Apparently adventure gaming isn't dead.

[Celdia]

King's Quest. Police Quest. Gabriel Knight.

If you grew up in the 80's and had a computer, you've probably run into a few of these titles over the years. I have some fond memories (and some memories of utter, rage-inducing frustration) thanks to this genre of games. World-spanning epics, sometimes with almost as many sequels as the Final Fantasy series managed (but before FF made it vogue to have so many), that required a kind of not-logic to succeed in and invariably ended in hundreds and hundreds of deaths. Classic gaming - some would say at its best - and the genre still has rabid fans to this day.

I am not one of them. Adventure games drove me fucking batty at the best of times.

However, for those of you who may be interested in such things that are still being produced, I would direct you to a pair of projects. The first is the unofficial 9th game in the King's Quest series: The Silver Lining. This was a freeware project that managed to actually overcome not one but two C&Ds from Vivendi/Activision through sheer force of will from its creators and those fans that love the series so much they dedicated years of their life to seeing the project come to fruition. I have friends among those fans and creators and well there's nothing like a little bit of advertising for your friends to be helpful. That and it does look like a genuinely good game. Secondly, I would ask that you take a look at that group's newest project called Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller. Of course you can read all about what they have to say on it in the link there, but I would like to just make a quick note here on it being another ambitious project from the people that developed The Silver Lining and they managed to sign on Jane Jensen as a story consultant for Cognition. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Mrs. Jensen worked as both a writer and a designer on various titles among those I listed above, so it is possible that if you're familiar with and enjoyed those games that you may find some interest in this latest project as well.