I can’t act under pressure, which is why I don’t play most sports and I’m terrible at shooters. I played Bioshock as a teenager and dropped my controller the first time something ran towards me – the same thing happened when I revisited the game a few years ago. I’ve always been more inclined towards point-and-click games, with their slower pace and focus on puzzle solving. However, because I didn’t own a PC and grew up in the ‘00s when the genre’s popularity was waning, my access to these games was limited at best. I had to turn to Newgrounds to get my fix. I shudder to remember the filth I was exposed to while hunting for games to play, but I distinctly remember playing the gory Alice Is Dead. It was this same drive that later drove me to interactive fiction, which consumed several years of my life.
The point-and-click genre has been taken over by indies – nowadays, big studios are more interested in making sprawling open-world games with the best possible graphics. That doesn’t mean that nobody is making point-and-clicks any more. On the contrary, the genre is having a resurgence. In the last few years alone, we’ve gottenThe Case of the Golden Idol,Pentiment, Norco,Return to Monkey Island,Return of the Obra Dinn,Disco Elysium, Thimbleweed Park,Life is Strange,Night in the Woodsand so many more. Telltale Games also made the critically acclaimedWalking Deadgames, which are largely considered to have revived the adventure game genre.
Related:Kentucky Route Zero Makes Me Want To Touch Grass
Despite big studios turning away from point-and-clicks, knowing they usually bring in less money, indie developers are revolutionising the genre. Gone are the days ofmoon logicmulti-step puzzle solutions that make no logical sense and are there to pad the game’s length – these games are now examples of incredible design.Kentucky Route Zerois considered to be a masterpiece of storytelling and worldbuilding, while Return of the Obra Dinn was praised for its creative gameplay and art style, and Norco for, like, everything it did. Because indies rule the genre, the games are getting more experimental, and we’re starting to see the genre change in ways we never expected, and stories get told that otherwise wouldn’t have been told.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that point-and-clicks are coming back now – after all, with the popularity of the Nintendo Switch, a platform perfect for smaller indie games, it seems like it would be a waste for developers not to seize this opportunity. Kentucky Route Zero was recently rereleased for the Switch, as wasGrim Fandango, so all signs point to point-and-clicks having their day in the sun once again. In fact, Alice is Dead, the flash game I played as a child is now beingreleased in HD on Steamfor the first time, Oxenfree is getting a sequel, the Frog Detective trilogy is on Game Pass… I could go on.
In a world full of constant anxiety, I for one relish the chance to sit down with an expertly made indie adventure game with a story to tell and get lost in a vibrant world, no combat necessary. There’s never been a better time to be a point-and-click fan, especially if you’re willing to get a little weird. The genre is coming back in a big way, and we’re getting some of the best games from it that we’ve ever had.
