Have you ever gone to your local retailer only to find that an adventure game you are looking for isn't there? Or have you ever read about an adventure game that you wanted to play but you couldn't get a copy of because it hadn't been released yet in your country? If you are a fan of adventure games, chances are you have often experienced such situations.

Imagine adventure games being available to you whenever you want them and regardless of where you are located. Well, Adventure Shop is going to make that happen. Launched today by Lezard Electronic (a new company established by industry veterans), Adventure Shop is a new online destination for purchasing and downloading adventure games. Because the games are delivered over the internet, any game in the shop is immediately available to you 24/7.

Why am I telling this? Simple. Adventure Gamers has entered a long-term agreement to support Adventure Shop. When you click a link to the Adventure Shop on this site, it will be registered as a referral, and in return we are given an affiliate commission. (If you wondered what that reserved space on our main page was for, that's where the latest shop additions will be displayed.) In addition, Adventure Gamers will consult Lezard on which adventure games it can target for acquiring distribution rights.

The Adventure Shop launches today with a catalog of 23 titles, all English-language versions. This includes several hot-of-the-presses titles like Darkness Within, Sherlock Holmes versus Arsene Lupin and Cleopatra: A Queen's Destiny. These games are so new you might not even find them anywhere else yet. Darkness Within was released just last Friday, so this is a perfect chance to get it. The English language version of Sherlock Holmes versus Arsene Lupin won't even be released to retail until sometime next year, but it's already available on Adventure Shop right now. That means you can play the game months in advance!

Of course, the catalog also includes well-known games from recent years like Runaway, Still Life or Syberia. The goal is to have new games added on a regular basis. Half a dozen more titles are already in the process of being remastered for digital distribution and will be added soon.

If you haven't used a digital download service before, rest assured that the process is secure and easy: just purchase a game from the shop and download the game like you'd download any other file. Since you don't have to leave the house or even wait for a physical shipment to arrive, you can relax and get yourself a cup of coffee while it's downloading (you can read up on AG while you wait!). When the download is complete, you can start playing right away.

Not only is it convenient, but what I think is really great about Adventure Shop is that it gives you access to the games no matter where you live. It doesn't matter if you live in the US, or the UK, or Germany or, let's say, Bahrein. If the game is in the shop, you can get it. That is especially helpful for adventure games, as they do not always get the retail support other genres have.

By the way, the download system is powered by Metaboli, one of the biggest games-on-demand service providers, so you can trust your order to be processed securely.

Of course, digital distribution isn't a replacement for retail distribution. But it's an excellent alternative channel, particularly for fans of the genre. If you are often looking for specific titles (and not just what happens to be on store shelves at the time), then I hope you will check out Adventure Shop and give it a try. Keep in mind that what you see today is only the beginning, so come back once in a while to see what's new.

To be clear, Adventure Gamers does not own or run Adventure Shop, so if you are looking for technical or customer support service, head over to Adventure Shop and check out the help page. However, we do regularly advise Adventure Shop on potential new shop additions, based on our own expertise and by listening to your suggestions. That's why I'd like to invite you to the AG forums to let us know about your suggestions for the Adventure Shop and your experiences with the service.

If you have any questions about Adventure Shop, or Adventure Gamers' part in promoting it, I'll also be happy to answer them on the forums or in the comments section below.

Marek Bronstring
Founder
Adventure Gamers