What is an Adventure Game? Sticky

A topic by StandOffSoftware created Aug 05, 2020 Views: 966 Replies: 10

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StandOffSoftwareHost4 years ago (1 edit) (+2)(-1)

An adventure game can be defined as a game that has the following characteristics:

It's narrative focused. Not just some narrative tacked on. The narrative is the entire reason someone would be interested in the game. If you removed the story, there would literally not be a game of any kind any more.
The entire objective of the game is to progress the story to the conclusion. Obstacles that need to be solved to do so are referred to as "puzzles," but these are rarely puzzles in the literal sense but rather just story problems you have to figure out how to solve. Every puzzle solved moves the story along in a tangible way.
The puzzles are the significant plot points in the story, not things you do outside of the story to arbitrarily block your progress, and not abstracted out to a different kind of activity.
Lastly, it is not clearly any other kind of game besides an adventure game. If it looks and acts like a... RPG game, for example, that's the kind of game it is no matter how much it might can be squeezed into the adventure game box with enough mental gymnastics.

For more clarification, see this Wikipedia page.

Literally every single point-and-click I've played has extraordinarily arbitrary puzzles, so that rule might not apply.

StandOffSoftwareHost4 years ago(+1)

An example of an arbitrary vs a non-arbitrary puzzle.

A non arbitrary puzzle would be where you have to get some wood, nails and a hammer, and build a ladder to get something out of a tree. There are also other things that you have to do to get those items. Like solving a dispute with the lumber company so that they can supply you wood, etc etc

An arbitrary puzzle is you have to complete a crossword puzzle and then for some weird reason that allows you to get into the tree.

A few arbitrary puzzles can be fine in an adventure game. But if the game you're playing has just a bunch of arbitrary puzzles, it's probably a puzzle game, not an adventure game.

Mikashi4 years ago (1 edit) (+2)

I'm willing to disagree on this definition of an adventure game. Yes I am disagreeing with Wikipedia too. It is somewhat... confusing, looking at it from a technical standpoint. For one, any game can be narrative-focused. Game genres are not defined by their stories, but by their mechanics and how the player interacts with the world using these. In an adventure game you're going in to explore and unravel a world and its marvels. If there is a story then it's a plus, because everything catches meaning and makes sense.

You are presented with puzzles, yes, however those puzzles are not exactly related to narrative. Some adventure games might be clever enough to implement it as a way to add to the story. But those puzzles are just part of the world as an obstacle to test your knowledge of it. To see how far you've progressed learning the mechanics.

Let's give an example; the very first Legend of Zelda. No one played it for the story. If you read the manual that comes with it, yes, it has a story. But the game itself wasn't meant to draw you in for a story. The only story that would exist on it is your own, the one you'll tell your friends about how you got wrecked on a late-game dungeon for going in too early. And that, was quite an adventure. You discovered things unknown to you before, you struggled on your way. Exploration was led by curiosity. (A deeper story would be added much later on the TLOZ sequels.)

Often the obstacles presented in an adventure game are your lack of knowledge and ability. I don't know what's around the corner, but am I willing to explore? Am I willing to risk not having the ability to overcome what's next? Do I know how the next puzzle works? No? Have I missed something? Is there another place I might need to explore?

All in all, adventure games are ones in which you are placed in an unknown world to conquer and discover. It could be linear, it could be open. You're limited by the unknown and your abilities as a player, or in-game mechanics. This can also apply to other games, but adventure games focus better on their worldbuilding and interacting with it. They're not just there to tell you a story, they're also there to be explored.

If you take away a story from any game and get nothing from under it, then it's not a game. Videogames are interactive experiences after all.

StandOffSoftwareHost4 years ago(+1)

I think you're confusing Adventure Game with Action-Adventure game, a completely different genre of game despite sharing a word in common. For instance, your example, the Legend of Zelda, is not an adventure game.

Adventure games are story focused by definition.

Mikashi4 years ago(+1)

Note that I never mentioned action in my statement. I mentioned how the player is limited by their knowledge and abilities, not necessarily combat abilities. As for the example on the first Zelda game, the internet can say it is action-adventure or even RPG. But at heart it is an adventure game. Miyamoto(hopefully typed that right) wanted to replicate his experiences of getting lost when younger and exploring unknown areas to him. That in itself is what adventures are, by definition. Going to the nearest forest you've never visited to discover the unknown, find out what lies beyond. And luckily not get attacked by a stray bear, you don't want to go into that kind of beyond.

I just feel like there is a misconception in what generally defines adventure games. Because again, any game can be story-focused. Undertale isn't an Adventure game, story-focused though. Detroit Become Human, story-focused. The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, NieR: Automata, same applies. If an Adventure game is defined as story focused, all of these games would be categorized Adventure.

Once more, I'm approaching this from a technical point of view. One where games as interactive experiences are defined by mechanics and user interaction from within their worlds. So technically speaking, adventure games are games where you explore that which you have no knowledge about. You're there to travel and see what lies in this small new world aided by its mechanics and puzzles. If a game purely was story-driven it'd be the same as watching a movie; totally counterintuitive to what videogames are. And obviously if a game doesn't have a story, then it would ultimately lead to a dull experience without a drive for the player's actions. In all games you will advance the story by overcoming challenges and solving problems. It is the main goal of every piece to push the player forward until the end of the story it wants to tell.

Concluding, I see how adventure games are defined with that general view. Yet I disagree due to the fact that said definition is very vague, and could apply to any other genre similarly.

StandOffSoftwareHost4 years ago(+1)

The term Adventure Game does not mean a game about an adventure. You can make an Adventure Game about building a ham sandwich in your kitchen. The genre is named after the game Colossal Cave Adventure. Games that are somewhat similar to that game are called Adventure Games.

It's much like the term Rogue-like. You would not call a game Rogue-like because it has a rogue in it. You call it Rogue-like because the game is somewhat similar to the game Rogue.

I hope this clears up the confusion.

Mikashi4 years ago(+1)

Precisely, Colossal Cave Adventure, a game where you are dropped into an unknown world left to your own devices to explore. To wander about using your collected knowledge and proceed with picked up items. To fall off a pit because you took the risk to explore further. Literally, it is a game about an adventure- with the slightest hint of a story. And the puzzles don't lock the player out of a story, they're locked from knowledge and other items that might help on other parts of the journey later.

As for your rogue-like example, you are right. And it is the same as what I said earlier. Videogames are defined by their mechanics. Rogue-likes are like Rogue; in the term which, those games have mechanics similar to the one that gave birth to the genre. Games similar to Colossal Cave Adventure would mean they involve its mechanics, worldbuilding, and use of exploration to deliver that feeling of having an actual Adventure.

Determining that and using Colossal Cave Adventure as example, what I said is not far from the truth. An Adventure game is about having an adventure in a world limited by the player's knowledge, abilities, (I might perhaps add) possessions, or the game's mechanics.

gamesdiskSubmitted4 years ago(-1)

you're that kid that thinks he is smarter then everyone else but is completely wrong about most things right?

Mikashi4 years ago(+1)

Bold statement considering your game (which is one of the games I tried during the jam) doesn't actually prove my points wrong.

(Following the failed attempt on stealing the crystal..) The character wakes up in her room and the only guide you get is your "friend" telling you to come out. After you find your way out of the room you're free to go anywhere and explore a world unknown to you, the player. Talking to the guy was 100% optional until you need to carry on with the story. At least I suppose, nothing out of the ordinary happened anywhere else when I skipped him. Well... getting the honey from the old lady was unordinary and unexpected... Not to say the player might not pick up all the items at first if they're not thorough. The blood lake area has an "Ahah!" moment, where it might seem obvious but you wouldn't know that - unless you have the bottle first. The player is only limited by how much they explored and picked up, the world itself is completely open.

While I'm at it, quick bug report: The second time I entered the library while wandering about without following the story, I was locked inside for good. I couldn't get out.

I'm not saying the host's definition is wrong, I'm saying it's vaguely explaining what an adventure game is. "Story-driven" and challenges preventing you from continuing the story can apply to any other genre of videogames too. I don't need people to agree with me. I'm saying these things so they open their minds.

gamesdiskSubmitted4 years ago

thanks for playing man. You need to "use the door" to get out

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What is an Adventure Game? Sticky