the Turtle?

I wouldn't recommend a game that crashed all the time, but do you know how common the technical difficulties are with it? It was not stable when I played it and crashed multiple times -- not at every point in the game, but there were two or three game areas where it was unstable and could crash at any time. I played it around the time it first came out, and I don't know if it's any more stable on modern hardware, but a 10-year-old point-and-click game should not have lag on a modern gaming computer.

If you've played Runaway 3, you know it didn't really continue where Runaway 2 left off. Some time had passed between the games.

I'll investigate further and maybe add Twist of Fate instead. Twist of Fate is ingenious in its flashback structure. The game avoids the biggest drag on building rising action in inventory based games. That drag is relentless "And then can I go to the ball, Stepmother?" syndrome wherein the action never starts at all or not until the last too brief chapter because poor player character is too busy fixing generators, fishing keys out of sewers, finding a tire jack, and so on to create any tension or emotional interest. Pendulo avoids player frustration by presenting outcomes first. We know everything will work out in a given manner; we just have to figure out how. That's a bit of a paradox and isn't something I much go for in novels or movies. It works brilliantly for otherwise frustrating inventory based games.

I'm sorry Runaway 2 is crashing for you so often, 8dognight. Are you using the disk version, GOG version or Steam version? The GOG version is perfectly stable on my Windows 7 64 bit. The second Runaway is actually my favorite of the series, but I always recommend the first one, as I think it's better to start with the first game in a series and continue from there if the player enjoys it. The whole series is great, though I missed Sushi in the third game.

Just a suggestion, if you're using an older disk version and don't mind buying it again, you may try getting one of the download versions to see if that helps. I know that GOG in particular has the game listed as compatible all the way through Windows 10. They are generally very good at getting games to work on modern systems. If you already have the download version, I apologize, and you can ignore my suggestion, of course. I just thought I would recommend it, as I have had problems with getting the older Runaway games to work when I've tried to use the disk versions.

I have the game from Steam running on Windows 8.1. My limited understanding, which easily could be mistaken, is that the Chapter Four lag is a Steam issue and only occurs in screens with falling snow. I am going to add Dream of the Turtle to my list. Among the many reasons I admire the series and Pendulo Studios is that, by the use of yet another iffy narrative technique: breaking the fourth wall, these games come closer to a genuinely collaborative third person perspective than I usually encounter. In addition, I think all adventure games should incorporate the ability to pause at any point in the game.

In fact, I admire Pendulo's stories, characterization, and thoughtfulness to players enough that I am going to give the more somber Yesterday and its forthcoming prequel/sequel a try.

Hmmm, I've played all the runaway's and have never had a problem with any of them. I guess each system handles games differently.

Same here, I don't remember any crashes.