Star Trekis one of the longest-running, most iconic sci-fi franchises in popular culture. While it may not have the same cultural cachet asStar Wars, a newStar Trektelevision series or film has debuted every decade since its inception in 1966. Characters likeCaptain Kirk and Spock fromThe Original Seriesare recognizable to a wide audience, so it’s no surprise that Paramount has capitalized on this nostalgia through current series likeStrange New Worlds. Video game adaptations have also been a common part of this brand since the 1970s.
Mike Mayfield’s text-based adventure gameStar Trek, based onThe Original Series, released on various old-school computer platforms in 1971. Video game adaptations of the franchise proliferated in the 1980s and 90s alongside shows such asThe Next Generation,Deep Space Nine, andVoyager, as did tabletop and board games set in the universe first envisioned by Gene Roddenberry. That continues to this day with upcoming ventures likeDramatic Labs’Star Trek Resurgence, which cribs a narrative-driven style made popular by developer Telltale. However,Star Trekshould also consider jumping onboard the resurgence of point-and-click adventure games to boldly go after a modern AAA story.
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Point-and-Click Adventure Games are Back in the Limelight
The works of LucasArts and Sierra Entertainment helped define an integral early video game genre, one focused on witty storytelling, exploration, and environmental puzzle-solving. Titles likeKing’s QuestorDay of the Tentacleoffer a direct through-line to the educational library of Humongous Entertainment, known for series likePutt-PuttandPajama Sam, as well as a number of modern indie hits.Norco, a point-and-click game by Geography of Robots, won the inaugural Tribeca Games Award in 2021 and was a Best Debut Indie Game nominee at The Game Awards 2022.
This was just one of many point-and-click adventure games to hit storefronts last year. On top of indie projects like Tall Story Games’Lucy Dreaming, aseminal LucasArts franchise came back inReturn to Monkey Island. A new entry for theBroken Swordseries is also reportedly in development, and major studios put out smaller passion projects like Obsidian Entertainment’sPentiment. While there’s no telling how far this resurgence will go, it’s clear to see the old-school genre has plenty more to give, and a lot of fans willing to step up if bigger studios aren’t making their own.
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Star Trek’s Continual Support Deserves Another Point-and-Click Adventure
Star Trekgames have run the gamut of platforms and genres over the last 50 years, from aforementioned text-based adventures to platformers, puzzle games, pinball, and more. Within the 21st Century fans have seen cinematic shooters tying into J.J. Abram’s rebooted film franchise, an ongoing MMORPG, mobile strategy games, and even an Ubisoft-published virtual reality simulation of what it’s like to be part of the bridge crew on a Starfleet ship.Star Trek Resurgenceand show tie-ins like 2022’sStar Trek Prodigy: Supernovaare just the tip of the iceberg for what a modernTrekgame can be.
The sci-fi franchise’s focus on philosophical conundrums and worldbuilding across a nigh-infinite universe are perfect for the slower-paced, thoughtful point-and-click puzzles.Star Trekhas dabbled in this space before with games like 1992’sStar Trek: 25th Anniversary, as well as more open-ended explorable hubs like the titular station in 1995’sStar Trek: Deep Space Nine - Crossroads of Time. As the universe continues to expand throughParamount+ shows likeStar Trek PicardandLower Decks, so too should its video game offerings. Pouring a high budget into more of a niche genre like point-and-click adventures may not seem advisable at first glance, but the audience cultivated byStar Trekis perfectly primed to jump on its current resurgence.
