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#40 – Myst IV: Revelation
The Myst franchise changed hands once again after the release of Exile, as Ubisoft took over the reins for 2004's Myst IV: Revelation. Thankfully, the result was an exceptional game that combined all the elements that made its predecessors so great while adding a few dynamic qualities of its own. Not only does it tell a fantastic story, but in sending players to the worlds where Atrus’s sons are imprisoned (along with two others), the artists created what is arguably the best looking Myst game ever created. The new Ages are incredibly diverse, from the fog-enshrouded tower peaks of the dreary Spire to the prehistory-tinged land of Haven, and each is filled with little animations that bring them to vivid life. To capture it all, Myst IV shipped only on DVD, helping pioneer the shift to a new medium just like the original Myst did more than a decade earlier.
Revelation isn’t all beauty without brains, of course. After the relative ease of Myst III, the puzzles here are extremely complex and challenging, yet always fair and nicely integrated. To help keep track of clues, for the first time in the series a camera was provided to photograph important details for later reference, and a personal journal allowed for in-game note taking. The interface was updated with additional interactivity as well, requiring you to physically pull levers or turn pages in a book. This was mainly a cosmetic addition, but it added to the overall sense of immersion. And by returning the storyline to its original roots, players were once again given a choice between the two brothers, offering another chance to determine their fates once and for all. Though the genre’s heyday was long gone by the time of its release, Myst IV proved that the franchise still had the power to deliver a compelling puzzle-adventure experience that few others have ever surpassed.
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#39 – Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
As the sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215, Cing’s Last Window: The Secret of Cape West had its work cut out for it, but it was clearly up to the challenge and then some. In the ongoing story of ex-cop Kyle Hyde, now door-to-door salesman and finder of things that don’t always want to be found, Kyle is without a job and soon to be without a home. But his life takes an even more unexpected turn when he is offered a chance to find out what happened to his father 25 years ago, right there in the same apartment building that’s about to be demolished. Before long, you’ve become fully immersed in yet another gritty interactive story, with its hand-drawn graphics and film noir-like atmosphere that make the game very hard to put down. Not when there’s so much to do, as exploring the Cape West apartment building involves visiting and interrogating fascinating characters and solving well-integrated, multi-solution puzzles, all while discovering plenty of dark secrets along the way.
As with the first game, the Nintendo DS is held sideways like a book while playing, and the shoulder buttons, microphone, and folding platform itself are put to good use in situations where the player’s actions perfectly mimic in-game activity. The game also introduces several new improvements over its predecessor, and even includes a full novelized version of your exploits in detail at the end of each chapter. This is a great refresher if you’ve been away from the game (it’s so long you’ll have to put it down once in a while), though you’ll likely be eager to dive right back into the game, if only to access the impressive jazz soundtrack from the in-game jukebox. You need to love reading to enjoy games like this, but if you do, Last Window is a masterpiece of interactive fiction brilliantly blended with graphic novel sensibilities. It may have been the swan song for its talented Japanese developers, but they certainly went out on a high note.
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#38 – Full Throttle
The words "effortlessly cool" are not normally attached to point-and-click games, but Full Throttle is precisely that. The epic opening sequence of a lone biker’s inner monologue as he drives along a highway sets a riveting stage for the high-octane adventure to come. Written and designed by Tim Schafer, the 1995 motorcycle-themed release offered lavish graphics, a brilliantly voice-acted cast of characters, and a rockin' soundtrack. If there’s one teensy little flaw, it’s that it’s short – really short. So short you’ll think you’ve done something wrong when the credits roll. It’s perhaps the only real reason (and maybe a few ill-conceived action sequences) it doesn’t occupy a more elevated position on our list. But being left wanting more isn’t just a testament to its abbreviated length, but also the quality of the adventure to that point.
Full Throttle represented a big step forward both graphically and technically for LucasArts in 1995. The soundtrack featured biker band The Gone Jackals, the first time commercial music had been used in one of their games, while the SCUMM engine was overhauled entirely and the superb voice cast sported names like Tress MacNeille (The Simpsons) and Mark Hamill (Star Wars) on the roster. The cast is first-rate, with the late Roy Conrad's grizzled anti-hero Ben providing a completely new take on the point-and-click protagonist; a guy you can never quite understand and would certainly never want to meet in a dark alley. The art direction was unparalleled at the time, and its bleak, dystopian setting was brought vividly to life with some gorgeous backdrops and cutting edge animation thrown in to round it all off. It may have ended too soon, but Full Throttle was one game that fired on all cylinders while it lasted.
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#37 – Stacking
A game where every character is a Russian nesting doll can be easy to dismiss as child’s play, but Double Fine's 2011 downloadable Stacking has a charming appeal as broad as its humour. Set in 1930s America, the game stars Charlie Blackmore, the smallest matryoshka doll in the world whose family has been abducted by a cruel captain of industry and forced to work under horrible conditions to advance the tycoon’s vague-yet-diabolical plot. Overlooked because of his size, Charlie uses his diminutive stature to – in true stacking doll fashion – jump into a series of incrementally larger dolls in order to solve puzzles, free his family, and ultimately stem the tide of greed and corruption that threatens the working class. In another compelling touch, all the action is displayed in a stylish period vision, complete with cinematic silent film dioramas.
What makes jumping into other dolls so much fun isn't just their often funny reactions to the sudden invasion, but the fact that each dolls boasts a special ability. Some, such as headbutting people or performing a pantomime, are simply for colour or to accomplish one of the game's many sub-goals, but many of them, such as attracting the attention of lusty men, are integral to solving puzzles. Deep down, Stacking uses the same tried-and-true “find the key to open the door” gameplay employed by countless other adventures, but here the “key” is another doll or sequence of dolls and the “door” ranges from a staggered piano concert to an absurd dog race, which is what makes the game so engaging and utterly unique. Simple in design, Stacking turns the basic elements of adventure gaming on their ear – not by obfuscating puzzles through layers of absurdity but by iterating on one simple change. This not only makes the game eminently entertaining but elevates it to a high shelf in gaming history.
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#36 – Sanitarium
Sanitarium may start with a clichéd premise – horrible car accident, man wakes up unable to recall his own identity – but from the moment you discover the protagonist wrapped in heavy bandages in a decrepit mental hospital, every detail becomes suspect as you begin a surreal journey through the patient's psyche to discover the truth about his condition and his past. Throughout the game, the story alternates between the “real world” of the sanitarium and the twisted depths of the protagonist's mind, which manifest as a variety of disparate locales, from a mutant plant-infested farm to an Aztec civilization to a weird alien bug world. Not only does the landscape change, the character does as well in reaction to the “reality” he is currently facing. While you are Max Laughton in the hospital, once you enter his mind's eye, you will transform into characters such as a tribal god, a multi-armed Cyclops, and a little girl. While the transitions may seem nonsensical at first, they all come together in the end, and along the way you experience a truly affecting and horrific story of love and loss.
Initially marred by some technical issues upon its release in 1998, including a game-stopping bug in the second area, Dreamforge’s magnum opus marched on and eventually received critical recognition for the creativity of its settings, the strength of its narrative and the quality of its puzzle design. Like a David Lynch movie, it’s impossible to tell fantasy from reality, though you’ll constantly try to piece together each tantalizingly cryptic piece of the memory puzzle as you encounter them. While not a “horror” game per se, the ever-changing but consistently creepy atmosphere is among the best the genre has had to offer before or since. Along with its rotating world mechanic and switching protagonists, it also has one of the most sincere and genuinely moving moments in gaming history. While the game failed to set the sales charts aflame, Sanitarium has rightly come to be considered a cult classic among adventure gamers, and is a worthy addition both to this list and any gamer's library.
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Next up: #35-31...
Continued on the next page...
The heading says “You may also like”, not “These other games are identical”. And anyone who likes Syberia 2 should like ANB. Both have beautiful hand-painted artwork, third-person gameplay, epic storylines, expansive locations, strong characterization, etc. Syberia 2 is more like ANB than Sinking Island.
Like some of the other posters above, I am using this list to remind myself of those games I haven’t yet played and to discover ones I’ve never even heard of. I knew full well going into this that my favorite adventure games would never, ever appear in the top 100 at any gaming website. I’m one of those freaks that would put the Rhem series and the Mysterious Journey games at the top of such a list. Hmmm, maybe I need to set up my own website…
It’s good to see Cing getting the recognition they deserve with Hotel Dusk and Another Code. The adventure landscape is a duller place without them. Dreamfall and Syberia II are also some of my favourites, though I hope to see their originals much higher in the list, in amongst all the Lucas Arts and Sierra games ;-)
They could also say you’d might like The Longest Journey, in reference to Syberia 2, but that one is of course still upcoming in the list :-)
Another suggestion could be “Journey to the center of the earth”, i sincerely hope this is no indication we can still expect this game in the Top50, given the fact it hasn’t been featured yet!
i really gotta try gold rush! it sounds fun. im also definitely getting Gemini Rue.. cant believe i never heard of it. Book Of Unwritten Tales looks really great too, and im intrigued to try I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. i need to get around to these. Riddle Of Master Lu and LSL7 are several others i never got to try…
u made me realize i missed alot of great games. thanks for this list!!
hard to make list of 100 top adventures, it’s too individual, i just seen 20 places so far and i can already say i disagree , the dig on no 92 no way ;], and my top adventure will always be indiana jones and the fate of atlantis
“And anyone who likes Syberia 2 should like ANB.”
Well, no. I loved Syberia, both parts. ANB didn’t impress me at all as a game and AFAIC, there’s no way the artwork in that one comes even close to the quality of artwork in Syberia. So my lack of motor control was due to “you might also like ANB”. It really doesn’t follow, even though, from the ‘on paper’ resemblance you note, anyone might think it did.
Hence the word “might” originally. 
No two games or people are alike. These are just secondary recommendations that should appeal to many. If they were sure things, they’d be on the main list. 
I really wanted to get into ANB and play through it immediately. But i could not get into it at all.. The english voice acting was amazingly bad to me. And the puzzles were kindv annoying.. The story seemed like it might have some promise.. but i quickly lost interest with the game. I might have to make another attempt eventually.
About #71’s “You might also like [...] especially #4” :
Too bad there never was a #4… According to the creators/publishers, the leisure suit larry sequence goes like 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7. They claim they dont understand WHY there has to be a #4 so they just skipped that one 
In my opinion that’s what makes Al Lowe stand out when it comes to adventure games!!!
Yeah, Kosa, that was the joke.
Bah ,#45 – The Curse of Monkey Island, it’s a sin.
hmm yeah, “infocom games” at number 50 is definitely cheating
Still dont know why is Syberia2 on 55. Hope that’s the price if Syberia 1 is in top 10. For me both parts are like one game.
This is an awesome list! I was hoping to see one of the games from the Atlantis series make it on here, but I’m starting to doubt it. Oh well, I can’t wait to see where Heavy Rain, Portal, Syberia, and, perhaps, L.A. Noire or Stacking end up!
Really-really hoping on Riven being in top10.
Kinda disappointed with low rank for Loom, but… oh well, it’s your list, after all.
I am also very interested, if KGB, Agharta, Azrael’s Tear, Zero Critical and Pathologic will manage to claw their way into this list (but somehow I already doubt it).
The Curse of monkey Island at #45? Are you serious? I am playing adventure games since 1993 and this game, together with Day of the Tentacle is my #1 game. I was sure it will make at least the Top 10. Usually I see eye to eye with AdventureGamers reviewers, but this id too much!
Please fix the list.
In general, very strange choices for quite high places. Ghost Trick? Infocom? I mean, OK, they may have a room in this list, but in much lower place.
simon the sorcerer is in no way better than COMI!
It was really good to see Sanitarium appreciated. If it weren’t for the wooden voice acting of the main character and the horrible sequence at the end that demands way too much of ‘my’ reflexes, it would be much higher on my own, personal list of greats but it is definitely there and definitely a great game.
Wow, the selection of games at ranks 40 to 31 is really, really, really strong. It’s almost hard to believe that there are 30 adventures which are better than those.
It’ s interesting to see a lot of titles from a portable device - NDS. We haven’t even seen Phoenix yet! Besides, i’m so satisfied as a huge nintendo fan 
I would not rank the games in your order, but then who would? Still I like your list very much, it isn´t predictable, it´s even in some ways controversial I guess . But all the same with sound motivation accompanying it.
I am also glad Space Bar, The Dark Eye, Spycraft, Feeble Files and Black Dahlia are in top 100. They are great games. And also nice to see Sanitarium and Riddle of Master Lu.
Btw. recently Dark Earth came on my mind - I never finished this game. Hopefully with the patches I have, it should run on my XP. It is great action adventure game.
So many I haven’t played yet! But two of my favs in the50’s.. hmm.. we’ll see.^^
If Titanic is #100, Dust should be in the list, as it is better game and got better rankings. But in top 20? Wow, that I would not expect. And I wanted to mention, as I am quite nostalgic, 1997 was a great year for (adventure) gamers: two beautiful and atmospheric games I truly love - Atlantis and THE LAST EXPRESS (!) - were released. And some other titles I had pleasure playing - Blade Runner, The Course of Monkey Island, and also Ignition and Theme Hospital :-)
Anyway, I really like this list. I discovered some titles I have not played and want to. And I am glad most of the games I played are on the list.
I hope they’re going to put BASS higher than 19 this time, and maybe put BS at nm.3 / 2 instead of 4???? - I mean, I’m pretty sure that they’re gonna put Monkey Island and Gabriel Knight higher than BS (don’t get me wrong, they’re great games), but I hope they put at atleast at nm. 3! :-)
I thought Blade Runner might rank higher personally, that game was amazing, graphically still holds up, and had choice and consequences/results whereas most AGs still don’t have that.
The fact that Overclocked is mentioned with “you might also like” makes me think we won’t find it on this list. Which is a real shame cause it’s one of the finest games ever imo and quite unique.
Also I think Phoenix Wrong is completely misplaced in the top 30 or really in any top. Not only does it cause epileptic seasures but it’s stories and characters are so completely rediculous it’s only fun if you’re under the age of 12. (of course that’s just my opinion)
Overall I’m really liking the list. Great to see LA Noire and Heavy Rain so high. But Stacking in the top 40? Of all time? Hmmm.
Great to see QFG4 Shadows of Darkness ranked so high. Well deserved, I would say.
The narrator is named John, BTW, not Jonathan. :-)
So far I’ve come across 19 titles in this list that I can play on consoles and the DS. Woohoo! I can’t wait to see where you guys have placed Portal 2. Its gotta be coming. We need more console adventure games. Its been great seeing them steadily increase these last couple years on the PS3. Now I’m off to go buy a Wii and play some Zack and Wiki! Looks great!
Awesome list. So many great games here, many of which I would love to replay and quite a few I am yet to play. The top 20 will be amazing, and although mostly brilliant games in 40-25, I felt that there were a few games in this range that were average to good at best and didn’t think they even came close to similarly ranked games. Just my thoughts though, other than that I’m fairly happy that the entire 100 so far is an accurate ranking of some brilliant and entertains games.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis better than The Secret of Monkey Island? No way, I must disagree.
Any list that does not have Monkey Island in the top 5 is completely illegitimate.
GK1 has several dead ends, some intentional and one due to a bug.
Here goes the top 10 i guess,
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars
Day of the Tentacle
Riven
Portal 2
Longest Journey, The
Grim Fandango
Last Express
Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
Delete
Runaway: A Road Adventure
Shocking not to have Gabe1 and Mobkey Island in the top10. Perhaps they both haven’t aged that well.
I don’t think Runaway will or should be in the Top10, as it was mentioned earlier that the third installment was supposedly the best and therefore featured in the Top100.
Could it be that the Monkey Island remake will still be in the Top 10?
I don’t think that would be fair…
You have seriously got to be kidding - Kings Quest VI ahead of Secret of Monkey Island… oh dear, dear me.
I still think the original Monkey Island deserved to be #1. Not only for historical reasons: it’s a game which is perfect at what it does, with absolutely nothing that should have been done differently. Oh well…
Now, I hate Day of the Tentacle and hope it doesn’t win this time again. And, as much as I like Jane Jensen and Gabriel Knight, GK2 is my least favourite of the series, and I certainly don’t want Dean Couldnotactifhislifedependedonit to become the poster boy for Best Adventure Game ever.
So I guess I’m officially rooting for The Pandora Directive, or The Longest Journey, for Best Adventure Game in the history of the galaxy!
And I’m officially rooting for The Longest Journey not to place at all. I hate that thing. With my luck, it will probably come out on top.
Lol! Love Dean’s new official last name!
Atlantis (first installment) and Dust (Titanic made it, kind of weird) not in Top 100? I understand some titles just had to be left out or forgotten. So - I am ok with that, my personal list is of course different. Still - good job and thanks again for this - it is inspiring. I know exactly which adventure game should be #1, but I am afraid it is not going to happen. But I am happy it is going to be (well, if it was not, Earth would stop turning for a moment) in Top 10.
How about this list?
1. Gabriel Knight 2
2. Monkey Island 2
3. Broken Sword 1
4. Day of Tentacle
5. Riven
6. The Longest Journey
7. Grim Fandango
8. The Last Express
9. Goblins 3
10. Pandora Directive
Can’t wait to find out if I am right.
Jackal, when all is said and done, could you have a page at the end that lists all 100 titles on one page? Great job with this list.
I wonder, if there is actually any chance of Rama making it to the top10? I guess not…
Really glad Riven is in the top10 (as well as officially considered here to be the best one in series). Hope it will make its way right into the top3.
As well as I hope that TLJ DOESN’T make it into the top5. Top10 is more than good enough for that game already.
And yeah. Kinda disappointed with GK1 losing to GK2. Love the first one so much more…
Interplay, yes there will be a complete list at the end, with a link directly to it on page 1.
Very nice list. The main benefit of such lists is that you discover good games that you never played or even heard about before.
In my personal opinion, the top 3 should be: Grim, Longest Journey, and Portal 2.
Have to agree about The Longest Journey - it’s the most overrated adventure game of all time. No doubt it will place highly.
well, the only #1’s id be satisfied with would be: GK1, pandora directive, or last express.
Since Gk1 is already eliminated…. i dont expect to agree with the #1 choice
If TLE is on top I’ll make AG my permanent homepage!
