Welcome to the Hotspot!

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Features by Adventure Game Hotspot staff
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Hello, and welcome to the Adventure Game Hotspot! (Or just “the Hotspot” as it’s more affectionately known in these parts.)

For adventure game fans, a hotspot has dual meanings. There’s the regular one, meaning a popular entertainment destination, and then there’s the gaming one, which refers to the very specific point where all the action happens. And we intend to be both! We want the Hotspot to be the place to visit and hang out for all the latest genre news, reviews, and updates of all kinds.

While our website may be new, we’re no mere upstarts in the industry. The Hotspot is a joint venture from Joshua Cleveland, host of the popular YouTube channel “Weird Gaming Adventure,” and Jack Allin, long-time editor-in-chief of AdventureGamers.com. Between us we’ve been following the genre for … well, let’s not put a number on it, as that’ll make us feel old. Let’s just say it can be counted in decades rather than years.

Our staff, too, brings a wealth of experience, expertise and wide-ranging perspectives to the table, having authored many hundreds of high-quality articles (even books!) over the years, as well as producing numerous videos and podcasts. You may not know their names, but if you’re an adventure game fan (and if you’re reading this, you surely are), you’re probably very familiar with their work, and it’s our great pleasure to welcome them to the team.

Got more questions? We’ve got answers!

What’s this Hotspot all about, anyway?

Our primary goal will be to keep you apprised of all the latest and greatest adventure game news through announcements, reviews, previews, interviews, release calendar, trailers, walkthroughs and more. We also plan to host relevant guest columns, publish lots of “best of” lists to argue about, and we’ve even got a few surprises up our sleeve (which we’re about to blatantly spoil), including:

Weekly podcasts, streamable directly from your favourite platform
Co-hosted by two or more Hotspot contributors with regular guest visits from developers and other industry insiders, we’ll let our hair down to discuss a wide range of topics, from old classics to top new releases, from design theory to adventure game trivia. You name it, we’ll be covering it! (Seriously, if there are topics you’d like us to talk about, please let us know!)
Collector’s Corner
Not yet live, this ever-expanding gallery will be for those who nostalgically reminisce about the good ol’ days of big boxes, feelies, and other fun products. Whether you’re a dedicated hoarder or someone who winces every time you think about throwing out all those priceless collectibles (been there, done that!), this is a great way to rekindle your love for the Golden Age.
Dev’s Den
This is a bit of an unfair tease, as it’s intended to be a private area exclusively for game developers to support each other, share resources, compare notes, and do whatever else developers do when they think no one is looking. This section isn’t quite ready yet either, but it will be soon, so if you’re a developer who’d like to know what it’s all about, get in touch! And for everyone else, just know that a stronger, healthier development community ends up benefiting us all with better games in the end.

Will there be a forum for community discussion?

If you’re wondering this, chances are you’re an adventure game fan of a certain … shall we say, vintage. (Not a dig, as so are many of us!) But old-school forums are a dying breed, so we won’t have one in the traditional sense. We will, however, have numerous other ways to engage with the community, including:

Discord
Join our Hotspot Discord channel to live-chat with fellow fans and staff, whether by text, voice, or even video. Just like a forum, only better!
Article Comments
All major feature articles, including reviews, will be open to comments from registered users interested in constructive, respectful discussion. (Many article comments tend to be magnets for trolls and bad behaviour, but OURS will be the exception, right?)
Social Media
We’ll regularly post and participate on our own social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Follow us there and join in anytime!

What is an adventure game?

Hoo boy, now you’ve gone and opened up that can of worms. It’s an age-old debate but an entirely fair question, what with us being a site devoted to adventure games and all. The truth is, though, that there’s no one perfect answer, no single box that every game will fit neatly into, so everyone’s interpretation is going to be somewhat different.

A formal definition might go something like this: Adventure games are interactive player-guided stories of exploration, investigation and discovery whose primary motivation comes from uncovering further narrative and/or solving integrated puzzles.

More simply, the genre is built upon three essential pillars: exploration, story and puzzles. An adventure game can get away with utilizing only two, but any game with just one, or heavily supported by other pillars instead (combat, platforming, stealth, stats, resource management, etc.), has really become something else.

So what can you expect of our coverage? (Bonus question!) Well, all of us here at the Hotspot are big fans of the classic point-and-clicks – and to a certain extent, the text adventures before them. But we’re also proponents of diversity and modernization, so even as we celebrate the genre’s rich heritage, so too will we look forward to what’s new and unique in a genre that is continually evolving in exciting and surprising new ways.

Is there more planned for the future?

Absolutely! The Hotspot is very much a work in progress. Any blank areas or sparse subsections will quickly be populated as new content rolls out, and we’ll continue to experiment, expand and enhance existing features as we go. (The main menu at the top, for example, will feel much more SCUMM-like with upcoming additions.) What you see today won’t be what you see in a week or a month, and most definitely not what you’ll see a year from now. So consider the site’s current state more of an Early Access version (but free!) with many more updates to follow in due time.

Sounds awesome! How can I help?

We’re glad you think so, even if we did put words in your mouth! There are PLENTY of ways you can contribute if you’d like to be part of the site, and there’s no better time than getting in on the ground floor. Volunteer specialist sites like the Hotspot need a lot of people working behind the scenes to update and maintain, so the more qualified contributors, the better. Whether you’re a writer, artist, video producer, walkthrough creator, experienced moderator, programmer (especially those skilled in WordPress), or just someone with team spirit and great organizational and administrative skills, we can surely find a place for you! Just drop us a line and let us know of your interest, and together we’ll take it from there.

There will be other ways in the future that people can support us, including financially, but for the time being, just relax, make yourself at home, and enjoy clicking through the Hotspot!