Games from the Past
In this section you will find everything adventure game related that passed through my hands at one point.
This is only a fragment of what I have archived, more will be added over time.
NOTE: These games are no longer available, but can be requested, so I keep an eye out for you.
This is only a fragment of what I have archived, more will be added over time.
NOTE: These games are no longer available, but can be requested, so I keep an eye out for you.
Big Boxes (priced)
Big Boxes (no price)
Clamshell, one-piece, trapezoid, glow in the dark, sealed, with or without flap, big or small, standard, collector's edition or budget release, no big box is excluded from this category. Title displays Platform, as well as the language (standard English or stated otherwise). Note that the box content is not always complete, but I do strive to catalog all adventure games as complete as possible. Replacing incomplete ones as I go along.
Small Boxes
Most smaller boxes were produced in the early 2000's and originate from the States. They were usually one-piece glossy boxes with one or more flaps displaying the artwork or images from the game. From Europe smaller boxes were mostly elaborate DVD cases in a sleeve. And then there are those in between. Some of these smaller boxes also have a Big Box counterpart, which will be listed in the specific category. The idea here is to present any adventure game in any language in any release.
DVD Cases
Not all games were fortunate enough to receive a box treatment. Whatever the excuse was, a plastic keep case was all they got. Having said that, some of my most memorable games came in a DVD style box, like Fahrenheit (although they did put a nice sleeve around it for the Limited Edition). Manuals were usually physically present or came on the disc in PDF. Newer games require STEAM codes or a Product Key to work, which means you can't share them with anybody else.
Jewel Cases
Moving further down the production line we encounter the jewel cased games. Maybe there once was talk of making a box (like in the case of the Macintosh game The Castle), it never materialised. The releases presented here are considered to not have a box, but if you know they do, please contact me and I will update the information.
Hint Books & Strategy Guides
Most of the early walkthroughs were focused on getting you through the game, while Strategy Guides from Prima and Bradygames often contained artwork, behind the scenes and interviews to further stimulate the enjoyment of the game. Sierra Hint books usually came with a (red) Adventure Window, needed in order to read the clues. With the arrival of Youtube came the ever so popular Let's Plays and video playthroughs....
Novels
The novelisation of adventure games, can be adaptations from books, (John Saul's The Blackstone Chronicles, Harlan Ellison's I have no mouth and I must Scream, Arthur C. Clarke's Rama), filmscripts (The Dig, which was produced as a game) or the game itself (Myst).
Merchandise & Promotional material
Merchandise usually comes in the form of T-Shirts, soundtracks, figurines, novels and so, all sold from official retailers, while promotional items like postcards, stickers, posters, flyers, leaflets, brochures, demo discs and keyrings, mousemats were usually handed out for free. Sometimes the distinction is hard to notice, as merchandise was sometimes handed out for free to promote the game!
Advertisements & Posters
Production companies designed these advertisement posters to promote their games amongst the readers. Interesting to see that in Europe, a one page advert is the norm, while in the USA mags, two-three or even four page adverts were published. The ones displayed here are originals, removed from various national and international magazines.
