Gameology: Commentary and Resources for the Game Studies Community

Nice review, Matt. I need to get back to playing a bunch of GAGs myself. :)

About walkthroughs and FAQs, several years ago when I first popped up on the Internet (1995) I ran across an amusing quote from a GAG newsgroup-- "he who lives by the walkthrough, dies by the walkthrough!" Truer words have never been spoken. ;)

The gambling puzzle makes a return in Police Quest 1, though there it's mainly with Blackjack. Leisure Suit Larry 1 also has a slot machine/ blackjack puzzle relating to earning enough money to continue in the game too, for that matter.

Minigames in GAGs can work to a small degree, but when they are so obvious as to be Artificial Game Lengtheners, they wear out their welcome. Some later Sierra GAGs make the arcade sequences optional-- the only real LucasArts GAG to have arcade sequences were the 2 excellent Indiana Jones games (Last Crusade & Fate of Atlantis).