Hi all,

Rushes and BrownEyedTigre mentioned Pandora's Box and Magicama as games that are like Azada.

Being new to casual games, and never having played adventure games at all, I wonder if either of these might be suitable as a starter game.

Or does anyone have other suggestions? Sally at Minute Gamer suggested The Longest Journey, if I remember the name correctly.

I'm looking for something fun and puzzling, like Azada and Dream Chronicles, more so than a role-playing game, a war game, or anything difficult. (My son plays with others online and spends hours killing them or questing for various objects -- I don't want to do that.)

I'm using a laptop and running Vista. I do have some trouble with various games (Da Vinci Code ran slow, Mysteryville played sound but no picture, Da Vinci Secret gave me an error).

I've been told that these are possibly fixable, but I called my son last night and he said no, when this computer was refurbished they installed everything new.

(This might be just his way of getting out of doing boring jobs. So I might have to try and do some fixes on my own. See you in the Glitches area soon...)

Will I need to buy a CD or are any REAL games downloadable?

Thanks to all you VERY helpful gamers for any suggestions!

Margaret

Pandoras Box and Magicama are puzzle games not "real adventure games". A good starter "adventure" game would be Syberia. Lovely graphics and simple interface with a very absorbing story.

I would first check in glitches that the specs on your laptop are adequate to run the games.

Ana

Hello,
I would try Keepsake! It is a beautiful game and has a built in help(hint) option which is perfect for beginners. It also has a tutorial at the beginning which also makes it perfect for beginners. It has a built in map which makes moving around easier! I have also successfully loaded this game on laptops. I could go on and on about this game but it has a female heroin and graphics so beautiful you will wonder what kept you from playing this game until now and why you waited so long.Trust me!
Geo

My first adventure games , were the Nancy Drew Series. If you are a newbie,these are simple, adventureous, fun and have walkthroughs for everyone. Great story lines.Simple interface and don't require a lot of RAm or juice ( in your computer) if you know what I mean.

Cursor are easy , never came accross any glitches as you might in Keepsake or Syberia. Cursors are a bit more complex in these two games. The longest journey, would be a bit frustrating I think for someone new to adventure gaming.
These are my suggestions, worth a thought I think.

My first adventure games were Amerzone and Black Mirror--both a lot of fun.

I recently played Destination: Treasure Island and think that might be a good starter game too. Not too hard and it held my attenion.

I don't think I'd recommend Keepsake for a beginner, the puzzles are extremely difficult even with the hint system, and I think it would be frustrating for someone unused to adventure gaming.

I would recommend Syberia, the Nancy Drew games, and Destination: Treasure Island, as others have mentioned above. They are all straightforward, and a lot of fun to play. NiBiRu is also a wonderful game - and it's linear, so no wandering around wondering what to do next.

I gave Keepsake to a newbie before and he didnt have any trouble at all. He even discovered the transporter map available in-game I didnt know was there.The hint system is great beacause you can choose hints all the way up to having the puzzle solved for you.I dont think that would be frustrating if the puzzle can be solved for you.I wouldnt recommend Nancy Drew unless you are a 12 year old girl.Thats who they are targeted for.

I started out with Myst, but that might not play on vista, Syberia and Amerzone are both good. Remember the Nancy Drews have timed and arcade sequences in them.

How about Shivers 1 for an adventure game starter? It's a beautiful game (set in a museum) - a lot of puzzles!! I've played it over and over - it's challenging, but very fun (hopefully it will run in the Vista environment)

Kudos to your friend, his brain must be wired to solve those particular types of puzzles - I know mine wasn't! I huffed and puffed over many of them. But if the puzzle is too difficult and you need to resort to a solve, where is the joy in that? The fun, for me at least, is in the satisfaction of successfully thinking my way around a puzzle and seeing the outcome. As for the Nancy Drew games, they may be targeted at teenagers but I know that many of us older Boomers love to play them too, and find the puzzles and storylines engaging and enjoyable. Timed sequences aside, I still feel they are perfect for beginners.

Keepsake is a beautiful gamefor newbies & old people like myself. I don't like games that aren't point & click or that you die in or have to shoot. Once you get started you won't stop. Welcome to our wonderful world of adventure!

Why not start with Runaway = good fun and you can't die nor do you have to shoot anyone. If you get stuck in a game try the Universal Hint System or UHS as it is also known. It will give you the little hint you may need up to the full solution. Enjoy as I and many others do!

Keepsake is so beautifully boxed and a wonderful gift for a newbie, I loved the game...and as for Nancy Drew well she does not discriminate because "The Young and The "Old"
just love her to bits

My first were also Nancy Drew games...They all seem to run great on any system for me.

Have Fun..
Adventure games are the way to go

Syberia was one of the first ones I played- It was recommended-- I loved that came- the graphic are wonderful-- it has a nice story line- beautiful scenery good puzzles-- this game will bring you back for more

I love Nancy Drew as well and I'm definitely not 12 years old. My very first game was a Nancy Drew game,(Blue Moon Canyon) and I have been hooked on Adventure Games ever since. I did find it very easy for beginners and I enjoyed the stories. They may be targeted for 12 year olds, but that being said, they are enjoyable, a lot a fun and can keep you on your toes. Now that is just my opinion but I'm sticking with it. Syberia was my favorite game of all times, both 1 and 2. Great story line and will keep you hooked until the end. I'm sure whatever you choose you will enjoy and you will keep coming back for more. I did.

Runaway 2 is a lot of fun if your friend likes to think outside the box, and like others have said, the Syberias are great.

I also have enjoyed both the Ankhs (again, you have to think outside the box a bit).

I really like Secrets of Da Vinci and Tunguska. I love Keepsake too, but it is hard (or at least it was for me; you are the best judge of difficulty for your friend).

Darkfall was also one of the earliest games I played and I loved it. I did "play" with a friend (at a distance--we both played the game 1000 miles apart and chatted and discussed it and got hints from each other) which was an extremely helpful way to play a "first" adventure game.

Thank you all so much for the great recommendations!

Now all I have to do is choose one. Or two. Or...

Margaret

I started out with Myst, and it was impossible for me because I did not know what walkthroughs were. Later, I loved it. I think one of my first was Grim Fandango (keyboard and all) but I guess I was not as set in my ways then. Amerzone was one of my early ones, and a Myst like game called Comer. Of course, there was Sanitarium. But I guess none of these will play on Vista. Well, I had fun reminiscing.
Marion

I think your son misunderstood and thought you meant to change the laptop. It is not easy or cheap to change laptop components. And it is doubtful that you would have a video card. Most likely your video is integrated in the motherboard and would be shared memory.

Fixable solutions would be like changing the compatibility mode for the game and making sure your resolution was correct for the game. Also checking your drivers are up-to-date and DirectX and Java as well.

I am playing in XP and not Vista so you have an entirely different set of problems with a newer system. That said, can you run ScummVm in your laptop? This would open a lot of the great classical games for you, like the LucasArts games.

Have you tried any of the games using compatibility mode? It isn't difficult to do and would be my first step if I was you.

Linda

I'd go along with Syberia also but for pure fun I'd go with the Tex Murphy games, the first 2 Broken Swords and the Discworld games for pure hilarity!

Hi Margaret and welcome to the wonderful world of adventure gaming.

If you'd like to try before you buy you should check out the Free Games Galore site here. You can download free adventure games to play and that will give you an idea of what you would like to look for in a game. I'd suggest Dead City, it has nice graphics. The Oracle is another good one, also Reactor 09 and Duty and Beyond. There are so many of them to try it's like opening a surprise package. You'll find something you like there. Hope this helps and happy gaming.

Margatet i posted this same question a couple years ago.
I wanted to get some friends into adventure games.
Amerizone is very good ,and like the Boomers said
Syberia is too.
I had good luck starting them off with Blackstone Chronicles.
It plays on any system good story,good graphics ,and not to
hard.The play area is small too[not running all over the world]
This worked for me,but all these games that were posted are good
Ron

You know, the Sam and Max series is just hitting stores, and that is a good starter. Each episode is fairly short, but they all meld together to tell a larger story and they are very funny.

The very, very first adventure game I ever played was Mario Bros. for the Gameboy. From there it stemmed to The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask (horrible game), and on to the computer, on which I've had countless games.

Since Mario Bros. is practically an antique, I'd have to say to go for a game like Siberia, Siberia II, or URU (not URU live, mind you, but the store-bought URU games). Those three games really have a great storyline, and each a very rewarding ending. They'd be great intro to the genre.

Cheers,

H4XX