Point-and-Click Adventures Found a Home on Phones

Point-and-click adventures and touchscreens were always going to be friends. Tapping to examine things feels natural in a way a mouse never quite matched, and Hollow Lantern reminded me how good the genre can be.

The best of these games respect your intelligence. Puzzles should come from observation, not from clicking everything until something works. When a solution clicks because you actually read a note or noticed a detail, it feels earned.

Pacing suits mobile well too. These games are usually short and chapter-based, so you can play a scene on a break and set it down without losing the thread. Hollow Lantern took me two cosy sittings.

If you grew up on adventure games and assumed they'd vanished, they didn't — they moved. Some of the most atmospheric stories on mobile live in this genre right now.