Day of the Tentacle

This game taught me that humour and story can be conveyed extremely effectively through player choices. It was eye opening (and hilariously satisfying).

The strong coherence between story, time, and gameplay was really really striking

Probably my favourite LA adventure game, though Sam & Max really does give it a run for its money. I played it at what I suspect was a very formative time of my pre-teens, and I think it did a lot to shape not only my humour, but also my understanding that games could be challenging yet satisfying in how they deliver a story through puzzles and obstacles. I think it struck a very good balance between a hand-holding push-over and being so challenging that you needed to dig out a cheat guide every few minutes. That's largely a credit to its story-telling and design, and I think I was just getting to the age where I was able to appreciate that.

This is one of my favorite games from my childhood. If you haven't ever played it, you owe it to yourself to purchase the remastered version [1] and play it through (it's only $3.79). It's incredibly entertaining and witty. I doubt this game will ever get stale.

[1]: https://www.gog.com/game/day_of_the_tentacle_remastered

Site seems down...archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20190610020009/https://www.filfr...

This game captured a magical point in gaming where me my brother and my mother were playing on our PC, and my cousin and uncle were playing on another at the same time, keeping each other up to date on progress.

We all were blocked at the same point until my uncle found the puzzle where you have to close a door to get the keys, and as soon as he found it he phoned my mom and we all progressed.

That type of puzzle discovery hasn't happened since. Amazing game and amazing memory.