You would start a small game, in peace, but you don't want to fight your controller in one of the best action-adventure games or on a FPS nervous. Why not launch a Point & Click game? On the program: adventure, puzzles to solve and, very often, a lot of fun... Just to keep your brain in action! (Contrary to what the life simulators). Come on, let yourself be guided by our selection of the best Point & Click games.
It was in the 80s that this type of video game appeared, and the success of the Point & Click genre really began with the release of Maniac Mansion by LucasArts in 1987. The 90s delivered classics that are still among the best titles of this very specific genre, and the studio founded by Georges Lucas (yes, the creator of the Star Wars and Indiana Jones sagas, among others) is at the origin of a good number of timeless ones.
Since then, Point & Click has continued to evolve to adapt to new media, such as consoles, smartphones and tablets, but also to new ways of playing. We think in particular of the support for the controller, whereas, traditionally, we point and click with a mouse!
And even the form of Point & Click games tends to evolve: it is no longer systematically a question of moving a character in a setting to find objects there, to potentially associate with each other, in order to solve puzzles. Now, Point & Click comes in interactive movies, Escape Games and peeling scenery, with no characters to control!
The Walking Dead: The interactive film awarded at the Games Awards
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The Walking Dead : L'Ultime Saison
- A well-paced adventure
- Good transcription of the atmosphere of the comics
- Spanish dubbing
The Walking Dead video game series, developed in 4 seasons and a spin-off by Telltale Games and then taken over by Skybound Games in 2018, is perfect for lovers of suspense and horror who want to build the story of their character, without obsessing over their controller during intense combat sequences.
It's a very special type of Point & Click, since it looks like an interactive movie in which the player is responsible for choosing the actions to perform, from a list of available options, in order to get their character out of the game. zombie apocalypse befalling him. Far from offering a classic linear scheme, the game adapts to the player's choices.
Each action and each decision influences the course of the story, in particular through some QTE (Quick Time Event). Thus, the different chapters of The Walking Dead video game series can be replayed differently in order to discover all the branches of the scenario. Proof of the quality of the title: the first opus won the "Game of the Year" award at the 2012 Games Awards.
The Monkey Island saga: humor and insult duels
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Tales of Monkey Island
- The pleasure of reuniting with Guybrush Threepwood
- A friendly adventure
- Always very funny dialogues
Good news for players who don't like the retro design of the 90s-era pixelated games: The Secret of Monkey Island and Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge, released in 1990 and 1991 respectively, benefit from remastered versions released in 2009 and 2010 which bring an appreciable facelift to the graphics.
For Point & Click fans, this is a must, which we have already told you about in our NEO•Classics column dedicated to the Monkey Island saga. Indeed, these five opuses are an institution, although the fourth deviates from the “point and click” gameplay.
This adventure mixing humor and puzzles takes place in the 17th century, in an imaginary version of the Caribbean, during the great era of piracy.
The player embodies, in each opus, the young Guybrush Threepwood, who can be described without remorse as a failed pirate: weak and incompetent, he is sorely lacking in heroism!
Over the course of his increasingly wacky adventures, this anti-hero created by LucasArts will cross paths with extremely caricatural characters, and frankly hilarious.
Cube Escape: Cryptic Thriller on PC and Mobile
Cube Escape : Paradox
- Very simple gameplay, accessible to novices
- Challenging but not insurmountable puzzles
- A constant scary atmosphere
Developed and published by Rusty Lake, the Cube Escape series consists of 10 titles and 5 intermediate games, available on iOS and Android, but also on PC and Mac via Steam.
It is a harrowing and rather cryptic thriller whose plot continues over the opuses, from which the player must manage to escape thanks to his reflection and the search for his memory locked up in cubes...
The different opuses of these Escape Games follow the story of Dale Vandermeer, a criminal detective, as he begins the investigation into the death of a woman. He finds himself immersed in a mysterious world, where strange things are happening. And who are these strange animal-men?
The series ended in 2018 with the latest game in the saga, Cube Escape: Paradox, which unravels the mysteries of Rusty Lake. An 18-minute short film accompanied this release.
Day of the Tentacle: a great classic of the genre
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Day of the Tentacle
- A timeless adventure
- Hilarious dialogues
- Improved graphics and interface
In Day of the Tentacle, we find our dear Bernard Bernoulli and his friends Hoagie and Laverne, five years after the events of the game Maniac Mansion. We can also count on the presence of mad scientist Fred Edison, Tentacule Vert and Tentacule Pourpre.
It is with the latter that the story begins, as he quenches his thirst in the river polluted by his master's laboratory. His arms are growing and his intelligence is developing… just like his desire to dominate the world!
Our trio of friends must then, on a "brilliant" idea of ​​Dr. Fred Edison, go back in time, only 24 hours, to prevent the transformation of Purple Tentacle and thus save the world from the domination of the tentacles?
Obviously, nothing goes as planned and our three heroes find themselves scattered in time, separated from each other by 200 years. Thus begins a hilarious adventure in two dimensions, based on puzzles and time travel, unmissable for all Point & Click lovers!
Originally released in 1993, Day of the Tentacle was remastered in 2016. However, there is an option to play with the original graphics. What to make everyone agree!
Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Atlantis
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Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Atlantis
- Plenty of twists and turns
- Bande-son worthy of the Indiana Jones saga
- Long life with 3 game modes
After the Monkey Island saga and the unmissable Day of the Tentacle we mentioned above, it's time to tackle another flagship title published by LucasArts. This is the game Indiana Jones and the mystery of Atlantis.
Acclaimed by the specialized press when it was released in 1992, this Point & Click is still one of the classics of the genre, timeless despite its large pixels.
Its success is due in particular to its game system. The player controls Indiana Jones and must solve puzzles with him to progress in this scenario which can cost him his life! Indeed, Indy can die, which is atypical for a LucasArts game.
In addition, the presence of three different game modes, each benefiting from their own cutscenes, puzzles and places to visit, strongly reinforces the interest of the players and the replayability of the title:
- team mode, to get help from Sophia Hapgood
- puzzle mode, to add some extra challenges
- action mode, for sequences of actions and fights with fists
Finally, there is an alternative ending to Indiana Jones and the Mystery of Atlantis, reachable under very specific conditions, allowing the life of the title to be extended again.
Machinarium: a pearl of independent video games
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Machinarium
- A well-deserved award for visual excellence
- Renewed gameplay throughout the adventure
- A solid storyline
On the side of independent video games, we cannot miss the nugget proposed by Amanita Design in 2009: the magnificent Machinarium, with hand-made graphics, which won the Aesthetics Award at IndieCade 2008 and the Excellence in Visual Art at the Independent Games Festival 2009.
It is through the character of the little robot Josef, expelled from the city by the thugs of the Brotherhood of Black Hats, that the player dives into the city of Machinarium, populated only by robots. By solving a series of puzzles and riddles, he must return to town and thwart an attack.
On the way, he will meet various characters who will help him to thwart the machiavellian plan of the brigands, save the mayor of the city and find his girlfriend Bertha (a robot, obviously), who has been kidnapped.
Good news for those who don't like being overwhelmed by dialogue: Machinarium uses a very simple system of animated bubbles that allow the player to grasp the plot. As for the pointer, its shape changes according to the object pointed at, which makes it even easier to understand the game.
Lumino City: multi-award winning handmade
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Lumino City
- Superb art direction
- Renewed gameplay throughout the adventure
- A sweet adventure
Sequel to Lume, Lumino City picks up where the previous installment left off. However, this new adventure can very well be an entry point for a new player, since the previous events have no importance here. We simply find Lumi and her grandfather.
Moreover, the story begins immediately with the disappearance of the grandfather, who is kidnapped from his home. Lume will then travel the city of Lumino City in search of his grandpa, and explore the unusual dwellings on his way, also to help his amazing neighbors.
What stands out at first glance are the game's graphics… which aren't really graphics. Indeed, everything that can be seen on the screen, whether it is the complex sets or the characters, is made from paper, cardboard and glue.
Each element has been finely laser cut to compose the model of the city which measures three meters high! And it's miniature lights and motors that bring it to life. A technical feat that has earned a multitude of prizes for the game developed by the English State of Play Games.
Runaway: the excellent adventure trilogy from Pendulo Studios
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Runaway : A Twist of Fate
- Impeccable graphics
- Solid script for a satisfying conclusion
- Always funny dialogues
As he prepares to graduate from university, Brian is attacked by members of the Mafia! He manages to flee in the company of Gina, a mysterious stripper, and will meet all kinds of crazy personalities in his adventure to understand what is going on.
Devilishly funny and full of surprises (and betrayals), the story imagined by Pendulo Studios is spread over three excellent opuses: Runaway, A Road Adventure; Runaway, The Dream of The Turtle; Runaway: A Twist of Fate.
In each of them, the player takes control of Brian (and Gina in the last title) in order to solve this funny adventure which inevitably ends well. Note that the latest installment in the saga offers different levels of difficulty with a help system for beginners to Point & Click games.
looK INside: Unexpected's Spanish Point & Click (ZeratoR)
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looK INside
- A relaxing game
- A moving story
- Sweet graphics
In this very sweet game offered by Unexpected (the independent development studio founded by Adrien "ZeratoR" Nougaret), there is no question of directing a character through a series of settings to solve the mysteries of a crazy adventure.
However, looK INside is a Point & Click that makes an impression and touches the heart.
The player takes on the role of Manon, who finds a book in her parents' attic filled with family memories. But everything is to be reconstructed! Page after page, we must therefore discover the members of this family through the memories they left, as well as their funny little secrets.
At the end of this sweet adventure, quite short it must be admitted, you will have put a name on each of the faces and reconstructed Manon's complete family tree. You will also have discovered the happy actions and the blunders of the members of this family, as well as their rich and failed experiences.
In short, looK INside is a very beautiful adventure, which requires reflection, but which is played quietly, and without any pressure.
Point and Click!
So ends our selection of the best Point & Click games of all time (just that). Of course, it is certainly lacking: tastes and colors, you know. And, faced with the plethora of titles available, it is impossible for us to mention them all.
But we are curious to discover your favorite titles, those that have marked you the most and those to which, perhaps, you replay regularly with pleasure. So don't hesitate to share with us your list of the best Point & Click games!
