Role playing type games.....

wow. coincidence. i had sudden cravings for myst and bought all 4 of them of ebay today.

Quandary is excellent for adventure games. im sure there will be something there that works. a lot of them are point and cling inventory oriented games. but some may be more suitable. The later zork games spring to mind. as do the journeyman games.

I was thinking about Zork as well, if they complete all the Zork's then they are surely geniusses

Still haven't completed Return to Zork...
Anyway don't know too many other adventure games for PC, I mean I played so many (monkey island, larry, space quest) but they are all old now. Newest adventure game I played is quite good, Another Code for the DS, but can't remember the last adventure game I played on PC.

Space Quest

jack i ****ing DEMAND you come over with myst 4 right now >:|

Actually what it sounds like your looking for is what's technically refered to as a 2nd person game, which are far more rare than 3rd or 1st person games. Basically the difference between a 1st and a 2nd person game is that there is no avatar, or persona that the player assumes. You play as yourself. In terms of writing a story, this means that each student can say "I" did this or that, rather than "Gordon Freeman" did this or that. It can be argued that games like Battlefield 2, or even Counter-strike could be considered 2nd person adventures, but generally i'd say that it's important that a 2nd person game give no special abilities or training or in anyway enhance the actual persons real life skills. In counter strike i can get headshots from a distance, yet in real life my aim sucks. I don't have the foggiest clue as how to repair a battle tank or revive the dead, yet in BF2 i can do both of these things... In a second person game it's imporant that it neither provide or require any skills that the player doesn't already posses.


Echo: The lost Cavern is probably the most recent Myst clone. I haven't played it but reviews ranged from 65% to 90% on game rankings. It's rated E for everyone (at least untill someone makes a nude patch for it. ) and it's about 20 bucks so it's cheap.

Realms of Illusion is another option. I couldn't find a review but my gut says mediocre.

-- That's about all i could find that were in the E catagory and wouldn't require major gaming rigs to play. ( i assume your school's PC's aren't standard issued 128MB video cards.) and that were played from the 2nd person point of view.

Assuming your hardware can run it i'd stick with the various Myst games at the moment.

URU, part of the myst series. It is exactly what your lookng for.

In fact, the add ons to the game provide you with a journal to write down about your exploits... the game was meant to be a MMOPG (Puzzle Game i suppose??) where you solve puzzles as a community. The project (kinda like INF) attracted a small die hard community but was not commercially viable enough to continue so UBI shut it down.

URU is perfect for what your looking for.

Edit (word to the wise. Puzzles are extrememly difficult (for me anyway) as they require backwards logic.... is how I'd describe it) Kids might get frustrated trying to get pass some of the more ridiculous puzzles in the game. However. The vast 3d worlds are more thna enough to inspire a child to write a story of their adventures. I'd advise your teacher friend to contact the makers of Myst. Her Idea is actually a pet project of theirs as I understand. (can you say sponsorship!!!!) Give it a shot.

Also. Children of morrowind attempts to do the same thing. Create a vast world for kids to explore without the whores and violence . Not exactly off the shelf easy to install but it's also a step into what you're looking for.

DEFkon explained it perfectly. A game that assumes you are you, without any prior experience.

Yeah I think Myst will be very frustrating if you play it young. I don't remember it very well, but I do remember the thing with the red wheel you had to crank to turn the tree into a rocketship... well... yeah.

You thought myst was bad?

Try their newer Incarnations. They're just ridiculous! Graphically pleasing but the puzzles can get pretty complex and strange at some points

Derelan said:

DEFkon explained it perfectly. A game that assumes you are you, without any prior experience.

Yeah I think Myst will be very frustrating if you play it young. I don't remember it very well, but I do remember the thing with the red wheel you had to crank to turn the tree into a rocketship... well... yeah.

Click to expand...

Heh, myst is about my only intellectual bragging point. I can't balance a checkbook, or spell worth a damn. But i beat the original Myst in 2 days when it first came out. Ironically i think i did this because i actually used a spare notebook which i used as a journal, and drew maps, and sketches of puzzles so that i could work them out visually. I think the myst games can be played casually, but if you really want to get that locked door to open you've gotta buckle down, and go for that whole experince and come at the game like a true explorer / adventurer.

Agreed.... but sex with my girlfirend got too important so I used the FAQs .....

Fallout 1 and 2. The childrens have to know how to defeat/barter with mutants some day.