The GWJ Adventure Game Club - Main Thread

A heads up, Lamplight City is actually on sale on Steam and Humble Bundle right now (10€’ish in the EU), lowest price it's ever been.
And keep those votes coming, folks!

Alrighty then, here we are! The game for February 2021 shall be...

The Blackwell Epiphany!!

With only 11 participants casting a total of 34 votes, folks voted for 3.1 games on average (versus 2.8 last month).
The Blackwell Epiphany placed first with 7 votes (63.64%). Blade Runner and Zak McKracken placed second with 5 votes (45.45%). Technobabylon grabbed bronze with 4 votes (36.36%). Lamplight City, 1979 Revolution, Tesla Effect all tied for fourth (3 votes, 27.27%). Dreamfall: The Longest Journey only gathered 2 votes (18.18%) and Broken Age and Syberia each got a single vote (9.09%). As a result, Dreamfall, Broken Age and Syberia are all going on probation.

You'll find the thread for the game over this way.

As it should be. Glad the club will be finishing out the series, even if I don't dive back in myself.

Have fun with The Blackwell Epiphany, good those playing it can finish off the series with the club. That will give me chance to catch up and finally finish Kentucky Route Zero with the last episode

Right, we haven't done the nominations thing in a while, so here's a reminder of where we stand!

Nominated (still needs two confirmations):
The Inner World (2013) - brokenclavicle
Riven (1997) - Minarchist
Detention - Neutrino
Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock - Neutrino

Seconded (still needs one confirmation):
Myst 3: Exile (2001) - Eleima, Higgledy
Little Briar Rose (2016) - brokenclavicle, Pink Stripes
Anna's Quest - Neutrino, Pink Stripes
Fred Pohl's Gateway (1992) - Tanglebones, bbk1980

Thirded (going on the list):
None at this time.

It looks like my two previous nominations, still to be seconded, don't have enough appeal for the club. Here's a couple more that could perhaps replace them if they don't get seconded this round.

My new nominations:
Whispers of a Machine
Observation

I'll add my vote (second or third) to Inner World, Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock, Anna's Quest, and Fred Pohl's Gateway.

I know very little about it but to get into the nomination game: The Journey Down - Chapter One

I'm sorry for not remembering the process, Eleima, but where do games that are not in this list of nominations and that have been in past votes (like Lamplight City, for example) stand? Are they out of the race because they did not get voted?

In any case, I'll back Observation and Morningstar.

I don't remember if this was every in the mix, but I'd like to nominate Detective Grimoire.

Pink Stripes wrote:

I don't remember if this was every in the mix, but I'd like to nominate Detective Grimoire.

I've not heard of that game but I like the sound of it! - Seconded

I'll put in for Whispers, Observation, and Detective Grimoire as well.

Y'all are the best, thanks for the links and making my life easier. <3

Nominated (still needs two confirmations):
Riven (1997) - Minarchist
Detention - Neutrino
The Journey Down - Chapter One - Jolly Bill

Seconded (still needs one confirmation):
Myst 3: Exile (2001) - Eleima, Higgledy
Little Briar Rose (2016) - brokenclavicle, Pink Stripes
Fred Pohl's Gateway (1992) - Tanglebones, bbk1980
The Inner World (2013) - brokenclavicle, Jolly Bill
Whispers of a Machine - Neutrino, Jolly Bill

Thirded (going on the list):
Morningstar: Descent to Deadrock (2015) - Neutrino, Jolly Bill, Pink Stripes
Observation (2020) - Neutrino, Pink Stripes, Jolly Bill
Detective Grimoire (2014) - Pink Stripes, Neutrino, Jolly Bill
Anna's Quest (2015) - Neutrino, Pink Stripes, Jolly Bill

Hopefully, I have all my ducks in a row, and didn't forget anything!
FWIW, The Journey Down is really good, I enjoyed it a LOT, and it's well worth playing, if anyone is on the fence.
I'll go update the candidates list now.

Edit: That brings us to 40 candidates, which is plenty. I don't want to add too much to it, so we'll hold off until we complete more games and/or other games get dropped. Observation was actually released in May 2020, which kinda breaks our one year rule, but it looks to be accessible enough (currently 8€ on sale) so into the list it goes.

Eleima wrote:

Observation was actually released in May 2020, which kinda breaks our one year rule, but it looks to be accessible enough (currently 8€ on sale) so into the list it goes.

Thanks Eleima, you're the best too

Just to correct (I did my due diligence) that Observation was an Epic game store exclusive for a year and released there in May 2019, the Steam version came a year later. Easy to miss as Steam state their release dates according to their platform, so 2020 in this case.

Thirding Whispers of a Machine. I've had it on the wishlist for a bit, now.

Observation is also on GamePass for PC (not sure whether it is on console as well or not).

Pink Stripes wrote:

Observation is also on GamePass for PC (not sure whether it is on console as well or not).

It is; I own it on PS4 and it's on XB1.

Neutrino wrote:

Just to correct (I did my due diligence) that Observation was an Epic game store exclusive for a year and released there in May 2019, the Steam version came a year later. Easy to miss as Steam state their release dates according to their platform, so 2020 in this case.

Oopsies! I'll fully admit to just going to the Steam page and taking the release date from there, that's on me, I was in a rush before my DnD game and didn't go any further. So I guess that means all lights are green, awesomesauce. Thanks!!

So just for the record:
Nominated (still needs two confirmations):
Riven (1997) - Minarchist
Detention - Neutrino
The Journey Down - Chapter One - Jolly Bill

Seconded (still needs one confirmation):
Myst 3: Exile (2001) - Eleima, Higgledy
Little Briar Rose (2016) - brokenclavicle, Pink Stripes
Fred Pohl's Gateway (1992) - Tanglebones, bbk1980
The Inner World (2013) - brokenclavicle, Jolly Bill

Thirded (going on the list):
Whispers of a Machine - Neutrino, Jolly Bill, brokenclavicle

I'm capping the candidates here. Like I said, I don't want the candidates list to get to bulky.

Pink Stripes wrote:

I'm sorry for not remembering the process, Eleima, but where do games that are not in this list of nominations and that have been in past votes (like Lamplight City, for example) stand? Are they out of the race because they did not get voted?

Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I totally forgot to answer you last night. So just a quick recap/rewording (I think I have this in the OP?). Basically, for a game to go on the list of "potentials", it needs to have the backing of at least three community members. That ensures that there's some interest in playing said game. Once they get three nods, they go in the pool of candidates. Every month, I use a random number generator in Excel to pull 9 games from the list and I nominate a 10th game. People vote on those ten games, and we play whichever one wins the vote.
... I'm not sure if that's any clearer, sorry. Let me know if it's still confusing, and I'll try to explain it differently.

Thanks Eleima! You're right that the list is linked in the OP, I must have missed that.

Right. So, sometimes, I like to prep my poll early, so I'm ready the day of and it's not so much of a rush getting my ducks in order. I'm so excited, I really want to post this an entire week early.

And no worries, Pink Stripes! Sometimes I forget that OP is there, and it's a scramble to update it. ^^

Are you all ready for March? Well, ready or not, it's coming, and so is the 29th game of our little club! The survey is right this way, and will close at midnight on February 26th. Quick descriptions for this month's candidates with playtime estimates from HLTB (How Long To Beat) below.

  • Dreamfall: The Longest Journey (2006, HLTB 14) - The sequel to Longest Journey focuses on Zoe, a young woman returning to her home in Casablanca after dropping out of college in Cape Town. Her life feels rudderless until her old flame Reza disappears. As she investigates, she learns about the worlds of Stark and Arcadia, and those that would bring the worlds into chaos.
  • Observation (2019, HLTB 7) - The player is in control of a space station AI in this adventure puzzle game, tasked with recovering from the sudden loss of crew.
  • Detective Grimoire (2014, HLTB 3) - A murder mystery point and click. A mysterious creature is the prime suspect in a murder investigation in a swamp. It's up to you to determine who the true culprit is!
  • Eliza (2019, HLTB 6) - In this visual novel, you play as Evelyn who's burned out after years working in high-tech. She serves as a proxy for Eliza, a virtual counselling program, but as the game progresses, you have the opportunity to go off-script...
  • Botanicula (2012, HLTB 4) - Charming puzzle game with zany music and characters that will give you the warm fuzzies.
  • Syberia (2002, HLTB 10) - When the owner of a large toy company dies, lawyer Kate Walker must find her brother in get the affairs in order. He's not all that easy to find though, and her search takes her on quite the journey. I decided to give Syberia the spotlight because it's a lovely little adventure game, a beautiful journey, both within and without.
  • Gray Matter (2010, HLTB 12) - Brilliant Jane Jensen wrote this game which takes place in Oxford and, to a lesser extent, in London. It follows the story of Samantha Everett, a street performer and magician, and Professor David Styles, an acclaimed and mysterious neurobiologist. Highly recommended by yours truly.
  • Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders (1988, HLTB 5) - This classic 1988 adventure game is the second game to use Lucasfilms' SCUMM engine. It's 1997 and aliens are invading, using a strange device to reduce intelligence of all people on Earth. Except Zak. And it's up to him to save the world!
  • Broken Age (2014, HLTB 10) - A family friendly, hand-animated, puzzle-filled adventure game with an all-star cast, including Elijah Wood, Jack Black and Masasa Moyo. Funded by a record breaking crowdfunding campaign and designed by industry legend Tim Schafer, Broken Age is a timeless coming-of-age story.
  • Eleima's Pick : Torin's Passage (1995, ~6hrs by my estimate) - Designed for children playing with their parents, Torin's Passage has "cartoonish" graphics and humor of all kinds. You play as Torin, a young man who attempting to find his kidnapped parents. His journey will take him through the different layers of his planet, Strata, traveling through phenocrystals. With his trusty companion Boogle by his side, surely his quest will succeed! (GOG, available for free online inbrowser, but saving is disabled) This one is my pick, because I just figured out that it hasn't been pulled by the RNG since I first nominated it 28 months ago!!

Survey is right over here. Remember to vote, because every vote matters!

Thanks Eleima, my votes have been cast

Thank you for creating a tie.

Eleima wrote:

Thank you for creating a tie. ;)

Hopefully I just broke the tie?

Also, looking at the list of games and the HLTB times...I am amazed that I've never finished ANY of these games, even when I was younger and had more time to game. That's why I love the idea of this thread existing, I'm actually getting through some of these because I have the motivation to participate in this thread.

Aye, you did. Yes, it's true, HLTB does give short times for a lot of these games. That being said, you have to put it back in context. We were young, some of the puzzles are really out there. Like clamp on a rope in a duckie flotation device with a Band-Aid on it. As I recall, that was the case with Zak, and my sister and I never got very far, I think we fed some wild animal something, did some digging in a wall and ended up in a dark cave and that was that.

I doubt my vote will break any ties since there's only 1 game I've beaten before, several I was already interested in (and possibly have started without finishing), and the rest look amazing as well. Glad I'm finally tracking this thread to participate!

Eleima wrote:

Aye, you did. Yes, it's true, HLTB does give short times for a lot of these games. That being said, you have to put it back in context. We were young, some of the puzzles are really out there. Like clamp on a rope in a duckie flotation device with a Band-Aid on it. As I recall, that was the case with Zak, and my sister and I never got very far, I think we fed some wild animal something, did some digging in a wall and ended up in a dark cave and that was that.

Ha, very true. I just checked and was shocked that the HLTB for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is 8-9 hours. That game took me months to get through when I was younger.

Jolly Bill wrote:

Glad I'm finally tracking this thread to participate!

Oh yes, definitely! This is adventure game club central, so I'm glad you're here.

benign1 wrote:

Ha, very true. I just checked and was shocked that the HLTB for Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis is 8-9 hours. That game took me months to get through when I was younger.

I think I only beat it once I was an adult, sooooo.... ^^

Okay, coming along nicely, we've got 13 votes and a distinct winner, no ties... I'm feeling good about this one!

So we got the tie done early this time
Can't wait to see what the winner is, it might even push me to actually finish KR0 so I can play along with the club this month!

Soooooo, maybe you all would like to know what our game for March 2021 will be?

Observation!!

With only 13 participants casting a total of 45 votes, folks voted for 3.5 (versus 3.1 last month).
Observation placed first with 8 votes (61.54%). Zak McKracken took silver home with 6 votes (46.15%). Three games tied for third place with 5 votes each (38.46%): Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, Broken Age and Gray Matter. Detective Grimoire, Eliza and Torin's Passage all garnished 4 votes each (30.77%), placing fourth.
Finally, Botanicula and Syberia only got 2 votes each (15.38%). That means that Botanicula goes on probation and Syberia, which already was, has been removed from the list of candidates. Dreamfall is no longer on probation, however.

You'll find the thread for the game over this way.

Just a thought in passing: maybe there are games on probation or that were dropped that you don't really feel like playing, but would like to see me stream? Don't hesitate to let me know if that's the case.

OK, I have no excuse not to get started on Observation next week, as I nominated it! I'm looking forward to playing and hopefully, it's a goody