I really really love the story and characters. Most puzzles are fun and logical.

I've tried this game several times during my lifetime. I always get stuck at the same spot (chapter 3), spend like 2 days trying to figure out what to do, then uninstall the game and try again couple years later. I've never used a walkthrough in my life. Today was the first time.

For christ sake, HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU GUESS THAT YOU NEED TO PICK UP A PIECE OF GODDAMN CLAY on the lake shore?! How many people go around picking up random useless shit from the ground, especially goddamn dirt?! I spent 2 days clicking on EVERYTHING, trying every possible combination, and this is what I was expected to do? Game, are you serious? A PIECE OF CLAY?! This is like the worst case of pixel hunting.

Uninstalled.

Same situation as you. I tried for at least 10 hours, then read your post. The thing is I actually tried picking up things in that location, just not exactly that spot. This is really stupid.

This was your mistake. :p

I'm used to picking up every item these kind of games let me pick up, It's been the Sierra mantra to pick up anything that isn't nailed down, and if it is go look for a crowbar.

Sierra sold guide books and had a payed help hotine. Nuff said.

If you need help, PDFs of most of Sierra's hint books are available on the Sierragamers website:

https://www.sierragamers.com/hint-books/

I'm playing it right now. I was dreading this kind of difficulty, so I decided I would play both this and the remake in parallel. Or more like : when I'm stuck on the original, I would skip over to the remake to get unstuck.

And the remake doesn't have you hunt pixels. I love it for that.

Interesting. I actually prefer the "pixel hunting" approach, largely because I like an extensive environment where you can experiment with the commands (like the icons) as much as possible. (It does help that I memorized all the puzzles long ago, so the occasional replay is experience as much as possible again.)