Ask Slashdot: Best Adventure Game To Start With? 480
canolecaptain writes "One of my daughters (10 years old) has become interested in adventure games, and started playing Fate. It's been awhile since I've had time to play this type of game (since the Diablo 2 days), and I'd like to know what Slashdotters thought would be the best set of adventure games to start her on (PC preferred). Nothing too scary yet, so unfortunately, Diablo is out for the time being. I'd prefer one with multi-player so that we could quest together on ocassion."
Titan's Quest (Score:3, Informative)
Day Of The Tentacle (Score:5, Informative)
Cartoony, Hilarious, and not impossibly difficult. And easy to acquire. A spectacular game all around and you can run it right in scummvm.
Really I recommend all of their games, but I'd suggest that as a best "first" game. Monkey Island 2 is my actual favorite scumm game, but its SUPER hard so not really a good "first" game.
Those aren't "Adventure Games" (Score:5, Informative)
The only thing a hack'n'slash has in common with an adventure game is mouseclick-induced carpal tunnel.
NetHack (Score:4, Informative)
Zelda (Score:5, Informative)
Zelda Zelda Zelda Zelda. Since she's 10, she might get a kick out of Wind Waker due to kid-friendly themes (while still not being completely kid-sanitized) and a slightly better learning curve than, say, Twilight Princess or Ocarina of Time. You can't go wrong with Zelda, and Wind Waker is a really, really great game. Exploring those islands, filling my sea chart with maps of the islands and so on will live on forever in my memories because of the sense of discovery in that game. It was pretty easy to play, too, while still having challenging puzzles.
Re:classics! (Score:4, Informative)
I thought the gerne "Adventure"... (Score:4, Informative)
...didn't include hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers/RPGs.
If you're looking for actual adventures, then the Syberia series is a good point to start. Modern in their design, accessible mechanical puzzles and a wonderful non-violent story. There's also Amerzone, Myst and The longest Journey.
If you want a Diablo-like game (Score:5, Informative)
Tales of Monkey Island (Score:5, Informative)
I would second or third the recommendation of Monkey Island. There is an remake available that's been ported to many platforms (PSN, Wii, PC, iOS, etc) called Tales of Monkey Island [telltalegames.com]. My daughter (who is 7) enjoys it quite a bit. Some puzzles are a little too hard for her and I need to help her out, so it might be the right level for your girl. The humor helps a lot too, she might not get the puzzles but she enjoys some of the responses she gets for incorrect answers- keeping her from getting to frustrated with it.
My daughter also loves the Zelda series like Windwaker and the Twilight Princess. She likes these worlds and loves to play in them not just for the story line. Like playing fetch with the a dog in Twilight Princess, or placing the pigs in Windwaker in funny spots like try to get them on a roof, or in a water basin. She sometimes plays the older versions like Majora's Mask or the Ocarina of Time but sometimes seems a little turned of by the lack of detail/responses of the environment. [sigh] Kids these days! ;)
She also likes to play on my World of Warcraft account sometimes (with supervision, of course)- although I can see many reasons not to go that route (monthly $, stranger interaction, addiction/immersion). She likes to roleplay in the environment- go fishing, follow/talk to NPCs, sleep, eat, and sometimes go on a quest or two.