I grew up playing card games and dominoes--dh and I played board games and card games---watched the kids play Sega but never had time--and finally when the kids were all gone had watched my PS2 son play enough to think it might be fun--so bought a console---talked enough with my sister who is an adventure gamer and started playing an adventure game with her---then got an Xbox to play some of the Xbox games with my other son--and decided to try DD with the Dark Side folks--I even like platformers--but I am not very good at them--

I started Adventuring late, too. I found Riven and got hooked in 2000 when I was 41. I found out that I really don't like action/timed/stealth puzzles or keyboard controls in my adventures, so I've never been tempted by other types of computer games. I do like to play puzzle games like Pandora's Box, Magnetic, Elemental, etc. and I subscribe to Peter's Jigsaws as well.

I'm 42. I started out playing Actiony games in the local arcade (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc) 20 years ago or so, the progressed to actiony-shooter-adventure-exploring dangerous places games like Duke Nukem, Cosmo, HOcus Pocus--don't really know what you would call those games. But anyway, my true love is the first person adventure a la MYST. Following that, puzzle heavy (rather than conversation heavy) third person. I don't like things jumping out and killing me repeatedly anymore. I also play lots of puzzle games.

WW

Me and my bro spent a small fortune while on holiday playing TMHT arcade. We didnt move till we completed it

I don't really know what defines an RPG. Is it the turn-based combat ? I've played , or tried I should say , a couple of critically acclaimed RPGs like Star Wars-Knights of The Old Republic and Final Fantasy. I don't really care for the turn-based combat. I would rather do my own fighting. I played a game called Beyond Good and Evil recently , which plays like an RPG in every respect , except the combat ( i.e. fighting ) was real-time , but that game is considered to be an Action-adventure.

I agree about the keyboard controls being awkward. If I had to rely on mouse and keyboard controls for the 3D action-adventure games I wouldn't like it much. I have a PS2 and Xbox for those type of games , and since there's really no replay value in them for me , I rent them instead of purchasing. I can usually beat one in a few days , return it , and move on to the next one. I just played Uru recently using mouse and keyboard , and navigating was a bit awkward , but there was no combat so it was ok. They make an adapter to connect an Xbox controller to the PC USB port. I think most of the 3D style games support a gamepad or joystick control.

To date I've finished over 100 PS2 and Xbox titles , and a couple of dozen PC Adventure games , mostly games similar to Myst , the 2D slideshow presentation type. I'm leaning more toward the PC Adventures these days as I have alot of catching up to. I was glad to see " The List" posted in this forum so I make a nice long wish list of games I want to play.

No. There are plenty of real time RPG's. Usually what distinguishes an RPG is the stats management - getting experience points from winning battles and completing quests and assigning these points to various abilities to improve your character(s) fighting ability. Also, you often have a group of characters in an RPG instead of just one.

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I've played , or tried I should say , a couple of critically acclaimed RPGs like Star Wars-Knights of The Old Republic and Final Fantasy.

Try Divine Divinity.

Excellent suggestion for DD. Another plus is that it is mouse, more or less point and click controlled, with a few keyboard commands should you want to use them, like hitting the space bar for pause. A really easy learning curve too. Another that just came out that doesn't have the humor of DD, but is a much shorter RPG and easy to learn is Heretic. One that a bunch of us are playing right now is Sacred Plus (and the expansion Sacred Underworld), and it is a bit harder than the other two, but chockfull of humor that is keeping us laughing hysterically. You don't die really, you just get resurrected, LOL. I think playing with a party is much more difficult, and I would sure recommend starting with a single character RPG like the ones I just mentioned. If you enjoyed Beyond Good and Evil, which went from easy to hard by halfway through the game, you won't have any problem whatsoever with those, I don't think.

EDIT : Oh no, I am repeating myself! I've become my mother!

I have Sacred, i downloaded the free bonus pack thing as well but it had crc errors so have to redownload it.

Can you download the expansion pack for free or is it a pay thing as I was going to say i'd play a team game with you nickie if i could get expansion pack for free as i dont think you will be willing to play without it.

To Jenny100 , Thanks for clarifying the RPG thing for me. Also , I read your review of Dark Fall - Lights Out. I had read a review of this game at Gamespot and based on that review , I wasn't going to play it. That was before I found GameBoomers. After reading your review and Beckys' review of the DF1 , I changed my mind and sure enough , you guys were more on par than Gamespot. I thought Dark Fall was great and I'm about to start on Lights Out.

To Nickie, Do these games you mention have real-time combat ?

I'm 70 and a few years ago I discovered adventure games. My first one was The crystal Key, then myst, I was hooked. I havent stopped playing since. I love the concept of solving puzzles and using these old reflexes to try to beat some of the "arcade" sequences. It has made me smarter(I like to think) and given me an outlet and something to talk to my grandchildren about. They think I am "cool" . Thanks to some very helpful boomers I have now learned to use the keyboard to play and I love it. I will not stop. Now I go to EB and get all the games I can afford, you would be surprised all the seniors are there doing the same thing. Just wish in Canada there were more games to buy, however now EB is going gamespot this might change. The manager of my EB now saves me the games he thinks I might be interested in. Thats service. Cheers

P.S I should say thanks for all the help I receive from Jennie and McG and all the other boomers who pitch in, also for the very good - no excellent - walkthroughs that help when I get well and truly stuck.

Hi Teresa , That's an interesting point you make about the games "making you smarter" and providing another vehicle to communicate with your grandchildren. I think of adventure games and other genres of games to be good "brain exercise". They definitely improve ones concentration and observation skills. It also seems as though the "generation gap" between kids and their parents/grandparents has become wider in recent years. Taking an interest in what the kids enjoy is an excellent way to narrow that gap. I believe anyone who enjoys a good movie or a good work of fiction would be intrigued by adventure games , if only they would try one.

Robert, it is true that this is a good way to communicate. I knew nothing about computors when I started, but with the kids on board I learned, then if I got stuck I got out the good book, read it, and did what it said. RFM became a watchword, and I still do it. I didnt think I could until I tried. A few months ago I tried Alida which is very hard to load, with the help of the manual and boomers I learned to save and paste and now Ive learned something else so its all a question of believing you can do it.

I started with Myst at age 61, a year after getting my first computer(2002)
Got totally hooked and have been merrily BAAGing and playing ever since.Started with only point & click adventures, then played my first action adventure-Indiana Jones Infernal Machine, then the Thief games, Outcast,Anachronox and Noone Lives forever.
Playing games keeps me thinking young,never bored,and mind alert. It's the best thing since sliced bread!
I like to switch back and forth between adventure and action. I like the heart thumping, exciting pace of action games as well as the slower paced more relaxing puzzle based ones as long as they are beautiful and interesting to look at.
64 going on 10

Hi bigmamma , I loved No One Lives Forever. It combined the first person shooter with some adventure elements. Cate Archer was a hoot !! I loved her sarcastic humor in the game. I played that one on my PS2 a couple of years ago . I saw a post in the RPG/Action forum about NOLF 2 . So I went to gamespot.com to check it out , but it's only availible on the PC (was rated 9.3= superb ). Do you use mouse and keyboard controls for you shooters/action games ? I would need a PC compatible controller , I think the mouse/keyboard interface would be too awkward.