Point and Click Games – A Trip Straight to the 2000s
When asked to name a classic point-and-click game, many will most likely name Monkey Island or Broken Sword as their answer. While these titles deserve recognition as worthy examples of this genre’s legacy, 2017 saw its revival thanks in part to major releases from genre titans as well as up-and-coming developers such as Unavowed and Lamplight City.
Point & Click games are interactive movies that enable the player to manipulate objects within an environment of a story in order to solve puzzles and unlock more backstory or details about the world in which the story takes place. Sometimes this genre is known as interactive fiction; text-based titles such as Adventureland were predecessors while later evolved into roleplaying genres such as MMORPGs and First-Person Shooters became its successors.
Point & Click games are best enjoyed when played with others and can often require players to cooperate in order to advance through the game. Unfortunately, these types of games can sometimes lead to Pixel Hunting — the practice of scrutinizing every part of the screen for clickable items (resulting in players shouting out “Can you see that red thing over there?” at each other). But with the right group and setup these can be great fun and highly entertaining!