Do you play Adventure Games with others? Can Adventure Games be multi-player?

[Greg Squire]

In my experience, Adventure Games are usually a one person experience, unlike movies where we usually experience them with other people (though from time to time we may experience movies individually).  In that sense, they are closer to books, which are also usually a one person experience (except for things like book readings).  On occasion, I will play an adventure game with my kids, and experience them with other people.  Thought they are usually just onlookers, but sometimes they'll make some suggestions on solving the current puzzle (thus making it a group effort).  Even at that there is still only one person controlling the main character at any one time.

This also got me thinking are there better ways of turning adventure games into multi-user experiences?  I got thinking could you design a game something like "Ben There, Dan That" where one user would control Ben and someone else Dan?  There would probably be some technical issues to overcome, such as using two mice or more than one game pad, and possibly having a split screen thing (or just keeping all players in the same room), or having the game play across two or more computers, etc.  Also, could you do more than two players?  Could you write a Scooby Doo game with each player being part of the five player mystery team?

So out of curiousity, how many of you play adventure games with other people?  And what are your thoughts and ideas on making adventure games into multi-user experiences?  Or are adventure games just relegated to single player gameplay by nature?

[Wesray]

Usually I play adventure games alone. I enjoy the slow pace and that I can handle the problems in my own speed. Also I try to take in all the story.

When I was younger I had a lot of fun playing adventure games together with my brother or friends however. We used to puzzle together on classics like Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken. We helped each other with suggestions what to try next and it was a great feeling when some of our crazy ideas proved correct. Half of the fun however was just exploring the game world and trying out the weirdest things with the action verbs. This is something missing a bit in today's adventure games I feel. All these one-click-for-everything interfaces might be really comfortable and they make the games a lot easier. But in losing the complexity you also lose some of the fun experimentation.

Recently I played a new adventure game (The Whispered World) together with a friend of mine. She is quite an adventure buff herself, not as much as myself though. Anyways, we spent three nights playing together until three or four o' clock in the morning, before we finally finished the game. It was awesome and one of my best adventure gaming experiences ever. That was partly because the game itself was so good and very reminiscent of the classics of old. Playing together and helping each other out with ideas when we were stuck really multiplied the fun for us though.

As for multiplayer adventures, I don't know. The big fun factor I think is in being in the same room, laughing at the same jokes, wondering together where the story goes, and complementing each other's puzzle solving strengths. Some of this could perhaps be captured through an online game, but I imagine it could be very annoying too, seeing as how people tend to act in other kinds of online games - let alone the practical and technical hurdles you mentioned.

[Theme]

I play the new monkey island series with my girlfriend
It's a little annoying that I need to translate everything to her. But it's kind ok.

If i'm not mistake RE 5 can be played on LAN. One control the guy and another one the girl.
although is not an adventure game, it have some kind of things to solve to get to others areas in the game.

I think playing very far, thru internet like a mmorpg is not the same as been close to other person.

o/

[ShadeJackrabbit]

My family played Myst, Riven, Exile, and UrU together. I'm playing Byzantine - The Betrayal with my brother, and we've gone through a lot of different games together. My mom and I are playing Syberia II together.

I tend to play adventure games with other people when possible. Makes them easier to figure out and it's nice to spend time with other people.

[Anian]

My family played Myst, Riven, Exile, and UrU together. I'm playing Byzantine - The Betrayal with my brother, and we've gone through a lot of different games together. My mom and I are playing Syberia II together.

Heh, that's pretty cool.
Most of my surroundings don't play adventure games and I have no syblings, my parents work with a pc all day and I have to push them to read a book plus while my dad is ok with english, my mum get's lost pretty quick...so nah.
Played Broken sword 2 for the first time in italian with some friends who couldn't figure stuff out (and no internet etc.) so they translated it to me while I point n clicked.

More than 2 players would probably make the puzzles be to complex unless they're pyshics based and that would probaly push it over into action games and most probably to realtime 3d (as in no prerendered stuff and similar). And it would lose a lot the charmed. Though I wouldn't mind mroe action 3dpersons to have more puzzles. Then there's RPG which is also a mix but with other serious downfalls such as grinding and leveling ups etc.

An online/lan adventure game would bring maybe a great boost to popularity of adventure games, but there's trouble with puzzles etc. maybe more physical puzzles like needing 2 people to put in the keys to popen door or 1 player distracts an npc while the other goes behind and steal stuff (maybe you could make snap shots with a camera so you can send the pic to the other player who can then examine the room as well). Oh, and voice chat included into the game - that way emotions and comments like laughing at jokes and "this is so creepy" would add a unique experience - thus all this would also bring replaybility.
This is just some ideas at the top of the head, that would actually be fun to play...why hasn't anybody done this yet? 
Multiplayer on the same screen would just be annoying I think and would basically end up with one person telling the other what to do or similar.

[Ali]

I play adventure games with my girlfriend (Nelly). I think it's easy to play an aventure game with two people because they're about problem solving, decision making, story and character. More than one person can enjoy those things at a time. I can't see how multi-player adventures would work without the format shifting significantly.

I suppose you could have a multiplayer murder mystery game where one player is the murderer and the other players have to suss out who is who.

[Ubel]

I used to play adventure games with my best friend when we were kids. We of course couldn't really understand English but that wasn't such a big problem. We would just make up what they were saying and voice them ourselves. Ah, good times.

[Bulbapuck]

In my experience, adventure games become aot more fun if you're several people playing. I played through Runaway (the first one) with my brother, and we had a blast!

Now he's moved out, and I'm playing Runaway II.. Not even half as fun.

[Snake]

What if the games weren't necessarily multiplayer, but were able to be played over a network where players were able to swap turns at will and give advice/ideas within a messenger window/box?

"Hey, try putting the ___ on TOP of the ___..."
"I got an idea... what about ___?"
"Wait a minute... remember what ___ said about the ___?"
or
"When will you let ME play??"

[Ethan D]

I can't stand playing adventure games by myself. (Mainly because I get stuck on puzzles when I'm alone.)  I don't know how I would have managed to sit through the awful puzzles of And Then There Were None on the Wii by myself.  Although thinking of it I'm not sure how I suffered through it with a group of 4 people....

I agree with what most people are saying. Ultimately there is a lot of information in adventure games that has to be taken in and people miss things easily so it's good to have other people to help you out.  (Sharing a laugh or making fun of things in the game is also good.)

What if the games weren't necessarily multiplayer, but were able to be played over a network where players were able to swap turns at will and give advice/ideas within a messenger window/box?

That sounds fun, of course if you have a friend who likes to hog the controller it would get upsetting pretty fast. (Since you can't punch someone over the internet.... yet.)

On a related note: Is AGS even capable of creating a game like that?

[InCreator]

No?
No?

But I do see how playing Day of Tentacle or Guilty II over multiplayer could work.

[auriond]

RickJ and I once worked on a bug report script in AGS which had a form in AGS send information to a HTML page or text file. I've wondered whether this could somehow be worked into a gameplay mechanic. Maybe have each player download a separate game that explores different areas, and as they play they send the clues they've found to a central database where all players can get together and discuss their findings.

[Stupot]

I generally play alone, although I've played a fair few Adventure Games with my old man, and sometimes my mum would join in too... Broken Sword 2, Jack Orlando, Still Life, to name a few.

One thing I've noticed is that, in general, I can recall the contents of those games much more vividly than anything I've played alone.  I think this is quite interesting, because it seems that sharing ideas, taking turns and discussing the story as you play makes it a more interactive experience which helps you to really take things in and reflect on the story rather than just watching it play out like a movie.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

I can't see how multi-player adventures would work without the format shifting significantly.

Well, Myst Online used instanced ages to allow people a choice in how many people played with them, i believe. A lot of the puzzles involved each person doing something to solve it, so it was very helpful to have a group of people with you. The most important thing was how the game moved from puzzle-driven to community-driven. I remember that there was this one age which was really big, so players were trying to navigate through it by mapping the night sky, and the whole community got involved. Some players even set up tour-groups of the ages. (Sorry if I got any of that wrong, by the way. I never actually played it because I couldn't pay the 5 dollars a month. )

What if the games weren't necessarily multiplayer, but were able to be played over a network where players were able to swap turns at will and give advice/ideas within a messenger window/box?

Zork: Grand Inquisitor has a feature that works like this. One player controls everything and the other player(s?) had a faded cursor which could give suggestions. (Unfortunately I never got it working, but my brother informed me that this is how it worked.)

Okay, as for a solid example that I actually experienced myself, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars DX has a two-player mode. One gets a solid cursor and the other gets a faded cursor. If one of you gets tired of controlling (cause the Wii remote is like what, 5 pounds? Arms get tired) you can press a button and it give control to the other player. It was really helpful for when we got  stuck on puzzles and one of us wanted a break from controlling but wanted to keep playing. Plus it gets both players involved.

EDIT:

...it seems that sharing ideas, taking turns and discussing the story as you play makes it a more interactive experience which helps you to really take things in and reflect on the story rather than just watching it play out like a movie.

Also, this. The coolest thing about playing adventure games with other people is the sort of conversations you can have while playing them. Not only that, but it's sometimes easier to get emotionally involved. For example, while playing Dark Fall: Lights out! with my brother, we were reading a book when the game made a thumping sound. He said "Hey, that wasn't me." And I said "Oh." After a second, I looked back and said "Oh! AH." I can say for a fact that the tension of playing the game was a lot higher after that point.

[Jared]

I do everything on my computer now utterly solitary, but when all my games were on the 'family' computer I frequently asked my parents for any hints or tips. This got me through Discworld II without a walkthrough after Act I, and, IIRC, Broken Sword I and The Curse of Monkey Island.

Oh, and for a particular puzzle I've only ever completed the bloody annoying tumbler puzzle in year 3 of Grim Fandango the once without help from a family member. Dear god that was annoying.

My 'it's complicated' girlfriend is an adventure gamer, but so far I've only been around her when she was playing Monkey Island II which I played through years ago. I was trying to give her hints without spoiling the puzzles, because I get a lot of reward from working 'em out.

[Greg Squire]

... One thing I've noticed is that, in general, I can recall the contents of those games much more vividly than anything I've played alone.  ...

Interesting you'd mention that, as I'd have to say that my experience is the same.  I can remember games better if I've played them with friends or family.  I also find that even games that I may have played alone, but have talked about with someone else that played it, can also stick in my memory more.  There's something about the social aspect to games that makes them more endearing and memorable.   On the flip side I find that multiplayer games played with strangers (such as Mario Kart on the internet) still aren't that memorable to me.  It has to be games with people I know or are getting to know.

[Greg Squire]

... Zork: Grand Inquisitor has a feature that works like this. One player controls everything and the other player(s?) had a faded cursor which could give suggestions. (Unfortunately I never got it working, but my brother informed me that this is how it worked.) ...

When you mentioned Zork, I remembered that there was a Zork MMO coming out. (http://legendsofzork.com/) I just looked at their site (now that its done) and I appears to be more of an RPG (MMORPG) than an adventure game to me.  I haven't played it, but it appears from a quick look that that is the case.  I was wondering how they were going to turn Zork into an MMO;  looks like that was the answer (make it an MMORPG).

[qptain Nemo]

I find playing adventure games with good friends to be ultimate fun.
And I do believe that an adventure game can be multiplayer.

[ShadeJackrabbit]

Speaking of this topic, anyone who wants to see what Myst Online was like can now do so: http://mystonline.com/en/play/

We need more adventure MMOGs.

[Eggie]

I had A friend I played a few adventure games with as a kid, but I haven't really been around around anyone since then who wouldn't find the experience boring except maybe my girlfriend Hannah and we've only played Fallout 3 together. Does that count?