Games w/ "Books" In Them

Hi everyone. I was just moseying around the net looking at game screenshots and thinking about how much I love games that have books in them that you can read. It is so much fun for me to click on a beautifully-drawn graphic "book" and flip through the pages...kind of like peeking into someone's secret diary or something! Also, just finding random scraps of paper, notes, etc. is fun too.

I would love to find more games that have plenty of "reading material" in them, and so if you guys wouldn't mind chiming in with your suggestions I'd appreciate it!

PS I've played the following already btw:
Myst Series
Barrow Hill
Syberia 1 and 2
And then there were None

I'm sure there are a bunch I haven't gotten around to yet, so I'll looking forward to seeing your picks for a good game with books and pages to read in it!

Cat, feeling eager to forget about real life today and spend the whole time playing games instead.

catbelly36, love your avatar. Your cat looks just like mine. for the suggestion.

Thought you were talking about actual books. Might try The Longest Journey--the first one had some out takes and drawings. Mysterious Island and CSI games.

Noctropolis, defintely, if you love comic books and superheroes!

Not only are the comic book pages part of narrative, they also are event triggers. Furthermore the entire story is a journey into a comic book world.

However, some parts of the story are more in the tone of and similar to Sin City then Batman, so it depends on your taste.

You'll need Dosbox to play this game. Or an old win 95 PC.

Alternatively, try Zork Grand Inquisitor and Shivers. I am not too fond of the books and documentation in Zork Nemesis. I think it was a bit overdone.

AGON: The Mysterious Codex and Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened spring to mind. So does Timelapse, though that is a much older game.

I think The Blackwell Legacy has diary in it.

Amerzone- I just played that one

The Moment of Silence has a section in it where you can read quite a bit. Many of the Nancy Drews do this well - Secret of the Scarlet Hand had a treasure of Mayan information. If you like French history, The Adventure of the Chateau D'or had lots of it. A lot of folks didn't like the last game because it had so much of it, if I'm recalling correctly, but I thought it was interesting.

S.P.Q.R. may cure you of any desire to ever read anything in a game again. It has a bazillion scrolls to sort through.

I seem to remember having to read through a book in Drowned God.

A lot of Cryo's historical adventure games have an encyclopedia associated with them. (e.g. - Versailles 1685, China: Forbidden City, Aztec (aka Sacred Amulet), etc.)

Celtica had a lot of diary entries to read through. In fact, you wouldn't understand what had happened in the game at all if you didn't read the diary entries.

Ark of Time had a sort of book - the diaries of four Atlantean travellers and how they fared after they lost contact with Atlantis. They were entered into a computerlike machine though rather than being actual books.

And then there's the infamous wall in the Neverhood.

There are books in Nibiru, or at least one that I can remember... more like a diary. There are laods of diaries and books in Scratches if you like spooky stories

There are also ancient texts and diary entries in Black Mirror, which are very interesting.

Oh! The wall in Neverhood! (Shudders reminiscently.)

How about Riddle of the Sphinx? seemed to me I did plenty of reading in its beginning.

Zork: Nemesis probably had the most reading in it of any game I have played - though that didn't bother me. It was the sanitarium in the game that I found too gruesome for comfort.

How about Return to Zork? I must have spent hours poring over the Mayor's cardfile 'library' trying to work out what clues were in it.

Uru also has a number of journals & written material, but I don't think Uru's hall of Kings really counts in this respect because you know you don't need to read all those accounts to go on.

Susan

I love reading the journals and books too, Cat!

Amerzone has some very nicely done books on the ecosystem and creatures in the game!

Nancy Drew Curse of Blackmoor Manor has a library with a big book on the history of the manor and it's former occupants - very interesting!


Edit: Sorry Winfrey, I see you've already mentioned Amerzone!

How bout an obscure entry - Darkseed II. It's on the darkside in the Keeper of the Light's Temple - It references Mike's first conquest.

Catbelly36, I just finished Scratches. Lot's of reading in this game. But beware, super scary toooooo!
Jane

Wow, you guys are SO great! Thank you SO much for the wonderful ideas!

I made a long post responding to each and every one of you, but the site wouldn't accept it saying that I had "too many images" in my post. Since I can't thank you all individually the way I wanted to, I will just say that I appreciate all of you and your help. There isn't a better, more informed, more generous group of people on the internet than you guys and I'm so glad to be a part of this site.

Hugs and thanks all around,
Cat, who is off on a game-aquiring mission now that she has SO many wonderful ideas!

Hi Catbelly....Oakhaven has books you have to read and also in Atlantis 5 I think you read some books


Nan

I would also recommend Daemonica, which has lots and lots to read. I thought the story was very interesting and loved the medieval setting and storyline. There is a teeny tiny bit of combat in it, so teeny that it's hardly worth mentioning, and I would consider it to be very much an adventure game.

Thanks Auntiegram and Marian! I appreicate the great ideas!

Cat

Gabriel Knight 2 has lots of werewolf goodness in written form.

Cathy

Thanks Cathy! I haven't played GK 2 yet...that's definitely going on my list!

Cat