Well, to get the really obvious out of the way, I think all Lucas Arts games after Maniac Mansion would fit the description. So that would be all the Monkey Island games, all the Indiana Jones games, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max Hit the Road, Full Throttle, The Dig and Grim Fandango. I believe the Simon the Sorcerer games (the first two, at least, I've never played the later ones) also have no way of getting permanently stuck or dying. The other Kyrandia titles also lack places where you can become stuck.
I am not going to provide a description or a review since these games are so well known, but if you haven't played one of them and would like to know more I will be happy to do so. The Lucas Arts games are all well made and fun to play, although they can be a bit too easy on the challenge side. The Simon the Sorcerer titles are a bit hit and miss with the humour, and sometimes the solutions to puzzles... are rather puzzling. But they can be fun as well. Kyrandia 2 and 3 are more straightforward in their puzzles, but still can be challenging. They are also more humorous than their predecessor, with 3 perhaps going into straight parody (still a cool game, though).
Thanks for the recommendations. I played all five Simon the Sorcerer games and every single one after 2 sucked.
I'll check out the others you mentioned too
Well, I wrote that half expecting you would have played all of those. If Lucas Arts games are new to you, here are some guidelines:
The Monkey Island games are probably the best they made. There are plenty of puzzles, the characters and areas are charming and the story, and I rather like the humor. The third game wasn't made by Ron Gilbert, so it is a bit different. The art style is also not very good, although it is far from a deal breaker. I haven't played much of it (I am saving it for a rainy day), but I can assure you the first two games are very solid adventures.
Day of the Tentacle is a sequel to Maniac Mansion. It is really good, although I remember at least a few nonsensical puzzles (it has been a while since I played). One of the high points of the game is using time travel to solve different problems you come across. Like MI, the characters, story and humor of the game are all very well made. By the way, you can obviously play this without playing Maniac Mansion. But while Maniac Mansion can end up impossible to win, it is also a really interesting game. It focuses much more on the puzzles than its successors, and it is fun figuring out how the different parts of the mansion interact with each other. Furthermore, it is rare for you to end up in a dead-end, and those are easy to see.
Sam and Max is one of my favorite of these. In this one you control a cartoon rabbit and dog who are freelance policeman. The game feels like a cartoon (like a looney tunes cartoon, only doing slightly more risque things) and this even permeates the logic behind solving the puzzles. The game is a bit easier than MI or Day of the Tentacle, and from here on challenge will steadily decrease in Lucas Arts games, but they can still be fun.
Full Throttle takes a more serious subject matter, although it is still pretty far fetched. You play as the leader of a biker gang in a near future setting, trying to clean up your name from a crime you didn't commit. The game is much less humorous than the previous ones, but it is just as well written.
The Dig... well to be honest this is my least favorite of the bunch. This game feels very much like a Steven Spielberg movie, and this has both good and bad sides. The game is also completely straight faced; while Full Throttle did have humorous moments (and humorous puzzle solutions), here these elements are missing. The Dig ends up being an interesting proof that Lucas Arts could make serious adventure games. I think they could have done better with a story of their own (the story of the game is borrowed from an Amazing Stories episodes, written by Steven Spielberg). I think the straight faced puzzles may also have limited the puzzle designers a bit. But at the end of the day it is still an worthwhile game to play.
Finally, we arrive at Grim Fandango. This game is the first (and only, I think) adventure game they made in 3d. This makes the game a lot less beautiful than the others mentioned in this post, but it is not awful or anything. The game is again humorous and creates an interesting background for the action taking place.
About Kyrandia, the second game you play as Zanthia, an alchemist. As such, many of the puzzles revolve around making the correct potion to solve the current problem. The game feels a bit more humorous than the first, and it is interesting to play. Personally, Zanthia gets a bit on my nerves, but the game is still a lot of fun.
The third game has you playing as Malcolm, which I find a lot more likeable. The game goes a bit overboard with the humor, though, and the main plot is a bit... senseless. Some of the puzzles are a bit annoying as well (I don't remember them too well, but I remember the cat island in particular being annoying. But it is still a good game overall.
