Overhauling My Scoring Criteria

When I started the “Let’s Adventure!” series I devised a scoring system that I thought would meaningfully allow me to rate the games I was playing in a fair and balanced way:

Atmosphere: This will focus on how the game makes you feel while you’re playing it and includes inputs such as Music, Sound Effects, Graphics, Cut Scenes and overall quality.
Max Points: 20

Story: Adventure games are very story-driven, and as such the story needs to be evaluated as a top-level criteria. Focus will be on Quality, Immersion, Complexity, Progression and Pacing.
Max Points: 25

Experience: How much Fun was the game? Was the Difficulty too high/low? Were the puzzles a Challenge or were they repetitive and felt derivative and lazy? Was there any introduction for the player or are you dropped in blind?
Max Points: 15

Impact: Did you enjoy the overall experience? Would you play this again? Would you want to know more about this world and its characters in subsequent adventures?
Max Points: 10

For the first 84 games in this series, this was the rating system I used. What I learned pretty early on was that I didn’t really have a very good set of evaluation criteria, and since my score only went up to 70 and I was generating a percentage score, it wasn’t very balanced.

Nothing’s set in stone, so now’s as good a time as any to correct this misstep and revise the scoring system for the remainder of the series.

New Scoring System

In an attempt to improve the overall rating system used for the series I’ve decided to expand the categories and make the total score out of 100. I’ve also included some more opinionated criteria to allow me to boost games that I personally enjoyed - even if they’re less critically acclaimed.

[10] Graphics
The overall visual experience of the game can include background art, character models, game interface, cutscenes, inventory design and basically anything that you can see while playing the game.

[10] Sound
What do you hear? Is there ambient music or background noise? If the game is voiced are the actors giving it their all or phoning it in? Are sound effects present and enhancing the experience, or jarring/distracting.

[25] Plot / Progression
What’s the quality of the overarching story in this game? Does it grab your attention and hold it or is it sort of “just there” as a forced reason for you to interact with this virtual world? How does the plot progress, and does everything wrap up at the end? When the game is over do you feel satisfied and want to learn more about this world and its inhabitants?

[15] Characters / Development
Is the main character interesting and engaging? Are there other characters you interact with and are they fleshed out or just hollow NPCs there to deliver basic instructions? Do the main and supporting characters add depth to the world and gaming experience and how do they grow and evolve as the game progresses?

[15] Gameplay / Experience
This is a game … so is it fun to play? The goal is to get from some starting point to some ending point, but was this journey worth your time? Sometimes these games can be a joy to play through and sometimes they’re a slog and focus too heavily on “filler” or elements that artificially pad out play time.

[10] Replayability
Once the game is complete would you ever find yourself itching to play it again? Was the game fun to play or experience, or offer some variety of gameplay or character selection that could entice you back for repeated playthroughs.

[10] Impact / Impression
Final thoughts and impressions on this game as a whole. Were you left wanting more, or were you rushing to the end to get it over with.

[5] Bonus / Surprise
Anything unexpected or notable that’s worth calling out?

Scores (for posterity)

The snapshot of the scores at the time the system was overhauled is below. As I’m going to revisit each of these scores over time, the master list - sorted by score - will slowly be updated.

1. 91% Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (LucasArts) - 1993
2. 89% Full Throttle (LucasArts) - 1995
3. 89% Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (Sierra On-Line) - 1993
4. 87% The Secret of Monkey Island (Lucasfilm Games) - 1990
5. 87% Grim Fandango (LucasArts) - 1998
6. 86% Beneath a Steel Sky (Revolution Software) - 1994
7. 86% Sanitarium (DreamForge Intertainment) - 1998
8. 84% Sam & Max Hit the Road (LucasArts) - 1993
9. 84% Space Quest: The Sarien Encounter (Sierra On-Line) - 1986
10. 84% Flight of the Amazon Queen (Interactive Binary Illusions) - 1995
11. 81% King’s Quest: Quest for the Crown (Sierra On-Line) - 1984
12. 80% Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (Hudson Soft) - 1984
13. 80% Shadowgate (ICOM Simulations) - 1987
14. 79% Innocent Until Caught (Divide By Zero) - 1993
15. 77% Blue Force (Tsunami Games) - 1993
16. 76% Rise of the Dragon (Dynamix) - 1990
17. 73% I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (The Dreamers Guild) - 1995
18. 71% Police Quest II: The Vengeance (Sierra On-Line) - 1988
19. 70% Space Quest III: The Pirates of Pestulon (Sierra On-Line) - 1989
20. 69% Manhunter: New York (Evryware) - 1988
21. 69% Tony Tough and the Night of Roasted Moths (Nayma Software, Prograph Research S.r.l.) - 1999
22. 67% Blade Runner (Westwood Studios) - 1997
23. 67% Police Quest: In Pursuit of the Death Angel (Sierra On-Line) - 1987
24. 66% Mystery House (On-Line Systems) - 1980
25. 66% Nightshade (Beam Software) - 1992
26. 66% Space Quest II: Vohaul’s Revenge (Sierra On-Line) - 1987
27. 64% Ringworld: Revenge of the Patriarch (Tsunami Games) - 1992
28. 64% Normality (Gremlin Interactive) - 1996
29. 64% Leisure Suit Larry Goes Looking for Love (in Several Wrong Places) (Sierra On-Line) - 1988
30. 63% DreamWeb (Creative Reality) - 1994
31. 63% Labyrinth: The Computer Game (Lucasfilm Games) - 1986
32. 61% Snatcher (Konami) - 1988
33. 61% Countdown (Access Software) - 1990
34. 59% Discworld (Teeny Weeny Games/Perfect 10 Productions) - 1995
35. 59% Dark Seed (Cyberdreams) - 1992
36. 59% The Adventures of Willy Beamish (Dynamix) - 1991
37. 59% Police Quest III: The Kindred (Sierra On-Line) - 1991
38. 57% Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards (Sierra On-Line) - 1987
39. 57% Mean Streets (Access Software) - 1989
40. 56% Return to Ringworld (Tsunami Games) - 1994
41. 56% The Legend of Kyrandia: Fables and Fiends (Westwood Studios) - 1992
42. 56% Frederik Pohl’s Gateway (Legend Entertainment) - 1992
43. 56% Loom (Lucasfilm Games) - 1990
44. 53% Ripper (Take-Two Interactive) - 1996
45. 53% Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (Sierra On-Line) - 1991
46. 51% Harvester (DigiFX Interactive) - 1996
47. 51% Beavis and Butt-Head in Virtual Stupidity (Viacom New Media) - 1995
48. 50% Déjà Vu: A Nightmare Comes True (ICOM Simulations) - 1985
49. 49% Duckman: The Graphic Adventures of a Private Dick (The Illusions Gaming Company) - 1997
50. 49% Urban Runner (Coktel Vision) - 1996
51. 47% Hopkins FBI (MP Entertainment) - 1998
52. 47% Manhunter 2: San Francisco (Evryware) - 1989
53. 46% Lure of the Temptress (Revolution Software) - 1992
54. 46% Tass Times in Tonetown (Interplay Productions, Brainwave Creations) - 1986
55. 46% Ulysses and the Golden Fleece (On-Line Systems) - 1981
56. 44% Torin’s Passage (Sierra On-Line) - 1995
57. 44% Uninvited (ICOM Simulations) - 1986
58. 43% Eternam (Infogrames) - 1992
59. 41% Hugo’s House of Horrors (Gray Design Associates) - 1990
60. 41% King’s Quest II: Romancing the Throne (Sierra On-Line) - 1985
61. 40% The Crimson Crown - Further Adventures in Transylvania (Penguin Software) - 1985
62. 40% Police Quest: Open Season (Sierra On-Line) - 1993
63. 39% Companions of Xanth (Legend Entertainment) - 1993
64. 39% Codename: ICEMAN (Sierra On-Line) - 1989
65. 39% Cruise for a Corpse (Delphine Software International) - 1991
66. 36% EcoQuest: The Search for Cetus (Sierra On-Line) - 1991
67. 36% Hugo II, Whodunit? (Gray Design Associates) - 1991
68. 36% Jurassic Park (Sega of America) - 1993
69. 34% Murder on the Mississippi (Activision) - 1986
70. 34% Altered Destiny (Accolade) - 1990
71. 34% The Black Cauldron (Sierra On-Line) - 1986
72. 34% Rendezvous with Rama (Telarium) - 1984
73. 33% Transylvania (Penguin Software) - 1982
74. 31% The Dark Crystal (On-Line Systems) - 1983
75. 31% Dallas Quest (Datasoft) - 1984
76. 29% Ace Ventura (7th Level) - 1996
77. 29% Wizard and the Princess (On-Line Systems) - 1980
78. 27% Kabul Spy (Sirius Software) - 1982
79. 21% Bargon Attack (Coktel Vision) - 1992
80. 19% Lost in Time (Coktel Vision) - 1993
81. 19% Mission Asteroid (On-Line Systems) - 1980
82. 14% Adventureland (Adventure International) - 1982
83. 13% Emmanuelle (Coktel Vision) - 1989
84. 7% (was 11%) Geisha (Coktel Vision) - 1990