 | Riven: The Sequel to Myst DVD-ROM
Buy used from: $2.19 This is the Gold Standard of puzzle-based adventure games! It still holds its title even after more than a decade since being released. Nobody thought that they (Cyan) could out do 'Myst'. Wrong!
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 | Rhem 3
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $28.49 This sequel and its two predecessor RHEM and RHEM 2 are independent, one-man creations that aren't very flashy in the game-tech area, but blow the doors off of the puzzle genre! And, the best news is, there promises to be a RHEM 4!
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 | Myst IV: Revelation (DVD-ROM)
Buy new: $17.49 / Used from: $6.00 Yes, it is THAT good! Doesn't quite unseat Riven as the best Myst game, but not by much. This game is gorgeous in every way!
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 | Real Myst
Buy used from: $68.48 Myst is what really started it all for us. 'realMYST' is the ultimate release of the game: Myst done in real-time 3D! Wow!
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 | Alida
Buy used from: $15.75 Also a one-man creation and pretty flashy to boot. Puzzles are almost in the same league as Riven and Rhem.
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| Mysterious Journey 2: Chameleon
Buy new: $9.49 / Used from: $9.99 Everything wrong (too strong of a word) with MJ1:Schizm was fixed here plus real-time 3D! This one actually outdueled Myst:URU in our books.
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 | Myst 3: Exile
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $1.94 Not quite up to par with Riven/Myst, but still an amazing game in itself. Best cut-scene ever created (the "marble-machine" ride)!
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 | Sentinel: Descendants In Time
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $6.60 The puzzles are a little "dumbed down" from Mysterious Journey 2. Otherwise, an excellent game for the money, again!
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 | Myst Uru: Complete Chronicles
Buy new: $28.99 / Used from: $8.42 Way ahead of its time! Graphics are incredible, but you need a trig system to run it. Massive is the best way to descibe it. Now the game continues online in a multi-player reincarnation!
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 | Safecracker
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $8.98 Very nicely done "atmospheric" puzzle-adventure. Not to be confused with the earlier game of the same name. Not a particularly long game, but pretty challenging puzzles in this one.
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 | Myst V: End of Ages Limited Edition (Mac)
Weakest of the Myst games. Too bad it's the last one. But, the "least" of the Myst games is still a pretty darn good game. Plays more like an URU expansion pack then a true-blue Myst game.
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 | Syberia 2
Buy used from: $32.95 Although not really puzzle-oriented, this (and part 1) are the best-of-the-best in 3rd-person adventures. Very immersive story/graphics/music. Well done!
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 | Obsidian Remixes by Banco de Gaia
Buy used from: $2.06 Not this CD! This is a place-holder for the hard-to-find puzzle-adventure classic Obsidian. Very Terry-Gilliam-ish! Awesome game.
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 | Chemicus
Buy used from: $42.79 The absolute best-of-breed when it comes to edutainment. Great way to learn something while playing an adventure game.
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 | The Sacred Rings
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $22.95 This is the sequel to the next game in the list, "Aura: Fate of the Ages" and it is a very good followup, indeed!
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 | Aura: Fate of the Ages
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $7.00 Well done freshman entry from startup Streko Graphics. Definitely a 'Myst-clone', but a well done clone.
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 | Amerzone
Buy used from: $6.92 Pre-dates the Syberia adventures, but has a similar, lush environment in a first-person, puzzle-oriented mode. Sweet!
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 | Schizm: Mysterious Journey (DVD-ROM)
Definitely get the DVD version of this game! The graphics will simply blow you away. You won't hardly notice the awful actors.
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 | Secrets of the Da Vinci: the Forbidden Manuscript
Had a really fun time playing this, but the tempo of the game ground to a halt during the 'urgent' climax in order to solve a couple slider puzzles.
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 | Voyage
Buy used from: $6.50 Inventory puzzles galore! Very imaginative graphics design. If you like this one then you might also like 'Return to Mysterious Island' with same inventory system but noticably shorter.
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 | Destination - Treasure Island
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $22.95 Typical, sturdy, well-crafted game from the burgeoning adventure game developers 'Kheops Studios'. This one even has you learning to tie knots as a puzzle!
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 | Morpheus
Buy used from: $15.83 Pretty cool little title that no one has heard about (now hard to find). Little creepy, kinda grainy, lots of fun.
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 | Keepsake
Buy new: $4.65 / Used from: $7.95 Kind of a 'Syberia' clone, but with an abundance of clever puzzles. Plot and voice-acting was cumbersome at points but, overall, not a bad fantasy-themed adventure game.
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 | AGON (Ancient Games of Nations): The Mysterious Codex, Episodes 1-3
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $5.94 This is a complilation of the first three episodes of an originally-ambitious 14 episode downloadable series. Budgeting nightmares have caused the project to be scaled WAY back though. It's a shame, because this was a pretty good idea.
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 | Sam & Max
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $13.89 Best of the best when it comes to comic-adventures. Not exactly taxing in the puzzle department, but the humor really hits the spot when the brain needs a break!
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 | Starship Titanic (DVD)
Buy used from: $48.00 Douglas Adams' crowning achievement in comic adventure games! Kind of a graphical Hitchhiker's Guide.
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 | Riddle Of The Sphinx 1 and 2
Buy used from: $33.98 Great pair of puzzling adventures in archeology. Part one was a better game than the second, but two improved upon the 'tech' of game one.
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 | Lightbringer
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $1.58 This game had some really great graphics for its time and. also, some really challenging puzzles to boot.
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 | Lighthouse
Buy used from: $0.01 Probably the first (in a long line) of so-called Myst-clones, but still was a pretty good little game on its own.
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 | Timelapse: The Official Strategy Guide (Secrets of the Games Series.) by Rick Barba
Buy used from: $0.01 Great game if you can find it. You'll have to suffer through some more bad acting , though.
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 | Return To Mysterious Island
Buy used from: $12.99 Yet another adventure game based upon a Jules Verne story. This one has inventory puzzles galore, again, and multiple ways to solve each puzzle (and incorporating a 'scoring' system for creative puzzle solving). Kind of short, though.
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 | Barrow Hill: Curse of the Ancient Circle
Buy new: $19.99 / Used from: $12.00 This is another pretty rough-looking, independent, one-man creation that deserves the 'commercial' success that it has had. Sort of a 'B'-movie equivalent in the adventure game genre (campy fun).
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 | Beyond Atlantis 1 and 2
Buy new: $9.99 / Used from: $8.79 Another pretty decent 2-pack if you can find it. Both games have pretty lush environments, but game one has better puzzles and story than two.
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 | Paradise
Buy used from: $4.64 Next in line from the creators of 'Syberia'. Only this one was rushed to production and looks very rough around the edges. Also, has a very abrupt ending like they ran out of money.
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 | The Secret Files: Tunguska
Buy new: $29.99 / Used from: $9.50 Another third-person, story-driven game (a la 'Syberia', et al), but this one does have some pretty well-done puzzles to go along with it's heavy sci-fi and mystery themes.
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 | Journey to the Center of the Earth
Buy used from: $6.78 Another 'Syberia' wanna be and Jules Verne inspiration. Just didn't quite pull it all together. Good bargain, though.
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 | Echo: Secrets of the Lost Cavern
Buy new: $17.99 / Used from: $11.30 Nice atmosphere and puzzle, but we constantly felt like we were wandering through a pre-historic "re-enactment" with actors playing the parts, answering questions. Weird.
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 | Physicus (Jewel Case)
Buy used from: $10.00 Not quite as strong of a game as Chemicus. Definitely should have been better, especially in relation between the puzzles and physics.
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| Monty Python the Quest for the Holy Grail
Buy used from: $5.00 The absolute best of the Python games, even though we still haven't managed to get all the way through it. We'll have to break down and cheat some day!
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