[PC] Quantumnauts (2010)

How:
Bought both Quantumnauts games from the official website after playing Oz Orwell.
Note:
Played the Italian version.
Pros:
- Nice puzzles
- Nice story and setting
- Cut-scenes have good quality
- I have a weak spot for this graphical style
- Some cool situations (e.g. the talking statues near the end)
- Gameplay never gets boring or monotonous
- Some red herrings
- The game actually manages to get funny once the player realizes it is meant to be a comedy
Cons:
- Many typos and grammatical errors even in the original language (Italian)
- Text is too small and difficult to read
- The main character often stands in front of interactive objects, must move him away all the time
- Animations are not smooth at all
- No sound effects
- Some annoying pixel hunting (e.g. the crack in the cave)
- Very slow navigation
- Missing descriptions with most actions
- Humor is sometimes out of place

[Browser] Worldgate Ep.1-3 (2012-2013)

How:
Covered in the monthly freeware section on adventuregamers.com.
Pros:
- Immersive world
- Simple and neat graphics, music and sound effects
- Nice puzzles, some of them moderately challenging
- Intriguing twist at the end (chapter 2)
- Cool to meet the ancient beings (chapter 3)
- Cool wrap-up explanations of the puzzles and devices met in the previous episodes (chapter 3)
Cons:
- Some interface problems (e.g. to analyze an inventory item, you click on its bottom-right corner, which can also happen accidentally)
- Small continuity problems (the journal is updated in the middle pages if the player does thing in a different order)
- The inventory can grow out of the allowed space if the player has more items than expected

[PC] True Love (1995)

How:
Came to know of it while chatting with my brother and got a downloaded version directly from him.
Note:
The English translation is the official Windows port.
Endings:
I got the Remi ending on my own and then saw all the others at once by following a walkthrough.
Pros:
- Mostly nice pixel graphics for both backgrounds and characters
- Some nice endings
- Some unexpected routes (e.g. saving a girl drowning in the ocean)
- Grinding skills can be rewarding
- There is a cameo of Akane from the game Venus
Cons:
- Music can get very repetitive
- Some typos
- Some continuity bugs
- A few ugly character drawing, few background scenes (most of them are just recolored)
- Very dumb, clichéd setting
- Unlikable main character
- Unrealistic dialogues

This character here is 茜 from Venus (1994).

[PSP] Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together (2011)

How:
The game was frequently mentioned on review websites and forums, bought it for 5€ at Gamestop as a first game for the PSP for long trips.
Pros:
- Huge replayability value with loads of extra contents
- Extremely non-linear
- Can be very challenging
- Epic final battle
- Some very good in-game graphics and special effects especially near the end
- Very good character portraits
- Can revisit past events and undertake new paths to get different outcomes
- A lot of different classes, skills, magic spells, items, and so on
- Many special moves that gradually unlock with experience
- Economy works well
- The game records all previous events, dialogues and cut-scenes
Cons:
- The story is very contrived, full of difficult-to-memorize names, and dialogues that are extremely hard to follow
- Sometimes when action happens at the borders of the screen, you cannot see who's aiming at who and what's the induced effect (you only know a posteriori)
- Music is boringly epic
- Some of the game mechanics are too tedious to be actually usable (e.g. recipes, beast hunting)
- Some character classes cannot use certain magic spells for no apparent reason, even if the spell can be learned and the character has the right magic skills
- Not being able to see the map/enemies before entering the battle field greatly reduces the strategic value of the game (e.g. entering a map full of undead without bringing someone able to exorcize them)
- Grinding new characters for experience can be very difficult as the game progresses, since enemy strength is balanced with the player's strength

[PC] Flight of the Amazon Queen (1995)

How:
Didn't know the game before it was given for free on Ubuntu together with Beneath a Steel Sky. Finally played it after getting it (for free) on Gog.com.
Pros:
- Very nice animations and graphics
- Nice overworld map idea (Joe looks at the jungle from a pinnacle, with a nice parallax effect)
- Very good voice overs
- Several cutscenes
- Some amusing sections (e.g. dialogue with Death before taking the boat)
Cons:
- Cannot skip dialogues
- Mostly inventory oriented puzzles, with tons of inventory items
- Graphics, music and overall tone are too much reminiscent of Monkey Island and Indiana Jones
- Uninspired, sometimes annoying music
- Some bad jokes
- Must mouse over items twice to get a description

[Android] Layton Brothers: Mystery Room (2012)

How:
Heard about it on Adventuregamers.com. Found the demo on the Play Store and bought the game after playing the first two episodes.
Pros:
- Great, colorful graphics
- The 3D sections are simple yet very consistent and well integrated with the rest of the game
- Quirky characters
- Fun and addictive gameplay
- Nice background story
- Cool turn of events near the end
Cons:
- Apparently there is no penalty for making mistakes
- One long episode is suddenly interrupted specifically by the end of the second (purchased) episode package
- Pop-up messages are there until the very last episode
- Puzzles are often given away by excessive talk and hints
- Correct answers given at the wrong time are considered wrong
- Title is completely misleading

[PC] Portal (2007)

How:
Knew about it since HL2, got on Steam with a daily sale.
Pros:
- Immersive and addictive gameplay
- Amazing atmosphere
- Surprising turn of events near the end
- Excellent voice work and amusing script
- Cool puzzle mechanics
Cons:
- Graphics are a bit monotonous
- Music is a bit lacking

[PC] King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow (1992)

How:
Often heard of it as one of the best adventure games ever, got on Gog.com with the King's Quest 4+5+6 pack.
Points:
I managed to finish the game with 228/231 points without using a walkthrough (I actually needed a walkthrough just to open the ink bottle...). The only puzzle I missed was feigning death in front of the black cloaked man, since I got the correct lamp by trial & error. Still got the best ending possible.
Pros:
- Some memorable and diversified music
- Generally good voiceovers
- You get to ride a black winged horse to the realm of the dead!
- Direct references to previous episodes of the series
- Rather lengthy, with a great amount of optional content
- The second half of the game is amazing (realm of the dead + castle)
- Very nice and logical puzzles
- Great graphics and cool cutscenes
- The possibility to die or get dead ends makes gameplay more exciting
Cons:
- Some super-fast animation glitches
- Some audio glitches (sometimes the music volume covers the narrator's voice)
- Using an item or using an item on the main character give different results only with some items (e.g. the ink bottle must be used directly on Alexander to open it)
- The Isle of Wonder seems more like the deus-ex-machina of missing inventory items
- Once again a final love ballad
- Some tedious backtracking required
- Trial & error required to solve certain puzzles
- Dead ends (usually quite clear though)

[PC] Hamlet (2010)

How:
Read about it on Adventuregamers.com, got with the Bundle in a Box (Capsule Computers indie bundle).
Pros:
- Nice, colorful graphics
- Boss fights
- Some clever puzzles
- Fun setting and story
Cons:
- Extremely short
- Sold as a "classic adventure game"
- A couple of puzzles require quick reflexes

[PC] Hector: Badge of Carnage - Episodes 1-3 (2011)

How:
Heard about it on Adventuregamers as a iOS exclusive, then got it with the Humble Weekly Sale: Telltale Games.
Pros:
- Nice puzzles
- Very good voiceovers
- Smooth animations and graphics integrating well characters and background
- Cool cut-scenes
- Some amusing characters and situations
- Lots of humor
- Nice music fitting well the different areas and situations
- Surprisingly lengthy
- Overall fun, colorful and well balanced
Cons:
- Perhaps exceedingly rude at times (e.g. fill used condom with pee)
- Some glitches
- Some annoying characters (the DJ in the last episode, the kids in the park)