Explore-the-Structure Genre
Recommendations by Jim Kaplan (Jim Kaplan has a room called the location. The location of Jim Kaplan is variable.)Lengthy games where the PC's express purpose is the exploration of a single complex structure, such as a museum or mansion. Progress in the game is usually measured by the segments of the structure the player has rendered accessible. Concealed passages and rooms are a common device, as is the presentation of backstory belonging to the previous inhabitants of the structure; exploration of the geography usually coincides with exploration of its past. Although the game may take detours into external locations, these are always related in some way to the central structure, and it forms the vast majority of the gamespace.
An honorable mention goes to Anchorhead, which draws upon this "genre" but doesn't fully qualify as the focus of exploration is on a village rather than a single complex structure.
1. The Mulldoon Legacy, by Jon Ingold (1999)
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2. Savoir-Faire
by Emily Short
(2002)
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3. Curses
by Graham Nelson
(1993)
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4. The Dreamhold
by Andrew Plotkin
(2004)
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5. Christminster, by Gareth Rees (1995)
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6. Building
by Poster
(2005)
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7. Bronze
by Emily Short
(2006)
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8. Planetfall
by Steve Meretzky
(1983)
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