Profile of an Adventure Gamer
Using Demographics to Market Adventure Games

By Tom Houston
February 2000

Recently, I was motivated to think back over the five-year period that I have been playing and enjoying adventure games, and as a result, several questions entered my mind. Since unanswered questions stir emotions that don't reside comfortably in my body, heart, or cranium, I set out to try to find answers. What follows represents the significant and invaluable help that I received from Randy and the staff of Just Adventure (whether they realize it or not) and from my many new friends at GameBoomers (the most profound and caring message board on the Internet), as well as my own thoughts and opinions that provide a small contribution.

How did this whole thing with adventure games get started in the first place?

For me, it started in October 1994, when on a whim I purchased Myst, more or less just to find out what all the fuss was about. I had always liked puzzles (jigsaw, crossword, anagrams, etc.), but somehow this seemed different, in that my experience could potentially be expanded though combining logical thinking and puzzle-solving skills with the interactive enjoyment of a graphical adventure story. The experience of elation and fulfillment must have been obvious to my family, because on Christmas Day, 1994, my wife gifted me with a copy of Under a Killing Moon. With the very different impact of FMV and the irreverence and humor of Tex Murphy under my belt, I was hooked. I am now certain that many of you started in a similar way and became "magnetized" to adventure games very quickly, after only one or two experiences.

Once I had discovered adventure games, what compelled me to want to continually expand my gaming experiences by searching out and buying virtually every adventure game I could find?

Without really realizing or understanding what the motivational forces were, I found that my very busy professional, family, and recreational schedule had to make some room for adventure games. All I knew was that I found these games to be fun (because of the varied presentations and content of the storylines), visually and aurally pleasing (because of the wonderful graphics and sounds), and mentally challenging and rewarding (because of the sense of accomplishment that came with solving puzzles and applying logical thoughts to quests and tasks that were required to complete the game).

These feelings and motivations soon manifested themselves in monthly, then weekly, trips to CompUSA and Electronics Boutique in search of the latest adventure game releases. At first, I was satisfied with the surprise and pleasure that would accompany the latest discovery of a newly released adventure game, but then too often I would peruse the well-stocked shelves of games and find no appropriate adventure games. What a bummer, going home empty-handed! It was after noticing so many games on the shelves and yet so few adventure games that I began to look around the store at the clientele and for the first time came to the conclusion that I was out of place. There I stood among the shelves of action/shooter games and the teenage or young male adults that had apparently succeeded in making these games very popular, and I wondered "what am I doing here?" and "are there any others with a background and interests like me and, if so, where are they?"

If I am not alone in my attraction to adventure games, then how do I identify others that share my passion, and what is it about us, collectively, that should potentially motivate us to discover, nurture, and perpetuate a common bond of appreciation, gratification, and fulfillment from adventure games?

For the longest time, I would simply return to the computer game stores with trepidation, hoping to find a new adventure game to satisfy my craving, looking around for kindred souls and finding very few, and too often returning home gameless and discouraged. I decided to browse my way around the Internet and seek out sites that offered information (articles, previews, reviews) about computer games and eventually found Just Adventure. Although JA was undergoing a certain amount of turmoil at the time, I met Randy, and once Randy gained control of JA and brought forth their unique talents and dedication, to focus the site around principles and ideas that are aimed at preserving and proliferating the adventure game genre, I knew that I had found my panacea. Later, I would be led to the glorious message board, GameBoomers, where I would find the opportunity to meet the kindred souls that I had been searching for and to be a part of the formation of a common bond of adventure gamers. What a relief!

Why are we, the collective traditional adventure gamers, under siege from other segments of the gaming community, who have declared the adventure game genre "dead," solely due to their collective ignorance, and what can we do about it?

My life experiences have always shown that any individual or group that is under attack probably has been identified as an "easy target." Easy targets are normally perceived to lack organization, purpose, and direction, but more importantly, they may not have a well-defined identity that can be readily used to fend off aggressors. Previously, adventure gamers were not well-organized and still have not been able to foster the development of a market-driven power base that would cause the larger gaming magazines to embrace or understand the ideals of the adventure gamer and give them proper recognition and respect.

Randy's vision and leadership in the formation of the Adventure Coalition and the combined efforts and perseverance of its members represents the first sign of organization that is vital to reversing the past attacks on adventure games and gamers. The beginning of a market-driven power base has been developed, and its use must be expanded and enhanced in order to get the attention of those who really matter to us all (the potential new buyers of adventure games and the companies that will make and distribute adventure games).

What are the personality traits, motivations, and psychological influences that we share? How can we assemble a "profile of the collective us" that will provide the buyer demographics and market identity required to convince game developers, producers, and distributors that we represent a huge untapped audience of prospective purchasers of adventure games, and how can we encourage them and help them to identify and pursue this audience?

Well ... we've finally arrived at the real objective of the article. So, thanks again to the many fascinating revelations and contributions from the residents at GameBoomers, we will try to unveil an "astounding" Profile of an Adventure Gamer.

1. We have evolved into adventure gamers from sharing the common experience of always having been avid readers. We enjoy the "slow" process of immersion into engrossing stories that reading provides and can easily transfer that experience into an interactive adventure game. As with a book, we can take our time (if we wish) and get back to it when we're ready.

2. Creative writing may often be part of our background of interests, and we tend to act like "sponges" in our desire to come away from the game-playing experience with greater information or knowledge. We can sometimes be encyclopedic by nature in our approach to devouring the content of an interesting, often historically based adventure game.

3. Discovery, exploration, and wonder are driving influences that have motivated us in life and carry over to our enjoyment of an adventure game.

4. We relish the opportunity to use our senses and imagination not only to immerse ourselves into the story, but also to interact with the characters to an extent that we can often feel in control of their behavior and experiences. In a similar way, we enjoy the opportunity to enhance our visual and aural senses with an appreciation of excellent graphics and sounds found in an adventure game that might not be present in TV or movies.

5. Typically, an adventure gamer will be more mature (whether in terms of experience or thought processes), have had more formal training or education, and will have a higher level of native intelligence, often supplemented and honed by observation.

6. The "typical" adventure gamer will exhibit logical thought processes and feel comfortable with solving problems and puzzles, particularly as they relate to real-life situations and experiences. We reveal extremely active minds that are eager to push beyond the constraints of our daily lives and seek the mental and emotional stimulation of immersion into the strange and unknown worlds of an adventure game.

7. Whereas in the real world we may often be introverted in public, privately with our family and friends we are judged to be witty or have a dry humor.

8. We are very attentive to and serious about our daily life and responsibilities, whether it be family or work, but we appreciate the opportunity to escape from our everyday existence by plunging into an adventure game. We enjoy entering into another frame of existence, exploring unfamiliar worlds, or viewing and experiencing past civilizations, cultures, and history (like an archeologist) and even projecting our imaginations into the uncertainty of the future.

9. Our imaginations and cognitive skills are quite keen, such that we can reach high levels of exhilaration by applying our creative and fanciful energies to the evolvement and outcome of an interactive adventure game, attain a strong feeling of accomplishment, and get substantial doses of satisfaction and reward--all of which we need in order to satisfy our psychological profile and ego.

10. When we function in today's world (on the job, in traffic, at the mall, etc.), we often feel insecure or not in control. While playing an adventure game, we can be in control. If you're smart enough, patient enough, or sometimes fast enough, you can control the outcome. You can become a "winner." Another normal ego thing!

So, if this is who were are, then what does it mean? I think it means that we are not an unusual bunch of individualistic people, but rather an easily identifiable group of basically mature adults, who will respond to opportunities for mental challenges and who enjoy a good story with interesting characters, whether it be in a book or an adventure game.

The demographics are there. If I'm in any business that can only succeed and grow by expanding sales, then I will want to be able to identify and recognize my buying audience. This is basic to any marketing program.

Well ... all you game developers, producers, and distributors, this is who we are, and we're out there (mature males and females) in very large numbers. All you need to do is look in the right place. The demographics should tell you where not to look, as well as where to look.

You won't find us subscribing to the mainstream publication game magazines, frequenting the larger webzines, or going very often to the big computer stores, because they feature mindless action and shooting games directed at the teenage and young male population. We know that this type of game sells, because it's the only kind of game that most of you have paid attention to or directed your marketing efforts at, but you're missing the boat by overlooking the enormous untapped audience that has the potential to buy adventure games.

The demographics will tell you where to look. Look at the Profile of an Adventure Gamer again and direct your marketing efforts toward reaching this vast buying group. Identify where this large potential group of adventure game buyers are now spending their time and their money.

Look in the bookstores. You will find avid readers there, who like to explore and use their minds. Put adventure games on shelves alongside the mystery, historical, science fiction, horror, and detective books that readers come to the bookstore to buy, and just possibly they will see the value of expanding their educational and entertainment horizons to include the interactive experience that an adventure game will bring to them.

How about the Internet outlets that serve mature, thinking adults: On-line computer game, book, movie, and other shopping sites?

Book of the Month or Literary Guild clubs that might be expanded to include adventure games of the month.

Use your websites to direct/link potential buyers of adventure games to the Internet sites represented by the members of the Adventure Coalition, so that they can learn more about adventure games and share their interests with others who are more experienced in playing adventure games. Support the members of the Adventure Coalition by promoting these websites.

Looks as if we might need another survey to suggest all of the ways by which the game developers, producers, and distributors can use the demographics listed here to reach out to that large untapped buying audience that fits our Profile of an Adventure Gamer.

But ... I'm done for now and will leave that for others to chew on. Thanks for the "fodder" and the inspiration, everyone.