Today, point-and-click games may seem anachronistic. They’re misconstrued as clunky, slow, and needlessly complex. However, they were once the epitome of immersive games. Long before big-name titles like Skyrim, point-and-click titles offered players immersive ways to enjoy richly detailed environments.
And even now, decades after their introduction, masterful storytellers use the genre to create remarkable adventures. The point-and-click genre hasn’t strayed far from its roots, either. While the environments may be more three-dimensional than the carefully hand-drawn worlds of yesteryear, modern point-and-click games still deliver the same gut-punching stories and dazzling environments as their predecessors.
10Hypnospace Outlaw
Hypnospace Outlawis a unique point-and-click adventure game that immerses you in this strange world of personal websites and slapdash HTML codes. Instead of trawling the high seas or crawling through dungeons, you’re tasked with combing personal web pages for mundane violations. But don’t worry; this seemingly boring premise quickly blossoms into a cacophony of nostalgic neon hues and unchecked absurdism.
9Gone Home
Gone Homeis a modernist look at the classic video game genre. While most classic point-and-click games are two-dimensional, Gone Home gives you a three-dimensional world to explore. You can search every nook and cranny on your own time, taking as long as you need to soak up this self-paced narrative adventure.
The game’s visual direction is stunning. It’s easy to immerse yourself in its limited world. However, there’s little traditional gameplay. Gone Home may rely on the same mechanics as a point-and-click, but it lacks the genre’s trademarked puzzles and brain-teasers. While some may abhor the term, “walking simulator” is the best descriptor for the game. Nonetheless, fans of inferred stories and in-depth narratives will love this unique spin on a longstanding genre.
8Beacon Pines
Fans of more interactive storytelling can turn toBeacon Pines, a seemingly innocent tale of young, anthropomorphic forest critters in a delightful fantasy world. The narrative is framed within the pages of a literal storybook. However, the bright colors and child-friendly drawings hide the game’s wild, conspiratorial plot.
Functionally, Beacon Pines blends interactive fiction and point-and-click gameplay. It’s not a straightforward LucasArts clone, but it proudly carries the classic genre’s banner. Its storybook premise offers intriguing narrative choices and chances to explore the game’s many branching storylines, while its puzzles seem tailored to scratch the point-and-click item-combining itch.
7Lucy Dreaming
Light-hearted romps are the archetypal meat and potatoes of point-and-click adventure games, andLucy Dreamingis the perfect example. Set in the fictional and very British town of Fiddlington, the game immerses you in a vividly colored cartoon world. Fittingly, Fiddlington’s residents are also thoroughly British, frequently dealing with dry jokes and sensible chuckles.
The game’s plot is simple. You play the role of the titular Lucy, an idealistic resident with a penchant for mysteries. Armed with a bag of assorted supplies and plenty of puzzling wits, you must solve comical murders and paranormal oddities. Fortunately, you have plenty of in-universe and meta help. The game’s sly hint system and subtle nudges prevent this delightful adventure from devolving into a frustrating mess.
6Primordia
Wedjet Eye is known for its many impeccable point-and-click games. The company’s creations revolve around the genre’s purest essence, relying on little more than these two interactions to tell immersive, impactful tales. However, of its many games, the most well-regarded isPrimordia.
Where many classic point-and-click adventures strive to tell humorous tales, Primordia’s unrelenting post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world is a rarity. Its simplistic interface aids its goal, further immersing you into its melancholy narrative. Despite their bleak earth tones, the carefully rendered worlds of Primordia are vivid testament to the setting’s dire circumstances. Everything about the game is carefully curated for the greatest impact, and the result is beyond astounding.
5Norco
Initially started as a multimedia project about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina,Norcoeventually evolved into a masterful exercise in surrealist gaming. Playing as Kay, you are tasked with finding your missing brother. You arrive at a post-apocalyptic version of Norco, Louisiana, and things quickly unravel.
The game’s rich world is populated by meticulously rendered pixelated masterpieces. Each detail and every corner is valuable, adding to the game’s sense of oppressive intrigue. However, it’s far from pure doom and gloom. Beneath its brooding exterior, Norco is a humanitarian tale of loss, pain, and rediscovery.
4The Rusty Lake Series
The horror-adjacentRusty Lake seriesbegan as online Flash games before becoming fully-fledged video game titles. The series encompasses three non-linear entries: Hotel, Paradise, and Roots. Each game is set in its self-contained world, although they share the same enigmatic overarching narrative.
Some may find the games’ rough visuals and Flash-inspired movements outdated. However, these visuals only add to each game’s underpinning sense of unsettling intrigue. Don’t be too scared, though! The Rusty Lake games feature few — if any — jumpscares, preferring to rely on more cerebral and implicitly cosmic horrors.
3The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow
Despite its lengthy title,The Excavation of Hob’s Barrowrelies on a remarkably simple premise. You are cast as Thomasina Bateman, a researcher hired to aid in the archeological study of an ancient tumulus in Bewlay. Naturally, things don’t go as planned. Your seemingly uneventful dig is quickly interrupted by suspicious locals, a missing supervisor, and plenty of point-and-click puzzles.
Fans of more visually luscious games à la LucasArts may be disappointed by the pixel art in Hob’s Barrow, but the simple visuals hide an unbelievably compelling story. Even more enthralling is the universe of Hob’s Barrow. The game’s world is familiar enough to comfort you into a sense of complacency before dropping its folksy horrors in your lap.
2Thimbleweed Park
For fans of LucasArts’ acclaimed point-and-click adventures, there’sThimbleweed Park. Terrible Toybox’s investigative drama wears its inspiration on its sleeve, adopting a title befitting Guybrush Threepwood’s maps. However, its similarities to classic 1990s point-and-click adventures run deep.
Thimbleweed Park is a love letter to the classics. Its narrative and visual style are unabashedly inspired by its predecessors. Like many point-and-click adventures of yore, the game includes plenty of dry humor and call-outs for nonsensical actions. You’ll even find that old-fashioned contextual menu for in-game interactions. And, of course, there are plenty of item-based puzzles to solve.
1Disco Elysium
Sure, it has some extra bells and whistles, butDisco Elysiumis a point-and-click adventure game at its core. Its heavily stylized art and vivid hues will draw you in, and its story will keep you glued to your seat. But be warned: This is unlike any point-and-click game you’ve ever played.
While it’s rightfully renowned for itscaptivating narrative, Disco Elysium also boasts a unique balance of simple interfaces and complex tabletop-inspired mechanics. You can fail seemingly mundane tasks, and you won’t get the standard point-and-click finger wag. Instead, each failure leads to new paths and unique choices that propel your journey ever deeper into the jaws of Martinaise’s unfathomable strangeness.
