In the XIX Century Georges Polti categorized all the dramatic situations in 36 cases. Let's try to do the same with the problems that appear in a Graphic Adventure.

In a few words, getting objects, using objects, reaching places, getting information from NPCs (non playing characters: characters controlled by the computer) and making NPCs perform some tasks is the core of the graphic adventures. The thirty-six situations are related with those tasks.

Like in the original 36 dramatic situations, we start each one here listing the elements that participate in the situation.

In the walkthroughs, each step of the situation will show the situation that corresponds to that step. Like in Polti's, more than one situation can be mixed in one case, but, in that case, only show one of them will be shown. The current set of situations is a bit different than the original one. Making the walthroughs has allowed me to discover some errors and to fix them, improving the set.

• The visible object
• A jar to collect it (if water, etc)
• A tool to reach it (if it's of reach)

The core of a Graphic Adventure consists in collecting objects that are stored in an inventory and use those objects to solve the problems found along the game. The rule of thumb is "get everything you can" (The pockets of the adventure games heroes expand to infinite)

Sometimes the objects are so tiny that is hard to see them, or it happens that we are in a dark screen where nothing is visible (in that case, the invisible object uses to be the light switch). Sometimes you see the object, but you don't realize that you can take it (sea water, sand, etc). And perhaps the object is "out of reach" and you need a tool. But in all these cases the objects are visible in the screen, not inside something.

Elements:

• The hidden object
• The container
• An optional key for opening the container

Sometimes the objects are "hidden inside something" like a drawer, a chest, a log, under a rock and so on. The container could need sort of a key for opening (the situation "need of a key" applies to exiting a screen, not to opening an object container.

Inside the container you can find one or several items.

Elements:

• Object in inventory
• Second object in inventory
• New object in inventory

Very frequently the objects are not used "as they were gotten" but is necessary to combine two or them in the inventory (or act over a single one) and get new objects.

Elements:

• A treasure map
• A spot to be reached
• A shovel or something equivalent
• The buried treasure

Is the object is a "treasure" (frequently buried) a "treasure map" uses to be the way to it.

Elements:

• The store
• The "money"
• The desired object

Sometimes you trade an object that an NPC (character controlled by the computer) has for another object that the NPC wants. A particular case of the trade situation is when the object you have is money and you buy one or several objects with it, usually in a "store".

Elements:

• The NPC (character controlled by the computer)
• The task
• The reward

The quests usually appear when you talk with an NPC (character controlled by the computer) and that NPC asks for something (an object or an action). For example in King Quest I all the game is a quests for three objects, and the NPC that asks for them isd the king.

But very frequently the quests are not so "central" and there is a NPC that owns an item or piece of information and that will deliver it if you perform the task (or quest) he asks for.

Elements:

• The NPC (character controlled by the computer)
• The test or question
• The right answer
• The consequence of a fail
• The reward

And sometimes, instead of a task, the NPC poses a "test", and giving the right answer or answers (or select the right option in a converation with an NPC) is the way to pass it.

In a conversation, the reward of selecting the right option uses to be to trigger a new phase of the game.

Elements:

• The Judge
• The contest
• The contestants
• The cheat
• The prize

When the main character needs to win a contest, frequently he needs to cheat in order to do it. (Or he wins "by mistake", like the cruise that Larry wins in Leisure Suit Larry II)

Elements:

• The NPC (character controlled by the computer) in need
• What he needs
• The reward

Sometimes an NPC doesn't ask directly for a task, but you notice that he is in need of something. (That "something" can be as simple as a bit of conversation, like the elf in King Quest I). "After you help him, you usually get a reward.

Elements:

• The spots where the actions are performed or...
• The object with a specific way to be used
• The actions to be performed
• The order of the actions

When, in order to progress, you need to performs a set of actions in certain order, and this actions are not about creating or fixing a device, we are in the "follow the rules" situation.

This situation is better explained with examples. In Police Quest, Sonny Bonds, the hero, needs to walk around his car (safety inspection) before driving it, or he won't be able to leave the police station. In Gabriel Knight III the hero has to master a francmason handshaking, with movements in certain order, in order to talk with certain character.

This also applies to the case where an object or spot is used in its "standard" way (for example, an umbrella in the rain, pray in an altar or rub a genie's lamp).

Elements:

• The exit
• The destination

Besides the use of the objects in the inventory, the second goal in the Graphic Adventures is to move through the "world". Several places have to be visited in order to reach the end of the story. Some places can be reached directly walking from one screen to another, but some exits are "hidden" (like the hidden objects) behind a false wall, a trapdoor and so on.

Enter or exit also applies to a different part of a screen that is accesed through a gate or door or, simply, by sitting in a chair.

Elements:

• The keeper
• The weapon or...
• The distraction or...
• The bribe

If an exit (or an object) is garded by a door keeper, there are some ways or dealing with that situation: distract the keeper, bribe him or getting rid of him for good.

Elements:

• The exit
• The lock
• The key

Sometimes the exit is not hidden, but locked and you will need sort of a key to open it.

Elements:

• The safe or exit
• The lock
• The combination
• The reward

When the way of opening a door o container is not with a physical key, but pressing some keys in order, we are in the "padlock" situation. Getting information (hints about the puzzle) is mandatory.

Elements:

• The trap
• The disarming device
• The reward

If the object or exit is protected with a trap, the trap must be disarmed (or sort of a shield needed) before getting the object or crossing the exit.

The disarming device can be a shield, a helmet or something to eat or rub.

Elements:

• The NPC (character controlled by the computer) to fool
• The costume
• The reward

The use of a disguise (that usually is composed with several items, obtained in different places) is a usual way for reaching some places or getting some objects.

Sometimes the "costume", the element to wear, is not a disguise, but sort of a protection.

Elements:

• The prison keeper
• The lock
• The key or...
• The secret exit

When the main character is jailed or arrives to a place where he cannot exit in the same way he entered, getting out of there is a "prison break", that can involve another situations, like unlock something, finding a secret exit or distracting the door keeper. What makes this a special situation is that the only option here is to get out of the place you are.

Elements:

• The NPC (character controlled by the computer) or...
• The information container (book, note, etc)
• The piece of information
• The triggered result

Talking with the NPC is one of the actions needed to make progress the game. The pieces of informations are like the objects: they use to be needed to trigger some events or to gain access to new places, whose location of existence were unknown before.

Sometimes the provider of information is not a NPC but a book, a note, etc. Or when you "look" at something in the screen or in your inventory you get more information about that item.

Elements:

• The hidding place
• The NPC (character controlled by the computer) to avoid
• The piece of information or...
• The danger

Hiding sometimes is the way for getting pieces of information or avoiding a foe.

Elements:

• The action
• The joke of advertising
• The reward (if any)

Eastern Eggs are simple actions not needed to complete the game. Frequently you trigger an Eastern Egg by looking at something. The reward is a joke, extra points (in Sierra games, for example), or even advertising about other games.

Elements:

• The hidden exit
• The way to reveal it

Like the "hidden objects" some exits can be "hidden" (a false wall, a secret trap, a well (it's visible, but you don't know it is an exit) and so on.

Elements:

• The NPC (character controlled by the computer)
• The bribe
• The desired action

Sometimes you need that a NPC perform certain action, but you need it to follow you to the place where the action will take place.

Or you need to find a location and the only way to do it is to follow the NPC.

Elements:

• The message board
• The writing device
• The answer

Sometimes, instead of "being followed", you need to send sort of a message to the NPCs in order to make them perform some actions. Those messages clould be by "ordinary mail", a writting in a wall, a tape recording and so on.

Elements:

• The maze
• The destination

Sometimes there is a maze in the way from one place to another. A map could or could not be needed to traverse the maze.

Elements:

• The vehicle
• The ticket
• The destination

When the destination is in a far away place you need transportation. Frequently a ticket will be needed for boarding it.

Elements:

• The partner
• Your partner action
• Your action
• The result

In some games you personalize more than one playing characters, and the combined actions of them produce the desired results.

The LucasArt games Maniac Mansion was the king of this kind of situation.

Elements:

• The destination
• The parts of the bridge

Some destinations (frequently in the same screen) only can be reached building a "bridge" with elements in your inventory or in the screen. The "bridge" can be vertical in the case of a chasm or high place.

Elements:

• The components
• The building place
• The components order
• The device action

Building a device is more complicated than combining a few objects in the inventory because it usually involves parts that are on the screen and several objects that has to be placed in a certain order.

Sometimes you don't need to build an unexistent device but repair an existing one. In several cases there is only one missing part.

Elements:

• The device
• The switch
• The instructions
• The device action

A computer, a machine, a control panel... All are devices that have to be operated performing certain operations that could need an order. They use to have one or several switches that you need to turn on. The result could be a piece of information or an action to be performed.

Elements:

• The element in the scene
• The inventory item
• The new scene
• The triggered action

Replace is the art of changing the scene replacing something that appears there with another thing. Frequently the effect of that replacement is that the NPCs will perform some actions and it's similar to the "send message" situation. Or you need an object and replace it with another similar. Or you need to fix a broken device adding a single action of the inventory.

Elements:

• The puzzle
• The reward

The puzzles are the main elements in games like Myst and the legion of games that followed it. Being also graphic adventures, in them the inventory is much less inportant and frequently inexistent. Neither the NPCs use to appear in those games. The "Myst like" games consist mainly in desert screens where you solve puzzles.

Elements:

• The path
• The consequences of a bad step
• The destination

Sierra was the great pioneer of the Graphic Adventures and in the Sierra games the main character could die in several ways. LucasArts introduced a new style and the characters didn't die in their games (not always, because in there first game, Maniac Mansion, the characters could die).

One of the ways of dying was the "dangerous path" -horizontal or vertical- that had to be crossed in a very precise way... or meet death.

Elements:

• The mini-game
• The players
• The reward

Graphic adventures sometimes have "games inside the game" that need to be played in order to progress. These games could be classical card games like poker or blackjack.

Elements:

• The arcade
• The control keys
• The reward

The arcade is a mini-game that require some fast requests. It should not be in a "pure" Graphic adventure, but sometimes it happens to be there.

Elements:

• The foe
• The control keys
• The consequences of a defeat
• The reward

The purists of the Graphic Adventures (and I am one of them) believe than these games has to be solved with the mind, not with fast reflexes, and that fighting and playing arcades must not be part of a Graphic adventure. The absence of fights is one or the diffrences between the Adventures and the RPGs (not the main one neither the most important one, because the essence of the RPGs is the progression of skills).

But the fact is that very classical adventures, like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, included fights.

Elements:

• The action that triggered the sequence
• The information provided by the sequence
• The new elements triggered from now

Certain actions trigger a "movie" or animated sequence where you don't have control of the action, but you receive information about what is going on. Generally, after the sequence, new places will be available, new characters will appear or new dialog options will be available.