Summary
- The point-and-click adventure games of the 1990s had a significant influence on modern action-adventure games and helped to introduce narrative-driven gameplay.
- These games were enjoyed for their excellent writing, engaging puzzles, colorful characters, and unique approach to storytelling, rather than cutting-edge graphics or large budgets.
- Many of the best point-and-click games still hold up surprisingly well today and continue to have a lasting impact on the genre, paving the way for more recent titles like Thimbleweed Park and Kentucky Route Zero.
The 1990s were hugely important for the video game industry. While console gamers were enjoying the golden age of RPGs and sidescrollers, PC gamers were treated to a host of fantastic point-and-click adventure games. Their influence was wide-reaching and would go on to shape modern-day action-adventure games while also introducing the idea of narrative-driven gameplay.
The 32 Best '90s Video Games, Ranked
The best video games in the 90s were spread across a wide variety of genres, showing the greatest offerings for gaming at that point in time.
What made these games so enjoyable wasn't cutting-edge graphics or multi-million dollar budgets, but instead the excellent writing, engaging puzzles, colorful characters, and the unique approach to story-telling that many of them featured. It's for this reason perhaps that so many of them still hold up so well today.
Updated December 12, 2024, by Tom Bowen: With the recent resurgence in the popularity and prevalence of point-and-click video games, plenty of people are now beginning to turn their attention to some of the genre's earlier offerings. Despite decades having passed, the best point-and-click adventure games still have a surprising amount to offer and can hold their own against many of the genre's more modern offerings. For as enjoyable as the likes of Thimbleweed Park and Kentucky Route Zero are, they owe much of their success to these amazing adventures, which defined not just a single genre, but, in many ways, an entire era of gaming. Given that so many have been remastered for modern audiences, there's really no reason not to give them a go.
20 Blade Runner
GameRankings Rating: 77%
Many people consider Blade Runner to be one of the most important and most influential sci-fi movies ever made. It really is a work of art, and so a video game adaptation was always likely to happen. That it took 15 years after the movie's release for the game to come out is a tad surprising, but, when it did finally arrive, it did so with an emphatic bang.
The game perfectly captures the cyberpunk aesthetic from the movie and still looks pretty decent today all things considered. The gameplay has held up equally well, and, while the plot isn't quite as enthralling as the one from the movie, it still offers a vast improvement over the 2021 anime series, Blade Runner: Black Lotus.
Blade Runner
- Released
- November 13, 1997
WHERE TO PLAY
19 Toonstruck
GameRankings Rating: 75%
Toonstruck is a little bit like a reverse Roger Rabbit, with a live-action protagonist placed into a magical world inhabited almost exclusively by cartoon characters. The art style still holds up pretty well today as a result, as too do the voice performances from Christopher Lloyd, who needs no introduction, and Dan Castellaneta of The Simpsons fame.
Sadly, the game sold relatively poorly when it was first released, particularly given its $8 million budget. It has since garnered something of a cult following, however, which, given just how unique it is, is easy to understand. Those hoping to check it out in 2022 can do so quite easily, as Toonstruck is now available on both Steam and GOG.
Toonstruck
- Released
- October 30, 1996
WHERE TO PLAY
18 Maniac Mansion
GameRankings Rating: N/A
Visually, Maniac Mansion hasn't held up quite as well as some of the other great point-and-click games from the eighties and nineties, which, given its age and the limitations of the era, shouldn't be all that surprising. What it lacks in graphical fidelity and polish though, it more than makes up for in charm and humor and so is still a lot of fun to play even to this day.
Written and directed by Ron Gilbert, who would later go on to create the Monkey Island series, Maniac Mansion is one of the most influential point-and-click games ever made. It is to Gilbert what Day of the Tentacle is to Schafer: a breakthrough release that lays all of the groundwork for future excellence in game design. For that reason alone, it deserves to be experienced by fans of the genre.
Maniac Mansion
- Released
- October 5, 1987
WHERE TO PLAY
17 King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow
GameRankings Rating: 89%
Sierra's King's Quest is one of the longest-running series in gaming, with its first entry having now arrived more than four decades ago. While there have been plenty of great games to choose from during that time, the pick of the bunch is definitely King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow; which to many marks the high point of the series.
Released in 1992, the game improves upon just about everything that made earlier King's Quest titles so enjoyable. The voice acting is fantastic, the animation is smoother than ever and there's much more emphasis placed on player choice than in earlier games. In total, there are more than a dozen different endings; making it one of the most replayable point-and-click games of the era.
King's Quest VI
- Released
- October 13, 1992
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Sierra On-line
- Publisher(s)
- Sierra On-line
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Graphic Adventure
16 The Neverhood
GameRankings Rating: N/A
With its stunning visuals and wonderful animation, The Neverhood is one of the most memorable point-and-click adventure games to come out of the nineties. It was the first game in which all of the animation was done using claymation and features some of the best and most humorous writing of the era.
Some of the game's puzzles can at times be a little confusing, but they can typically be figured out with a little bit of trial and error. The story has one or two problems as well, although Klaymen himself is one of the most unique protagonists to ever grace a video game and his personality is just as charming as his appearance. Sadly, the PlayStation port of the game never left Japan, although the game was and continues to be available on Windows in the West.
The Neverhood
- Released
- October 30, 1996
- ESRB
- t
- Publisher(s)
- DreamWorks Interactive
15 Sanitarium
GameRankings Rating: 83%
With games like Clock Tower having already laid much of the groundwork for point-and-click horror games, Sanitarium was far from groundbreaking when it was released back in 1998. That's not to say that it isn't still a great game though. It's so good, in fact, that it tied with Grim Fandango to win Computer Gaming World's Best Adventure Game award that year and was nominated for numerous other top industry prizes.
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The game still looks great considering its era and there are plenty of perplexing puzzles for players to solve. But where it really shines is in the story department, both in terms of the narrative itself and the methods by which the developers opt to unveil it. Max's wavering sanity serves as the perfect vehicle with which to explore the wonderfully crafted stages and is ultimately what makes the experience so terrifying at times.
Sanitarium
- Released
- April 28, 1998
WHERE TO PLAY
14 The Longest Journey
Metacritic Rating: 91%
The Longest Journey is one of the last point-and-click adventure games to come out of the twentieth century, and it really shows in the game's advanced visuals. And thanks to some talented modders, there are several HD texture packs available that help to bring the game closer still to modern-day standards. Visual fidelity is just one of many things that the game has going for it though.
The story is surprisingly complex for a point-and-click game and remains incredibly compelling throughout. The main protagonist is just as impressive and the puzzles that she's faced with are challenging yet fair. Several spin-off titles have been released in the years since, although fans are still waiting for news about the direct sequel that was first announced back in 2013.
The Longest Journey
- Released
- November 17, 1999
WHERE TO PLAY
13 The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
GameRankings Rating: 91%
Plenty of developers tried to incorporate FMV elements into their games during the nineties, but few managed to pull it off quite as successfully as Sierra. The implementation of the technology in the studio's 1995 title The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery was groundbreaking for the era and stands as a testament to the skill of those working for the company at that time.
The game takes place around one year on from the events of the first Gabriel Knight title and once again places players in the shoes of the Belmont-like author. This time, however, players also take control of Grace for certain sections of the game and there are some noticeable improvements to the way that players interact with the objects and items around them. The story is strong, and the overall experience is one that's not to be missed.
The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery
- Released
- June 30, 1995
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Sierra On-line
- Publisher(s)
- Sierra On-line
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Genre(s)
- Graphic Adventure
12 Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
GameRankings Rating: N/A
LucasArts being a subsidiary of LucasFilm gave the team access to some of the best movie licenses of all time. What's more, unlike many of the other licensed titles being made in that era, LucasArts' games based on movies were actually good. Really good. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis serves as the perfect example of the right way to adapt a movie franchise into a video game.
Every element of the game is lovingly crafted, with great attention to detail being paid to ensure excellence in every area. The game's original story feels like a genuine part of the Indy universe, and the excellent writing perfectly captures the title character's wit and cynicism. It really is a great title and one that fans of Indiana Jones would be fools to miss out on.
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
- Released
- June 26, 1992
WHERE TO PLAY
11 Loom
GameRankings Rating: N/A
At first glance, it might not be obvious that Loom is a LucasArts game due to the drastic differences in tone and gameplay when compared with their other titles. In many ways, it feels more like a creator experimenting with a range of conflicting ideas than it does a genuine attempt at making a video game.
These elements come together surprisingly well, though, and form an enjoyable and unique experience that's unlike any other from that era. With a deep narrative and some unusual gameplay mechanics, Loom is a title that's definitely worth the price of admission. Fans of the Zelda franchise, in particular, would do well to check it out.
Loom
- Released
- January 1, 1990