Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Adventures in Gaming series?
The series is the main focus of the channel and is more or less the impossible challenge to play every graphical adventure game for a personal computer that exists or will exists assuming that it fits the following rules: The game must be in English or understandable by an English speaker. The game must be released on a personal computing platform, which includes C64, Amiga, Atari ST, Mac, and IBM PC platforms. If the game is part of a series of adventure games, at least one game must have been available on a PC. (I also general exclude iOS games that run on a new Mac machine since they are mobile apps by design.) The game must be finished or no longer in active development. This means no early access or beta games, but does allow for incomplete episodic games since each part is a separate, complete game.
I’m a game developer on would like you to play my demo/game or highlight my game trailer on your stream.
I love to highlight new and upcoming adventure games on my stream and you are more than welcome to contact me or add the game via the Add Game page. As far as playing it is concerned, my viewers tend to pick the games that I play and donated games are automatically added to the selection of games that viewers can move up the list and ultimately vote on. If you have other ideas that would engage viewers, please contact me. Also, please remember, that my stream is dedicated to adventure games, so please refrain from games outside of the genre.
What is The Apogee Adventure?
The Apogee Adventure is a series where I plan to beat each and every Apogee and 3D Realms game that has been developed or, in most cases, published by them. I also plan to play games using the Build engine that was used for Duke Nukem 3D, because the engine was developed by 3D Realms. This series occurs mainly on Sunday, but could be used to fill time after completing adventure games as well.
How does voting work and how are the total votes calculated?
Votes for gaming in the current vote a calculated based on the following: Each viewer gets a single vote. This vote can be changed at at time, but everyone is limited to a single vote. For the modern, retro, and legacy queue, each 10,000 tacos invested in a game on the voting list counts as a single vote. Incentive games do not gain this bonus. Bonus votes can be added to a game from: !addvote at the end of the voting period, channel point redemptions, and taco token redemptions. For the legacy queue, the game gets an addition bonus vote for every 50 days that the game has been in the voting queue. All of these items add up to the total votes that the game receives. The highest total will win the vote.
What do you consider a personal computer are far as the challenge is concerned?
There is a list of Home Computers compiled by Wikipedia here. Graphical adventure games on these computer systems would be considered to be part of the challenge as long as the game meant the other requirements. I also do not plan to play a release multiple times on different system if the release was functionally the same (or one of the releases simply has cut content).
Do you use hints or walkthroughs to complete adventure games?
My goal on this challenge is to have fun and I do enjoy solving puzzles using my own logic and reasoning. If I find that I’m not enjoying myself, due to a game being poorly designed, extended lack of progress, or puzzles being “moon logic,” I will not hesitate to move myself forward using a hint via a walk through or other guide.
What is the Incentive Queue?
The Incentive queue is a queue of games that were added by subscribers or tippers to the channel. New paid/prime subscribers, and each recurring 12 month subscription cycle, may add a single game to this queue and the highest donor to the channel (including gift subs, bits, and tips) each month can also add a game to this list. In addition, every 12 gift subs and every 3000 bits grants an incentive pick. The games in the queue are pulled from randomly during the Incentive vote and tacos cannot be added to these game. though bonus votes from Taco Tokens can. Anyone can vote in the poll, but votes from subscribers are “sticky” and will be add as a bonus vote to the game at the end of the poll. Incentive queue picks can be banked and saved for future use indefinitely. The tier of the sub or gift sub does impact the award, so a single tier 2 sub is the same as 2 tier 1 subs.
What are the Modern and Retro Queues?
The Modern and Retro games are derived from the main Voting Queue. The Retro queue has all games on the main Voting Queue the were released 15 years or more ago. The Modern queue was all games that do not qualify from the Retro queue. When a new year occurs, some games will shift from the Modern queue to the Retro queue. Games are not added specifically to these queues, but to the master Voting Queue.
How are the games in the vote determined?
The queue in which the games are chosen from differs which each game. This is designed to get a variety of different games played from the retro games to modern games. As such each vote can from a different queue as follows, repeating each time: Modern Voting Queue Incentive Queue Retro Voting Queue Incentive Queue Legacy Queue (every other cycle) The games in the modern and retro queue (which is derived from the voting queue) are sorted using the following criteria: The games with the most tacos invested in them are put at the top of their respective queue. No user can have more than one game in the top 5 of each queue. The 6th game in the vote is the wildcard game and can be any game on the list that isn’t in the top 5. It is randomly selected weighed in favor of games that have been in the queue the longest. Any game in the vote must have a prerequisite game completed. For the Incentive Queue vote, 5 games are chosen randomly from the incentive queue for the vote as long as their prerequisites are met. For the Legacy Queue, games that have been in the Combined Voting Queue for 1 year or more receive a bonus equal to 1/50th the number of days they have been in the queue plus their normal taco bonus. The 6 games with the highest bonuses are put into the vote. This queue is meant to take games that have been in the queue for a long period of time and get the most supported ones into a vote.
What are the benefits of being a VIP on Twitch?
You can use channel points on Twitch to gain the VIP role on Twitch. The VIP role grants the following benefits: You get a fancy diamond badge next to your name You get double tacos for time-based awards, such as being in the channel while the stream is live. This is cumulative with subscriber bonuses. Your votes stay with the games after voting is closed during all votes. You do not have to be present to win the vote raffle.
What does adding tacos to a game using the !addtacos command do?
Once per hour, viewers can add 500 tacos to the investment of a game in order to both move it up on the list and add to the number of bonus votes that it receives when it enters the vote. Simply type !addtacos followed by either the number of the game on the “Combined Voting Queue” or the name of the game as it appears on the game list. You can also use the URL of the game from the game database. You may add tacos to as many games as you want but are limited to a single add per game per hour.
What are bonus votes and where do they come from?
The bonus votes can be bought using tacos after the voting is complete using the !addvote command, votes from Twitch channel point redemptions, and bonus votes from using a taco token are kept on the games between the votes. So, if a game doesn’t win, it will still maintain those votes for future voting round.
What is a Taco Token, how do I get one, and what can I use them for?
You can earn taco tokens as follows: If you follow the channel, you are awarded 1 taco token (this is for the first follow, unfollowing and following will not grant additional tokens). Paid and Twitch Prime subscribers get 1 taco token each month they are subscribed. Each month of a gift subscription grants the gifter 1 taco token. Every 1000 bits or $10.00 in tips to the channel grants 1 taco token to the tipper and 1 taco token to a random viewer in the chat. A taco token is awarded during a raffle on Taco Tuesday Purchasing one using Twitch channel points (Puzzle Pieces). Taco tokens are banked and can be used in various ways as follows: (a) 3 additional votes in the current game poll (once per vote), excluding special polls, (b) traded in for 5,000 tacos instantly, (c) 12 tokens can be traded in for an incentive queue pick.
What is your game list and how do games get added to the list?
The adventure game is list is pulled directly from The Adventure Game Database. You can browse and submit corrections and new additions via the AGDB web site.
What is your take on viewers involvement in the games that you play (i.e. backseating)?
I enjoy solving puzzles with the community and I feel like the viewers are playing the game along with me. To that end, I welcome a community effort to solve the puzzles. If, on the other hand, you know the solution to a puzzle because you have played the game before or are looking at a walkthrough, I would prefer you not spoil the puzzle. If I get stuck, I will ask for a hint and looking online for one so that I can continue, but I try to solve the puzzles prior to getting hints.
What are Tacos (other than the delicious food) and how do I get them?
The viewer points in the channel are called tacos. Here is how you can earn them: By watching the stream, viewers earn 10 tacos every 5 minutes, active viewers in the chat gain 50% more tacos and subscribers get additional tacos based on their subscription tier. Those bonuses are cumulative. You can check how many tacos you get on the user_info page) By being around when a taco party happens in the channel. These events use the Twitch channel points, called “Puzzle Pieces” and give a variable number of tacos based on how many have been held during the stream. By exchanging a taco token, you are automatically given 5,000 tacos. Of course, you can use that taco token for other things as well… By subscribing to the channel through either a paid or Twitch Prime subscription, you will be given 500 tacos. By tipping using bits, you will be given 1 taco per bit donated or 1 taco per cent donated via the donation link. Gifting a subscription to another viewer will also grant you 500 tacos (as well as the other subscription bonuses). Being around for special events where I give out tacos.
What are your thoughts on text based adventure games/interactive fiction?
My challenge is mainly to play graphical adventure games, but text based adventure game that are part of a series that includes graphical adventure games (such as the Zork series) will be played in order to gain understanding of the series which will help to gain a better understanding and more context to the graphical adventure games in the series.
What does it means when a games on the list is designated as N/A?
N/A games are games that I have had a difficult time finding for sale or available anywhere. They are considered locked until I can find a source for them. I have discovery bounty on all N/A games and will reward 2,500 tacos to a viewer that provides a legal source for the game. To claim the bounty, users can private message me on Discord or Twitch.
What does it mean when a games is locked and how does on unlock a game?
Locked games no longer need to be unlocked. This is simply a converted price of the game to tacos. If the game is donated to the channel, the game will be granted double the locked amount in tacos.
Can I donate games to the channel and when will donated games get played?
If you donate a game that is on the Adventures in Gaming list to the channel, it will be awarded tacos equal to double the base price of the game. All donations must be legal, licensed versions of the game. I will accept Steam, GOG, or Epic codes, physical copies of a game, or any other method to get a legal copy, either digital or physical of a game. If you donate a game that isn’t on the Adventures in Gaming list and it is determine not to be an adventure game, it will either be returned to you, saved for a future special, or donated as part of a giveaway. When you donate a game, it would be preferred if you have a preference on how the game is used (such as if you okay with the game being used during a giveaway).
What do you consider an “Adventure” game?
You can find a significant explanation of what is considered an adventure game on The Adventure Game Database on their website here. All adventure game on the master game list are directly based on games listed on the AGDB site.
Why are you doing this?
After looking at all of the games available, I’ve realized how many games that I’ve missed. My favorite genre of game since I can remember has been adventure and puzzle based games. My aim in this series is discover games that I wouldn’t have discovered and play as many adventure games as possible. I also realize that a bias exists on my part and therefore, I leave it to the viewers to select the games that I play. That will allow me to get exposure to games that I likely would never have selected myself.
What are your timers and counters and how are they used?
For every game that I’m going to full play through of I have two standard counters, a timer that keeps track of the amount of time that I’m actively playing the game, even if it is looking that instructions during the game and making notes, and a death counter, which is the number of times that I have “died” in the game. The death counter keeps tracks of time when I lost progress or had to reload because of an action, either direct or indirect, that I performed. Deaths that are required by the story or that don’t actually cost me progress or require a reload generally are not counted in this number. During some games, I may have a special counter to keep track of other special events during the game. These counters are specific to the game and updated via special rules determined when they are created.