Looking for a point and click adventure on Xbox Game Pass? You’ve come to the right place.
Point and click games may be deemed to be ‘old-fashioned’ now by some. Certainly, they stem from a time in the early 1990s when PC-based adventure games were all the rage. And indeed, the name ‘point and click’ comes from the literal action of pointing and clicking with your mouse. On console, the action may have changed somewhat – modern point and click games have evolved to be 3D, or at the very least to support controller input. But the experience is very much the same.
Great point and click games tell an excellent, absorbing story. They contain puzzles that have us scratching our heads to solve, as we search around the area for clues as to what we do next. They make us feel like detectives as we figure out what we do next. And thankfully, if you’re an Xbox Game Pass subscriber, there are some truly excellent point and click games for you to sink your teeth into. Read on as we discuss five of the best.
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Return to Monkey Island
If you’re a fan of point and click adventure games, it’s a safe bet that you’re familiar with the Monkey Island series. It’s one of the great classics of the genre, with 1990’s The Secret of Monkey Island being the inspiration of many games over the last 30 years. In 2022, original create Ron Gilbert came back with a sequel: Return to Monkey Island, and it’s every bit as joyous as the original.
Sporting a new graphical style that we love, Return to Monkey Island puts players back in the shoes of swashbuckling – and lovably useless – pirate Guybrush Threepwood as he sets out on a brand new adventure. Expect to meet a colourful cast of characters, solve your way through head-scratching puzzles and, of course, come up against the fearsome LeChuck. This is hands down one of the best point and click games of recent years – and it’s included in Xbox Game Pass.
Read our review of Return to Monkey Island
Chinatown Detective Agency
Fusing the old with the new, there’s a lot to love about Chinatown Detective Agency. This point and click adventure has you feeling like an actual detective, as you talk to people, gather clues and figure out how to solve puzzles yourself. It doesn’t hold your hand, and so if you don’t feel like thinking outside the box, it’s perhaps not the game for you. But if you thrive on a challenge, it’s well worth jumping into.
What we particularly like about Chinatown Detective Agency is that the answers to its puzzles often lie outside of the game. That’s right: you might be expected to pull up Wikipedia or do a quick Google search to find the solution to something. Yes, we often Google an answer when we’re stuck, but here it’s not considered cheating. We also dig its retro visuals and its story will keep you intrigued, too.
Read more about Chinatown Detective Agency
Grim Fandango Remastered
You simply can’t talk about the best point and click games without including Grim Fandango, one of the best point and click games of all time. The Remastered version released back in 2015, and more recently made its way to Game Pass. Okay, this is a game that originally released way back in 1998, and so it’s a little dated now. But don’t let its slightly blocky visuals put you off. This remains one of the best adventure games, telling an utterly engaging story and starring some truly brilliant characters.
You take on the role of Manny Calavera, a grim reaper of sorts. He works in a travel agency in the afterlife, trying to sell travel packages to the recently deceased. Upon meeting Merche, one of his clients, he’s instantly besotted with her. But she can only afford the most basic afterlife package – and Manny wants her to have the best. And so, with his large, orange mechanic friend Glottis, Manny sets out on an adventure to track her down and deliver her the package she deserves.
They simply don’t make ’em like this anymore. If you want one of the best point and click games on Xbox Game Pass, this is it.
Read our review of Grim Fandango Remastered
Broken Age
Double Fine is the master of classic point and click games, and 2015’s Broken Age makes it very clear why. It tells the story of two very different characters: there’s Shay, a young boy who has lived his entire life inside a space ship, and Vella, who’s grown up on a tropical island. Both of their stories are seemingly very different, and as you play, you’ll switch between their perspectives, jumping between two locations that couldn’t be further apart.
Broken Age‘s art style is second to none, but it’s the characters and locations that bring the game to life. As with any point and click game, some of the puzzles are a little on the obtuse side. But don’t let that put you off diving into this glorious adventure. It’ll warm your heart and test your brain, and you’ll walk away from Broken Age having loved every moment of it. This is undoubtedly one of the best point and click games on Xbox Game Pass.
Full Throttle Remastered
If you’ve been gaming since the early 90s, then you may well remember Full Throttle. This LucasArts game was a hit when it released on PC back in 1995. It’s since had a full facelift, bringing it up to modern standards, and had a release on consoles. This is still the same game we know and love though, telling the story of Ben Throttle, leader of a biker gang. It just has much prettier visuals that it had some 20-odd years ago.
Ben’s the leader of the Polecats, a biker gang who somehow find themselves caught up in some bother. And so as Ben, you have to navigate your way through dodgy deals, shady characters, and murder. Not the ideal situation to find yourself in. But Ben’s tough, and as long as he’s got his trusty bike, nothing is going to phase him. With a truly original story, Full Throttle Remastered is one of the best point and click games on Xbox Game Pass. And just like the two games before it on this list, it was created by the legend that is Tim Shafer. What more do you need to know?
