Puzzle Agent Message Board

A downloadable PS3 version of Telltale's Laytonic puzzle adventure game, Puzzle Agent, was announced a couple of months ago. On the PlayStation Blog, the publisher cleared up precisely when you'd be able to use your DualShock 3 to guide Nelson Tethers through the mysterious, puzzley town of Scoggins, Minnesota: April 19, for $10. Sadly, you'll have to use that controller, because this version won't be Envelotech-compatible.

Find a teaser for the PSN version after the break. Although an even better teaser would be all the media released for every other version.

Sure, the totally-fake Envelotech device shown off in Telltale's April Fools' Day video below has terrifying properties -- but was Puzzle Agent really the best way to showcase its potential for terror? We probably would have gone with Jurassic Park, or, at the very least, Torturetown.

Puzzle Agent, the one-off pilot game of Telltale's Pilot Program, will be renewed for a second episode, ensuring that we'll see Nelson Tethers once more. The company announced that a sequel, Puzzle Agent 2, will launch on the PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad this summer (with more platforms to be announced at a later date).

Additionally, Telltale has announced a tentative "Spring 2011" launch window for the original Puzzle Agent on PSN. A teaser for the sequel can be seen after the break.

Just a few days after it launched the first episode of Tales of Monkey Island for iPad, Telltale Games has gone and slashed -- with a cutlass, presumably -- the prices on three (well, four if you're being really nitpicky) of its other iOS titles. Specifically, Puzzle Agent (both the iPhone and iPad versions) is now going for 99 cents, as are Sam & Max Episode 1: The Penal Zone and Wallace & Gromit: The Last Resort for iPad.

The Grickle-inspired Puzzle Agent might not be everyone's bag but, for a buck, you might as well invite its gum-chewing protagonist, Nelson Tethers, along with Sam & Max & Wallace & Gromit to your (i)Pad.

Now you can try Telltale's Laytonesque puzzler Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent without even the teensy investment required for an iPhone game. The publisher has released "lite" versions of both Puzzle Agent and Puzzle Agent HD (for iPads and iPhone 4s), allowing you to get something new on your phone without dropping any cash.

If, however, you're more interested in spending small amounts of money than none, Telltale also launched a "30 Days of Telltale" sale today, offering a different discount every day through Christmas. It started off auspiciously enough, with 50% off everything in the Telltale store, except for the new Poker Night at the Inventory and the upcoming Back to the Future.

Oh, you haven't found the time to acquire Telltale's Great Adventure Bundle 2010, a twenty-dollar package which includes a grip of adventure games both new and old, 25 percent of the proceeds from which go to charities like Child's Play and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society? That's too bad -- the offer ended last Friday, and your donation would have given these organizations the resources they finally needed to cure like, nine diseases. Bet you feel pretty terrible right now, don't you? Huh? Huh?

We're sorry we had to trick you like that -- Telltale actually just extended the offer until this Friday, September 17, giving you one last chance to correct your shameful oversight. Think of the children! Or, rather, think of your own insatiable hunger for point-and-click adventure games!

Starting right now, Telltale Games is offering six adventure games for just $19.95. The initial four are The Whispered World, Jack Keane, King's Quest Collection, and Penny Arcade Adventures: Episode 1, with Telltale's own Puzzle Agent and Sam & Max: Season 2 unlocking as more people buy the bundle.

Child's Play and The World Wildlife Fund are among five charities receiving 25 percent of the profits from this promotion. The deal is currently being offered only on PC, and will be available via the Telltale Games store until September 10.

According to a report from Touch Arcade, the previously iPad-only Mirror's Edge will become available for purchase this evening on iPhone and iPod Touch, alongside Telltale's first "pilot program" release, Puzzle Agent. Given Faith's reduction in size from iPad to iPhone, the price for Mirror's Edge will be dropping accordingly from $9.99 to $4.99.

Puzzle Agent will also carry a $4.99 price point, staying in line with the pricing for other Telltale Games on iDevices. Both games are confirmed to be available via the iTunes App Store right now in some international territories and are expected to arrive in the US App Store around 11PM ET tonight.

#clips The man behind the look of Telltale Game's twisted Puzzle Agent further explores the experiences that made him the delightfully twisted creator he is today, in part two of Graham Annable in His Own Words. More »

Little Luke is no longer the only fella in Professor Layton's shadow.

“In Puzzle Agent, Nelson Tethers from the U.S. Department of Puzzle Investigation is sent to the field when White House inquiries to the Scoggins Eraser Co. are answered only with curious puzzles. The game combines brainteasers including mazes, puzzles, logic and riddles, intertwined with an engrossing mystery story — all presented with Graham’s unique narrative [...]

#clips Who would create the weird world featured in Puzzle Agent, the new Fargo-meets-Prof.-Layton-meets-something adventure game from Telltale Games? More »

Dark and twisted puzzle adventure now available.

A portion of a 4CR review… Like Layton? Like Fargo? Ever wanted to combine the two? If you answered yes to that third one, you’re a strange kind of person, but Puzzle Agent is definitely going to be right up your snow-covered alley.

We're pretty comfortable with most games that walk a fine line between "inspiration" and "plagiarism." Bullets of Shooting is basically just Explosions of Valor, except set after an apocalypse wrought by space bugs rather than space robots. We all know it -- it just doesn't bother us that much.

What new Telltale adventure Puzzle Agent asks is, "Would you still be as forgiving if the genre was a bit more ... granular? Say, for instance, a collection of puzzles loosely tied together by a point-and-click adventure narrative?"

... So, would you?

Ever wanted to join the FBI? Live the dream in this unique puzzler.

Telltale's debut trailer for Puzzle Agent (posted after the jump) features all the components we expected the game to have: a quirky sense of humor, a healthy number of brainteasers, and a general sense of ominous mystery. Now we just wish they'd do something about that framerate. Yowza.

Game designer Mark Darin and artist/animator/"creative instigator" Graham Annable provide a look at the inspirations, unique visual style, and creepy gnome-filled plot of the recently announced Puzzle Agent in a developer featurette fresh from Telltale Games. There isn't a wealth of gameplay to be seen, but it's still a nice treat for those of us who've been trying to wrap our noggins around the mystery of Scoggins.

It seems that something's amiss at the White House's eraser supplier and ... well, we'll let Darin and Annable explain the rest. Be sure to watch it all the way to the end for a special surprise.

Telltale recently introduced its "Pilot Program" for episodic games with the reveal of Puzzle Agent, claiming that some of its future franchises (starting with PA) will live or die by the initial episode's reception among players. And last last week, the company's CEO Dan Connors took to G4 to give more detail on the initiative's future, as well as its raison d'être. "The Pilot Program allows us to try some new ideas without having to [take as much risk] and learn more what people like about it before we commit to doing the whole thing." He said that committing to an entire season for a game is, in many cases, far riskier than creating a one-off pilot that may or may not succeed.

Additionally, team sizes on the pilot episodes are much smaller, but can be scaled up depending on how the audience responds. "Right now, I think the Grickle [PA] team is probably about a third of the size of an average team to get this started," Connors said. According to him, 50 percent of the work for a series is done up front -- going into full-scale production on PA would require little adjustment for Telltale. That said, he seems more interested in spitballing ideas for additional pilot games in the meantime, saying that the studio is still "in the idea phase" for more pilots. We'll see just how well that first idea pans out when Puzzle Agent becomes available this June.

First look and pre-order for inaugural Puzzle Agent pilot now online.

If you're interested in evaluating Telltale's first episodic game "pilot" for yourself, you can now pre-order the new puzzle-adventure game Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent from Telltale's website in advance of its June release. As a nice incentive to check it out, when you buy the $9.95 download, everything else in your cart will be discounted by 50%! Not that Monkey Island bundle -- good thinking, though. Graham Annable fans might be interested in adding the new Book of Grickle to their carts. And people writing this post might be interested in throwing in a set of Homestar Runner figurines.

The pre-order offer applies to both PC and Mac (you'll get both with purchase), but not WiiWare, iPhone, or iPad.

Check out this cut scene video from Telltate's new adventure game.

After very little nose-to-the-grindstone sleuthing, Telltale has revealed the answer to the Mystery of Scoggins Erasers: Puzzle Agent. IGN was recently shown this first game in Telltale's new "Pilot Program" -- a series of one-off games that could be expanded into larger franchises depending on fan reception. Considering Puzzle Agent apparently mixes Telltale's quirky brand of comedy with Professor Layton-style brainteasers, we seriously doubt this one will have a hard time catching on.

The game, which is being developed for PC, Mac, WiiWare and, as we guessed, iPhone and iPad, places you in the shoes of "the Agent," who's called to solve a mystery in the Fargo-esque town of Scoggins, Minnesota. What are the specifics of this mystery, you ask? We have no idea, but based on Telltale's lineage, we're guessing it's going to be pretty wacky, and perhaps even a little bit zany. There might even be some hare-brained hijinks, if we're lucky.

The episodic developer is testing out a new Pilot Program.

Check out Telltale's next adventure.