There are 22 games this year. I know you’re itching to just get into it, so let’s do it!

#3 – Space Quest 6

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPis5PI9S24

I’ll admit that besides 4 and 6, I’m not much of a Space Quest fan. As I mentioned before, this is primarily due to sci-fi logic, but it’s also because in my opinion, it is literally one of the most unforgiving, terribly difficult series of adventure games I’ve ever come across. There are several in-jokes if you’re into sci-fi stuff, but it’s almost as if you need to be on the same wavelength as the developer in order to succeed in these games.

Until this one. SQ6 was the best mix of creative but not too terribly difficult puzzles, only a few pixel hunts here and there, implemented a system where you had absolutely no way to get stuck, had an immediate retry option a la Leisure Suit Larry 6 and King’s Quest 7, and I really got into the new drawn style. It was much better than KQ7’s and was pretty unique overall.

Nevermind that the humor and voice actors this time around were top notch. I did not need a walkthrough to beat this one and yet I can’t claim it’s easy, either. It’s just really damn fun.

#2 – The Dig

…You might need a walkthrough for this one. Yet again, there’s more sci-fi logic. I don’t want to discuss too much about this title, but suffice to say it was co-written by Steven Spielburg. There are multiple endings, great characters and dialogue, an excellent plot overall, and lots of interesting surprises. This is a very fun, but tough adventure game that’s worth playing through a couple of times to experiment with different stuff.

#1 – I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream

“AM is a dick.” This is a comment I received upon posting my completion of this title on my backloggery and I absolutely cannot agree more. Yes, this is another sci-fi title, but taken from a very interesting semi-post apocalyptic stance with an evil supercomputer. There’s so much dark symbolism, great characters and dialogue, and lots of twists and tragedy. This is one of the only adventure games that I actually genuinely felt sorry for some of the characters involved.

Gripping, dark, and absolutely amazing, this is a game you absolutely cannot pass up.

Runner Ups

This was a very interesting year for adventure games. There are maybe only 3 games on here I wouldn’t recommend, but the rest of them are top notch. This was a tough year to choose a top 3. Hell, it would’ve been a tough year to choose a top 5! I highly recommend checking these titles out ASAP.

Big Red Adventure
Call of Cthulhu – Prisoner of Ice
Dark Seed 2
Discworld
Flight of the Amazon Queen
Full Throttle
Innocent Until Caught 2
Journeyman Project 2 – Buried in Time
Orion Conspiracy
Phantasmagoria
Police Quest SWAT
Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! – The Riddle of Master Lu
Shivers
Simon the Sorcerer 2
Star Trek – The Next Generation – A Final Unity
Teen Agent
The Beast Within – A Gabriel Knight Mystery
Torin’s Passage
Touche – The Adventures of the Fifth Musketeer