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There's a game on Itch now that behaves like the community games we have had here before: Players can enter a command, and the dev will update. https://cmw-games.itch.io/gorbys-weird-adventure

If we take a look at the views the contest threads have got, this one has a bit over 700, and the one before about 900. In comparison, the art and writing threads are numbered in the thousands, while MAGS are in the tens of thousands. Still, lots more than the core participants are checking out these threads. But the leap from reading to posting is great for many people - most of us are lurkers.

I do like the over-complicated puzzles within puzzles, and basically have made my attempts into drafts for short games. This may not have been the intention of the contest. However, I like to be able to be a bit silly and write stuff that I wouldn't necessarily be able to translate into code.

I doubt that people are intimidated. The point of these contests should not be winning, but making something and hopefully improving our skills. However, many members express that making puzzles are hard. My hope would be that even just reading the submissions could give ideas about methods for doing this. Especially if we take time to provide feedback about what works and what doesn't.

We could try to make a thread where people could make suggestions for the next puzzle-making contest, or we could try to make scenarios with shorter solutions, but we could also just give it time and try to attract people by making it a fun contest.

[Le Lac]

Developer Theo Brochet (aka Rural_walker) https://rural-walker.itch.io/ released several short games which are no longer available on itch.io.

The only one I could find elsewhere is Le Lac https://www.moddb.com/games/le-lac
Dellamorte Dellamore seems to be lost, and I think there are a couple more of which I can't remember the tile.

Does anybody have more info?

I'm afraid I don't have the games, but the other titles I know of are Lettera Amorosa and Lonely Spaces. I found the first title now through the wayback machine, but none of the downloads were working, while I played Lonely Spaces after @eri0o told about it in this thread. Hopefully someone else still have them.

[Gobyworld]

More games from Steam tagged AGS:

Blackwell Convergence was for some reason never added to the database, even though the other games in the series are present there.

The Adventures of the Black Hawk was released in February, and even has a Completed Game Announcement thread, but it's not added to the database yet.

Gobyworld is available for free on Steam and on itch.io. It was also announced in our forums in a Completed game announcement thread, but not added to the database. This is an odd game where you play the part of a piece of gum, swallowed by mistake, that has to escape a human body. Including a sort of Wordle-puzzle and a small pink dog that follows you around. Fun one!

Projector Face is cheap on Steam. It was very well received in its Completed Game Announcement thread back in 2016.

Onironauta is in Italian only. It's available on itch.io and Steam. It looks like a comedy game. Released in 2017.

NSFWare is on Steam, too, and on Itch.io and on the archive. Made by Pierre Corbinais for the "Make Something Horrible Jam 2018". He describes it as "WarioWare meets Pornhub. NSFWare is a colorful sex-positive porn game." Despite having several other games in the database, this one was never added. The archive version is free...

Remember Pedro's Adventures in Spanish? Well, it was released in other languages, too. Peter's Adventures in English and Pierre's Adventures in French. This is a long and truly excellent game in its own right, niftly teaching you languages.

Now that Ghostlady is updating her old games, why not point to them? Haunting at Cliffhouse is on Steam. Intrigue at Oldhaven Plantation looks like it may be bought at mysterymanor.net (haven't tried) while The Hauntings of Mystery Manor, the first in the series, is free from the same site.

Wadjet Eye's Puzzle Bots from 2010 seems to never have been added to the database either. I guess I don't need to tell you it's a good game? Completed Game Announcement thread here.

Proximity Games have several games in the database. They have some games on Steam that are tagged AGS, but it's not easy to say for sure. ( @proximity - if you see this, perhaps you could comment? ) These include Small Sister (a Big Brother game/parody), Sevgilim olur musun?, which is Turkish for "Would you be my lover?" (The English demo for this has an entry in the database, but seems to be lost.) and the post-apocalyptic survival games Insectophobia and Wolf Territory.

Phoenix Tales looks like a game inspired by Quest for Glory. It has a  Completed Game Announcement thread in the forums, dating back to 2019, but was never added to the database. Also available on itch.io.

The Last Escape of Yeti looks like a hand-drawn game where you control the Yeti. It looks more like an action game than an adventure game.

Here's a game that seems to be lost: Lost Shore.

Does anyone have it, or know more about it?

I tried it again, but just like you, once the bakery was accidentally full with flour, I couldn't continue.

Yes, you need to stop the birds before they do that. I've reported it in the game's own thread, and it's on the fix list for after MAGS.

Are you using the Debugging features? (Link to manual.) They allow you to use keyboard shortcuts to teleport to any room, get all inventory items and more.

I found some games in Russian:
4 (or maybe 4 seconds) is a sort of investigation game where the player examines what looks like a crime scene. I tried to play with a phone thanslator, but gave up, at least for now.

Graydale demo uses graphics and the world of the Fallout games. This demo has three locations (I think). Russian language, and I didn't understand much.

Buhf also uses Russian language, but this one has graphical puzzles, at least in the start. I played it for a bit, and it felt more like a puzzle game than an adventure game.

On Steam, there are some commercial games: Maggie's Apartment looks like a short game set in one room, which has got very high praise in the comments. Released in 2017 by Anatola Howard and Duncan Cross.

Another Steam AGS game is Outside the Box, which is a NSFW game. Screenshots indicate furry animal-people. The people behind this call themselves "The Circle Jerk(s)". 

A free Steam AGS game is This Game Might Improve Your Memory, which totes itself as one part memory techniques and one part horror game.

Still on Steam, I found The Last Day of Adolf, which has the player play out Adolf Hitler's last day. I doubt this is worth the asking price.

And Gecky the Deenosaur...and a long, silly title, looks even worse. It's tagged AGS, but I'm not sure, and I'm not paying to find out either.

Cabin Trouble, by -BigDaniel-
https://www.adventure-treff.de/forum/topic/12215
the download link in the first post is still working, and so is the game

This looks like a great short game. German language only, and quite hard. I haven't finished it yet...may need help from our German friends who played it years ago. The player starts out tied to a chair in a small cabin where there is a bomb on a timer. Excellent animation and voice work.

Galaxia Quest, from the same author
https://www.abandonsocios.org/wiki/Galaxia_Quest
https://www.adventure-treff.de/forum/topic/9413
http://www.freegame.cz/hry-ke-stazeni/zdarma/adventury/galaxia-quest/14676
The last site have a working link: it's the big red button "stàhnout hru"

This is a quite long game, and I liked it a lot. A bit easier than the one above, but there is some pixel hunting required. This is a funny space adventure that doesn't take itself seriously at all. Satisfying story and puzzles, as long as you take it in stride. No sound, German language only.

Penguincy by Morfy
https://morfy.itch.io/penguincy

The author wanted to add this to the database, but so far, there is only a Completeted game announcement thread. My own comment was:

This was so much fun! Recommended! The game has cute penguins with different personalities, and puzzles that largely depend on you finding out what makes them tick.

Wasko the cleaner

Spanish language only. This game starts as one thing, then turns into some other things. Best experienced yourself. Basic Spanish knowledge is a plus, but I guess you can play through it without knowing the language, too. Very weird game.

Sorry all. I have to withdraw because life's responsibilities keep getting in the way. I still really want to complete that western so I'll be back and look forward to the rest of the entries.

https://imgur.com/gallery/ylQ8dPN

That's a cool picture! Real life first, always. But the "Finish your MAGS game" topic will be back again, so keep your files. 

[Blackbird Pie]

Blackbird Pie
It's a cute idea, but I'm confused by the controls. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong?

Spoiler

I have various routes between points, the birds have their own "inventories" with various resources, but they don't seem to unload them on any of the nodes. I sometimes had a triangular route, but again, the bird wasn't unloading anything. They mostly travel back and forth between their points but not changing anything in the resources. However, I managed to make a few pies and earn 7$

[close]

I don't think the controls are meant to be a puzzle, but I'll use the spoiler like you did just in case:

Spoiler

The birds can only unload at the bakery (flour and milk) and the confectionary (pie crust and everything else) or by dumping their load at the trash. In the current version, there needs to be a free spot at the locations in order to put something there. So if the bakery is filled with flour, there is no room to combine with milk to make a pie crust. (Radiant is going to change that after the MAGS, I think.)

[close]

Does that help any? The trouble you describe sounds very similar to what I experienced.

Code: ags

#sectionstart SaySpecial23  // DO NOT EDIT OR REMOVE THIS LINE
function SaySpecial23(Character *thechar, const string message) {
  MLabel.TextColor = thechar.SpeechColor;
  MLabel.SetText(message);
  thechar.SayAt(0, 0, 0, message); // say text but hidden (width 0), so voice speech plays
  MLabel.SetText("");
}
#sectionend SaySpecia23  // DO NOT EDIT OR REMOVE THIS LINE

This is way above my skills, but there is a typo in line 8.

Today, my 10-year-old son played this. He's played a lot of Among Us earlier, and he liked this game very much. I gave him advice of the general kind, like "Now that you have a key, go back to all the other rooms and see if you can use it somewhere. He needed help to find the hotspot for the vent system, but figured out the vent map puzzle by himself. I asked him about

Spoiler

the need to use the card swipe several times, and he replied that he did it multiple times because that's how it is in the original game. Spot on, OneDollar!

[close]

He had the most trouble with killing Yellow because

Spoiler

he kept trying to use inventory items on the extension coupled to the toilet instead of simply clicking on it.

[close]

So thumbs up from my son! 

[Blackbird Pie]

I haven't decided whom to vote for yet. Probably I'll let my kids play the games and see if they can influence me one way or another. 

Comparison:

Spoiler

Blackbird Pie is clearly the most impressive when considering the programming. It's a sort of strategy game like others that have you pick up resources and build/make stuff in order to advance, and i think it's very cool to have that made in AGS. The problem is that the MAGS version isn't really a finished game, but rather more of a prototype. Still, I've spent the most time with this game and had fun with it.

Mathilde's Dream, on the other hand, is a finished game. It's bare-bones and doesn't have much more to do than what's required to complete it and won't take more than five minutes to complete, but I enjoyed those five minutes. And I like the sense of fulfillment when I reach an ending to a game. As is often the case with MAGS games, the puzzles are very easy, making this less of a challenge than the other game. But MD has a storyline to follow, which BP does not (yet, at least).

[close]

I like the story idea, and the character names are cool, too. I played your first game some time ago, and there were some pretty good elements to it, despite the rather harsh reception it got then. It will be interesting to see a sequel. I am looking forwards to this. 

With the update, I can make the other pies, too. Fun!

Some issues still: When I start the game, it asks me for another app to run this ms-gamingoverlay. I ignore it and click the thumbnail and the game runs. But when I alt-x to exit (the only way?), the game screen stays on top of the quit box, so I need to use the windows key to get out properly.

Fail condition:

Spoiler

When I have messed it up and placed five identical ingredients at the bakery. Without a free spot, the birds cannot drop flour/milk and bake a crust. I don't know if that's intentional or not.

[close]

Is there an ending? Win condition? (Doubt it, but it would be nice to know.)

Smaller issue: the pie type needed at the confectionary will always be consumed at once, which means that no other building can get deliveries of that kind of pie.

Well, I got Detective Boiled-Hard and was happy with it, even tried to nominate it for the one-man voice show.    The premise for the new game world looks interesting, too.

This one should be an easy win for Cat.
Feedback:

Spoiler

(I didn't read yours before submitting your own, but the only common idea seems to be using the fire extinguisher as a means of propulsion in the water.) I absolutely loved this. You made the solution an exploration of game mechanics, like repeatedly pulling up the bottle with the fishing rod. (But I believe you had water bottles in your inventory, too.) Using the bungee cord for making a giant slingshot had me go "Why didn't I think of that?", which is always a good thing. I liked the way you made use of it for connecting the rope to the pillar, too. And you had to train duck hunting before finding your aim. I think the game shows its logic through your responses, which makes up for not everything being completely doable in the real world. I praised your creativity above here, and I would absolutely be a happy player if I played this and managed to solve it. Great entry!

[close]

Last chance to throw your hat in the ring with an ingenious (or outlandish) solution!

The Cartoonish approach:

Spoiler

TALK TO MAN WITH FISHING POLE
He's Popeye!

TALK TO BEACHCOMBER
Mini-game – negotiation.
You end up selling your car for what is in his backpack.
Got BOX OF SPINACH

GIVE SPINACH TO POPEYE
He reels in a PART OF THE BRIDGE
You can now walk to the pillar base

WALK TO PILLAR BASE
INFLATE TRASH BAGS
MAKE FLOATATION DEVICES OUT OF COOLER AND TRASH BAGS
WALK ON WATER
USE FIRE EXTINGUISHER
You are propelled forwards!

The Alligator and the now angry ducks are growing hostile.
Mini-game: SHOOTING FLARE GUN TO SCARE OFF ALLIGATOR
You succeed in scaring it away. It hides in the car on the bottom of the river, and drives away to safety, cartoon style.
The floatation devices are leaking air!
Mini-game: STEP ON ANGRY DUCKS FAST ENOUGH TO REACH THE OTHER SIDE

You have made it across! Yay! But...you forgot your first aid kit and the other stuff!
You shout to the beachcomber to bring it across. He just has to
TIE CORD TO FIRST AID KIT
SWING CORD TO BUILD MOMENTUM
THROW FIRST AID KIT ACROSS THE RIVER
He successfully...hits the pillar. Why didn't you ask Popeye instead?

[close]

This was so much fun! Recommended! The game has cute penguins with different personalities, and puzzles that largely depend on you finding out what makes them tick.

Most of the Reality-on-the-Norm games are not in the database. At RoN's own gamepages there are 84 titles plus demos and specials. At the RoN collection on the archive, there are 124 titles, some of which are different versions of the same game.

EDIT: Another place on the archive to download all the RoN games is https://archive.org/details/reality-in-the-norm-complete , which includes all released before January 2023.

Likewise, only a few of the Maniac Mansion Mania games are in the database, while the bulk of the 100+ short games usually are available at HTTP://www.maniac-mansion-mania.com At the time of writing, the site seems to be down, though.

Another game by Leafthief is A Heart Between Parts, which finds us playing the role of Frankenstein's Bride. She's been locked in the cellar, and has to escape. Yes, it's an escape game. Well made and fun, with proper old English in the dialogues.

Ben304 made PISS as a part of the Summerbatch 2012. It's high quality, as expected. Don't be fooled by the name of the game. 

Another well-known Ben, Ben Yahtzee Croshaw, made the demo Lee and Perrin: Paranormality, which was abandoned in favour of other projects.

Earth AD: Low Estate by Uma
https://umabreakdown.itch.io/earth-ad-low-estate

Quite alternative storytelling in this one. It's a science fiction dystopia story concentrating on storytelling. The puzzles mainly consist of finding the triggers for advancing the story, which I liked, especially the story narrated by the moon. (It makes sense in the context.)

Prodigal

This is a game drawing heavily on Vampire: The Masquerade lore. It's wordy and may be a bit off-putting to non-fans. That said, the game is well done and I found much to like here. If you don't find vampires fascinating, you may be a bit at odds with the game's central premise, though.

Bruises

This is another mood piece from Leafthief. Our heroine wants to skateboard again. Why shouldn't she? The reasons become clear soon enough. Sad, yet hopeful game driven mostly by conversation, but there are also other puzzles, including some fiendishly difficult jigsaws.

Vexation Island The Game

Seriously, google this and read what this is a gamification of first. Played on its own, this is a prank and a very bad game. I can't recommend this. Maybe to art lovers who don't play games.

Spoiler

The movie by the same name goes in a loop. And so does this game. It's all slow walking which will eventually get you nowhere.

[close]

Nice music and waves, though.

Wormhole - Ch.1 - Remake

All in Spanish. This is a short escape the room game. There are lots of jokes, most of which were lost on me because I only understand very basic Spanish. Fully voiced, beautiful graphics (the creator makes comics) and clearly great stuff for our Spanish-speaking members.

Animal Agency

So, here's another game by Uma. This one is even more alternative, telling the story of dreaming/sleeping next to animals and avoiding a breakdown. I think. It's more of an art project than a game, funded by FACT Liverpool. I guess this may appeal to people into introspection or to alternative ways of telling a story, or perhaps light symbolism. I must admit to being a little bored.

Escape the brothel

This is an easy escape the room game. It comes in two versions, one probably made while quite young, and one with updated graphics 10 years later. Not really offensive, despite the settings, but not really worth the time playing either, except for completionists. A few minutes playtime.