The genre that never quite died but has dwindled to a constant trickle is my favourite. More than the hugeness of RPGs, more than the carnage of shooters, more than the exploration of platformers - never am I quite so happy and serene than when I’m playing a point and click adventure.

I know that I don’t have the normal level of interest in this genre. Yes, I love Monkey Island and the Discworld games, and I nearly fainted when I interviewed Charles Cecil, creator of the shining brilliance that is Broken Sword. They’re not the only games I love in this genre though. Okay, I know I’m not the only person to have played Beneath a Steel Sky, Simon the Sorcerer, Gabriel Knight or Grim Fandango. I’m an even bigger fan than that though. I think I’ll have to lengthen out that word to its full meaning. I’m a fanatic. I loved Still Life, The Moment of Silence, Post Mortem, Syberia I & II. I loved Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Silver Earing, Arc of Time and Largo Winch. When I played CSI: Hard Evidence, I may have made out that I was in it for the gamerscore. I wasn’t. I loved every second.

Point and clicks aren’t about the graphics. They aren’t about the size, or the exploration. They aren’t about the characters. They aren’t even about the puzzles. They are about your own imagination. The magic of adventure games is what you fill in for yourself from your own mind. A point and click with every graphical and technical bell and whistle is no more nor less a draw than a text adventure. What’s left for your own mind to create is what matters. If you find yourself frustrated by the lack of freedom to move around in Phoenix Wright or disappointed in the graphics of Discworld Noir then you aren’t a Point & Click kind of person and that’s ok. I am though, every bit of me.

I was embarrassingly excited when buying Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None in GAME, in the mall in town. I looked like exactly what the staff there would expect to see - some daft woman who doesn’t know what she’s buying, who doesn’t realise she’s handing over 30 bucks for ‘shovelware’. WRONG! I know exactly what I’m doing. And Then There Were None may not be a graphical masterpiece. It might not have much scope for non-linear play. It may not be a ‘great’ game. I’m an Agatha Christie fan though. I love the setting and atmosphere of this particular story. This is my opportunity to go through that story and be a small part of it. To visual myself in the very scenario I’ve read about. I can smell the paraffin in the lamps, I can feel the carpets under my feet and sense the fear and mistrust of my companions - and I’m holding the game in my hand with the cellophane still on.

It won’t matter if it’s high quality, next gen or a graphical powerhouse. It’s a good game because I have a good imagination. Name another genre where that’s the defining ingredient. That’s why point and click adventures may falter and flounder but they will never die. There is a constant, reassuring trickle of games coming out. Why reassuring? Because as long as they keep coming I know that people are still using their imaginations.