They’re quietly released with minimal commercial impact and yet still rigorously consumed by a devoted niche of gamers. Today, traditional adventure-game releases are few and far between. Until The Sims came along in 2000, the best-selling PC game of all time was Myst, which was largely responsible for the CD-ROM age in personal computing. During its heyday, top developers Sierra and LucasArts were releasing new blockbuster adventure games as quickly as they could develop them. The brain-racking challenges of adventure games were a big part of the genre’s allure. They rarely made an effort to nudge a perplexed player in the right direction. Typically slower paced and narrative-driven with an emphasis on characters and puzzle solving, adventure games were often unforgiving. And that means that this kid has probably never even heard of one of my favorite games of all time: Grim Fandango.įrom the mid-’80s through the mid-’90s, adventure was one of the biggest genres in gaming. As the 13-year-old tuned out my ramblings and deftly descended upon Loot Lake, it occured to me that no one but us “olds” had likely ever played a traditional adventure game. His Fortnite character’s bunny skin had reminded me of Max from the popular Sam & Max series of adventure games. Our series continues today with Grim Fandango, LucasArts’ adventure classic.Ī few weeks ago, I found myself trying to explain “adventure” games to a present-day adolescent.

Throughout the year, The Ringer ’s gaming enthusiasts will be paying tribute to the legendary titles turning 20 in 2018 by replaying them for the umpteenth time or playing them for the first time, talking to the people who made them, and analyzing both what made them great and how they made later games greater. Art may largely be a matter of taste, but one conclusion is close to inarguable: 1998 was the best year ever for video games, producing an unparalleled lineup of revolutionary releases that left indelible legacies and spawned series and subcultures that persist today.

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