I am preparing my selections for the annual recommendation list and I was wondering what you all think are some of the more under rated adventure games. I am a third person, humor based puzzle fan. Every year I am surprised that the Monkey Island, Simon the Sorcerer, and Tony Tough like games don't rate better. I guess the biggest surprise of all for me is that the Discworld games get so few mentions. Any games out there that you think deserve a little more love?

A little more love.

This doesn't explain Tony Tough (who happens to be one of my favorite adventure game characters), but for series games like Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer, the votes can get distributed amongst the several games.

So, for instance, a person might like all the Monkey Island games, but pick only one because that person doesn't want to use up four slots on their list just for Monkey Island games.

Nancy Drew is another example -- when the final results are posted, you'll often see that (for instance) ten of the Nancy Drew games have 2 or 3 votes each, but that none of the Nancy Drew games will have garnered, say, 20 votes.

I always think that Shadow of Destiny should get more votes, but that's my own "innovative and underappreciated" pick. Its keyboard controls make it less accessible than other games, and you have to play all the endings to really figure out what's going on -- something not every gamer is (understandably) willing to do.

Hi Space Quest Fan
I think when you've got to the point where you've played 200+ games, most of which you have loved & would play again sometime, it's difficult to narrow a choice down to 20.

I tend to pick things that in my mind stand out, & usually just one of a series with the thought that if you like that you'll seek out the others.

I try & avoid including games that have either known technical problems e.g Paradise & BS4 or issues with the interface such as The Awakened & Dreamfall even though I really liked them! Also with some great new games coming out all the time, this means some of the older classics have to move over to make room! Doesn't mean that they are underrated & no-one loves them anymore.

Shadows of Destiny, I would agree Becky, is one up-to-date game that has been underrated & one I keep forgetting about when I do my list!

A lot of gamers who've only started adventure gaming relatively recently will only be able to list what they've played, which is usually relatively recent games made for XP. So this skews the list away from the older games like DOS games and early Windows games, most of which are no longer available in retail shops.

Most under-rated? 80 Days - which last year was stranded in a remote corner of The List sniffling into a handkerchief. It's partly my fault, I didn't vote for it last year either! It's a fine game, it should be cherished.

One game I've always thought should be near the top is an old one: Drowned God. It's clever, fun, and harkens back to a lot of strange stuff from the 60's. (Hmmm, so do I.) Another element of 'greatness' is that it runs easily on XP.

Checking the lists over the years has seen older games get pushed off by the newer ones, which is inevitable I reckon.
I can't disagree with Shadow of Destiny, which I think I put on my list last year, and Drowned God is certainly worthy of a mention in this thread.
My personal under rated game favourite is Isabelle, although the controls and tasks will drive many people nuts.
And is there a lovelier "game" than Ceremony of Innocence?

Hi

I'm an ardent fan of the old games. I have loads in my collection and I regularly replay them.
AND they figure in my selection every year

But people's tastes are so different ....
Plus the limited graphics of really old games will hardly appeal to the newer generation of gamers who have been reared on the top notch variety ??

And how many of these younger players have ever even heard of DOS anyway, let alone used it ??

Well, I would say an underated game for me is the very old "Dragonsphere"

Cheers.

Mad

I know the graphics don't hold up to todays standards but a few of the older games that I thought had great puzzles were Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders. The old Indiana Jones games were also a big hit for me. If Sierra or Lucas Films made it I had to have it.

I've got Dragonsphere running in DOSBox right now, Mad.

Toonstruck, Touche The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer, and Azrael's Tear would be a few of my choices for underrated adventure games.

Hi

Marian, you clever girl !!
I play it in my oldest machine .... haven't been brave enough to tackle DOSBox yet

I just thought of another great old game that never gets a mention these days :

Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender !!

The coal fired spaceship in that game really got to me

Cheers.

Mad

Got to agree drowned god although an old game is one of the best for me

For me it was a no-brainer. Dead Reefs is about the most under-rated game I can think of and I hated it in the beginning and hated for it to end at the end.

Linda

RE: Rex Nebular and the Cosmic Gender Bender !!, who can find the game? I know I have looked and looked for better than a year but cannot find it anywhere. If yours needs a new home Mad I would love to offer my house.

Hi

I have found where it's available but we shouldn't use this thread ....

CYE.

Cheers.

Mad

I love the Discworld games, more please. Sense of humour games are always personal and if a game advertises itself as being humerous I usually avoid it like the plague. I prefer a game to rely on great puzzles & lovely locations.

I think it's Lights Out. It got good reviews but I almost always see people here make negative or indifferent comments about it, and I don't understand why. It has elements of horror, sci-fi and mystery story all wrapped into one, a really creative and well-thought-out story, and just the right amount of creepiness to keep you looking over your shoulder in the wee hours.

It never pretended to be a sequel or continuation to DarkFall, so I don't get all the complaints about how different it was.

Argyle I have never heard of Lights Out before. It sounds kind of interesting to me. Another series that seemed under rated to me was the Kyrandia games. I always thought The Dig was a very creative game too.

I agree about the Kyrandia games. Loved them! Another game I thought didn't get any play was "Rent-A-Hero".

Wasn't Lights Out originally put out as DarkFall II but that changed when The Adventure Company took it over? Looking at the TAC box, it states "Prepare for what happens after DarkFAll", so it kind of suggests that it is a sequel or has a strong connection to the first game.

One that springs to mind for me is Callahan's Crosstime Saloon. I still have some of the ones mentioned here in my to play pile, so its nice to see I may have some pleasant surprises ahead.

Albert

I love Discworld Noir - the whole Maltese Falcon theme always crack me up. It's Magical - it works under winXP! 1 and 2 were just a bit too frustrating - there weren't many hints, and Rincewind tend to just say "that doesn't work" for everything.

Other games that I still remember years afterwards: Return of the Phantom, The Resident's Freak Show, Return to Zork, Riddle of Master Li, and this scary and sad number called I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream. I can't get half of these to run on my pc anymore.

The Dame Was Loaded.

Riddle of Master Lu and Rent-A-hero are two good ones that had slipped my mind. Anyone ever hear of Les Manley or Altered Destiny?

A big thank you to BrownEyedTigre for the heads up on the Go Gamer sale of Secret Files: Tunguska. I only bought it because it was rated so high on last years annual game list and the blowout pricing. I can see it making it onto next years list for me.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I thought it was great too!

Ana

Shivers
Maniac Mansion

Series that seemed under rated for me it is Light Outs,AnaCapri and Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun.

Love Maria

Here are some others I never see mentioned

Kings Quest games
So You Want To Be A Hero games
Camelot
Atlantis games
Rex Nebular
Dark Seed