The Year of the Adventure Game

Something miraculous happened last year. Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions asked for $400,000 on crowd funding site, Kickstarter, to make an old school point and click adventure game, and the world gave him $3.3 million. In doing so, he and his company bypassed the usual publisher route needed to secure funding for a game, and maintained full creative control of their project. People just about everywhere took notice. Among them, a number of past and present game developers from such origins as Access Software, LucasArts, Revolution Software and Sierra On-Line. They all wanted a chance to take another stab at the adventure game genre, which until then, had been regarded by publishers as a genre that did not typically generate a significant amount of revenue. Translation: It did not make as much money as Call of Duty. Could lightning possibly strike twice? Not only did it strike twice. It struck again and again and again. It was a bit like the end of It's a Wonderful Life, with an angry CEO at Activision, Electronic Arts or some other such place playing the part of Mr. Potter. And as a teacher once said, every time a bell rings, an adventure game developer gets his paycheck.

With that said, Happy New Year! This year is going to be very special because all those adventure games that we Kickstarted last year are going to be released this year. To celebrate, I decided to put together a list of adventure games being released in 2013, including a few that were funded beyond Kickstarter.

Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse Adventure

Fans of Revolution Software's Broken Sword series, which debuted with 1996's Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, will be pleased to know that a fifth game is in development. Revolution Software has been self funding this sequel for the last six months, but now, they need additional funding. This is where you, the fans, come in. You can pledge to their cause on Kickstarter, and receive some pretty nifty rewards in the process. Go here to learn more about Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse, or watch their pitch video in the player below.


Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse Adventure