#349
The History of Point 'n Click - The Epic of the Graphic Adventure Game by Patrick Hellio, published by Pix'n Love
In the early 1990s, point 'n click was one of the most popular genres. Through graphical interfaces, and particularly the widespread use of the mouse on computers, video games became incredible storytellers.
A narrative genre propelled by the advent of graphical interfaces, point 'n click would establish key authors such as Roberta Williams, co-founder of the American giant Sierra On-Line, as well as Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, creators of Maniac Mansion, and Tim Schafer (Day of the Tentacle) at the eternal rival LucasArts. From the irresistible The Secret of Monkey Island to the chilling Phantasmagoria, by way of the phlegmatic Tex Murphy of Under a Killing Moon, the golden age of point-and-click is populated by iconic characters and universes that this book aims to rediscover. To grasp the full importance of the genre, it's important to situate its place within a global evolution of graphic adventure games, rooted in text-based interfaces gradually enriched with visuals in the 1980s, but also initiating a long-term narrative "tradition" from which more fluid modern experiences emerge, still regularly referred to, more or less aptly, as belonging to an extended "point-and-click" family.
Far from being confined to a purely technical device associated with the use of a mouse, the notion of point-and-click rhymes with great adventure, whether on microcomputers or consoles, but also with new or yet-to-be-invented technologies. Malleable and protean, having passed through different eras and trends, the point-and-click game genre has regularly highlighted authors who aspire to elevate, transfigure, or establish the codes of the narrative genre, which you will find in this book.
Enjoy a journey through these titles, creators, and studios that have given the genre its reputation over the decades.