Puzzle Agent 2 Review

Puzzle Agent 2 is the sequel to the first of two games in Telltale's pilot program that gave quirky concepts one episode as a trial before other episodes were ordered depending on sales, as well as consumer and media response. Both Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent and Poker Night at the Inventory were popular and well received enough to receive sequels. 

In the case of Puzzle Agent 2, it once again took gamers into the very quirky world of former Telltale artist Graham Annable's Grickle comics and picked right up where its predecessor left off. The FBI had covered up the unsolved case in Scoggins, Minnesota. Nelson Tethers, puzzle agent extraordinaire, heads back to conduct his own unofficial investigation. In his search for the missing Issac Danver, he once again finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy that once again perfectly captures the unsettling nature of the Grickle animations.  

The gameplay is once again based on brain teaser games such as the Professor Layton games. If Nelson Tethers wishes to unlock one of up to four hints on a puzzle, he once again has to search for pre-chewed gum, Telltale's version of Professor Layton's hint coins, to unlock it. The ranking for each puzzle is based on how many hints he used and how many wrong guesses he has made. Solving puzzles advances the story, but puzzle ranks don't do anything other than give the game a modicum of replayability through the freeplay mode that is available once the game is over so you can keep playing puzzles you missed to increase your statistics.

Like most other Telltale games, the music are is provided by Jared-Emerson Johnson. The creepy soundtrack makes the game even spookier, adding to the atmosphere that closely resembles those found in Grickle shorts. The voice actors return from the first game, and once again bring in solid performances that help the player stay invested in the story.

Puzzle Agent 2 has fun puzzles and a suitably creepy story, plus it contains music and voice acting that live up to it's predecessor. It works as an end to the Scoggins mystery while giving our intrepid puzzle agent hints toward more mysteries upon the closure of the game. It originally worked as a possible hint toward a sequel, but at this point, it just serves as reassurance that Nelson Tethers is still out there solving puzzles and solving the weird cases that no one else will touch.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Telltale Game Availability

Gearbox Software just re-released Tales from the Borderlands to digital storefronts a few days ago. It's also coming to Switch next month.

Here's a list of the Telltale games that are available again:

The rights to Batman: The Telltale Series, Batman: The Enemy Within, Hector: Badge of Carnage, Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, Puzzle Agent 2, and The Wolf Among Us, were acquired by LCG Entertainment. It also acquired the publishing rights to RGX Showdown. These rights were secured with their formation of Telltale 2.0 on August 28, 2019. They later acquired the rights to Tales of Monkey Island on June 26, 2020, and Wallace and Gromit's Grand Adventures on November 7, 2020.

The rights to Telltale's The Walking Dead games were acquired by the creator of The Walking Dead, Skybound. They are now published by Skybound Games, a subsidiary that contracted members of the Telltale staff to finish The Walking Dead: The Final Season from the Telltale 1.0 offices in 2019. They also released a remastered version of all of Telltale's The Walking Dead games titled The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series.

As mentioned above, the rights to Tales from the Borderlands were acquired by 2K subsidiary Gearbox, the company that holds the rights to the Borderlands franchise.

The rights to the Sam & Max games were acquired by Skunkape Games, a company formed by former Telltale 1.0 staff. This is the studio that's currently remastering the games.

These games are currently available again to purchase, plus Sam & Max Save the World is available to pre-order in its remastered form. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space and Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse will be available once Skunkape remasters those as well.

The rest are not available for purchase, although all are available to re-download if you purchased them from GOG.com, Steam, the Telltale Store, PlayStation Store, Microsoft Store, Nintendo e-Shop, etc. These remaining games presumably remain in rights limbo. I'll keep you updated as, hopefully, more legacy Telltale games become available to purchase again.

Update February 22, 2023: It's been two years to the day since this list was posted here. Since then, Sam & Max Save the World Remastered and Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Remastered were released. Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered will be released in late 2023. The original Sam & Max games are available as a bonus with the remasters of the Windows versions. 

Plus, Tales from the Borderlands received a sequel and there is now a Sam & Max virtual reality game. Additionally, if all goes as planned, Telltale 2.0 will release its first games in late 2023, including The Expanse and the long-awaited sequel to The Wolf Among Us.

Telltale Games Humble Bundle

Update: 4/19 10:45PM: Two more games have been added to the bundle: Jurassic Park: The Game and Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People.

Telltale Games are now in a Humble Bundle. For $1 or more, you can get Back to the Future: The Game, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, Poker Night at the Inventory, Puzzle Agent 1 & 2, and The Walking Dead: Season One. If you pay more than the average (currently just over $8), you also get The Walking Dead: 400 Days, The Wolf Among Us, Poker Night 2, and Tales from the Borderlands. Finally, if you pay more than $12, you'll also get Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead: Season Two.

Note that all of these games are redeemed through Steam only, as there is no DRM-free option available. There is about a week left to pick this bundle up, and there are hints that more games will be added to the package soon.

More Telltale Games Come To GOG.com

Four games from Telltale's puzzle era have been released on GOG.com, DRM-free: Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People, Hector: Badge of Carnage, Puzzle Agent, and Puzzle Agent 2. They're currently available to purchase in a launch sale bundle for up to 74% off regular price if you purchase all four.

Humble Weekly Sale On a Telltale Bundle

The Humble Weekly Sale this week is a Telltale Bundle. Pay what you want and get Back to the Future: The Game, Hector: Badge of Carnage, Poker Night 1, Puzzle Agent 1, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, and Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures. The games are all on PC and Mac (except for Wallace & Gromit which is PC only) for Steam and DRM-free (except, strangely Hector episode 2 (and only episode 2) for Mac, which is Steam only). You'll also get downloadable soundtracks for Hector and Puzzle Agent.

If you pay more than the average (currently less than $5 USD), you'll also get The Walking Dead for Steam.

The Stuffing Bundle bundles 4 Adventure Episodes

Indie Royale's Stuffing Bundle is on now. It includes seven games, including the adventure game The Dream Machine chapters 1-3 and the adventure puzzle game Puzzle Agent 2. It also includes Children of the Nile: Enhanced Edition, Anomaly: Warzone Earth and Adventure Apes and the Mayan Mystery.

All of these games are available for the current minimum of $5.30 USD.  If you pay more than $8, you'll also get the music album Tree of Knowledge by yogurtbox.

Law & Order: Legacies Episode 4 on iOS Now

Law & Order: Legacies, Telltale's Law & Order series featuring characters from the entire run of the Law & Order franchise, now has a new episode available for the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad through the universal app available on iTunes. The app includes Law & Order episode 1, and you can buy the additional episodes individually from within the app or in a bundle.

The series consists of seven episodes. The remaining three episodes will be released for iOS soon. The game is also coming to PC & Mac, but no release date has yet been announced.

In other Telltale iOS news, the site is having a sale on iOS games. Most of Telltale's iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch games are $0.99 until January 29. You can view the games on sale along with links to buy them from Telltale's blog.

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2 for iPhone is Here

Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay is now available for iPhone and iPod Touch at the iTunes Store. Chapter 3 is set to come out for the iPhone on December 22.

In addition to that, Telltale has some pretty big sales going on. Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 1 is free for the iPhone for a limited time. Most of their iPad and iPhone games are on sale as well for $2.99. Get the full list of titles on sale from this Telltale blog post.

For PC and Mac gamers, most of Telltale's full seasons are on sale for $9.99. Once you buy a full season, you will also be eligible for the season DVD which you can get for just the cost of shipping. The complete list of seasons on sale is here.

In addition to that, three PC and Mac episodes are also free for a limited time: Back to the Future - It's About Time, Sam & Max - Ice Station Santa, and Sam & Max - The Penal Zone.

Autumn Sales

Just thought I'd give you a heads up that Telltale's iPad titles are 50% off and their iPhone/iPod touch titles are $0.99 until November 30th. Also, there's a lot of deals to be had at Steam's Autumn Sale (which ends in just over 7 hours), including most of Telltale's PC titles, the LucasArts Adventure Pack (Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, The Dig, and Loom), and other adventures.

New Puzzle Agent 2 iOS version

Puzzle Agent 2 has received an update on the iPhone/iPod Touch and iPad. It now supports 3G devices and newer, puzzle controls and usability are significantly improved, voice skipping has been fixed, cutscene graphics are improved, and some performance enhancements and other minor bug fixes have been included as well.

The Telltale blog also states that the iOS versions of the games are on sale this week. Puzzle Agent 1 is $0.99 and Puzzle Agent 2 is $2.99 for the remainder of the week.

Puzzle Agent 2 is Out Now

Puzzle Agent 2, Telltale's sequel to the Professor Layton inspired puzzle adventure game set in Graham Annable's Grickle universe, is now available on PC, Mac, iPhone/iPod Touch, and iPad.

New Puzzle Agent 2 Trailer + Release Date

Puzzle Agent 2, Telltale's sequel to it's puzzle adventure game set in Graham Annable's Grickle universe, is set to be released on June 30th.

The game is now available for preorder at the Telltale Store. The preorder price is one dollar cheaper than the usual price, at $8.99, and includes the original Puzzle Agent at no extra cost (it can be gifted to a friend too if you already own it).

There's also a contest running where people who preorder get the chance to get the game about two weeks before everyone else.

In other Telltale news, Back to the Future: The Game: Double Visions, the fourth part of the five part series is now available on the PlayStation Network.

Puzzle Agent Out On North American PSN Today

Telltale's puzzle adventure game Puzzle Agent is out on the PlayStation 3 today, coming with today's PlayStation Network update for $9.99, and is coming to the European Playstation Network soon.

Puzzle Agent 2 Announced + Trailer

The third game of the five Telltale is working on is a sequel to their surreal spooky puzzle game Puzzle Agent, simply titled Puzzle Agent 2. The tagline of the game is "Solve the Mystery of Scoggins", so it would seem this game completes the story that began in the original Puzzle Agent. The game is slated to come out on PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad. No release date has been set yet.

Puzzle Agent Price Slashed in Half

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, Telltale's spooky Professor Layton inspired puzzle game based on Graham Annable's Grickle comics and short cartoons, is now $4.99. At this price I whole-heartedly recommend the game to everyone.

Also, I normally only mention these additions on the top of the site, but since I'm talking about Puzzle Agent, I'll mention it here too. I added a Puzzle Agent Injokes page with 2 injokes.

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent Review

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent is the first game in Telltale's new pilot program.  In this program, quirky concepts are given one episode as a trial.  An entire season could be ordered depending on sales, as well as consumer and media response.  This game is certainly quirky.  The gameplay is based on brain teaser games such as the Professor Layton games or the Dr. Brain games.  The presentation is based on former Telltale artist Graham Annable's Grickle comics and cartoon shorts.  The story is based on one short in particular, The Hidden People.  The short, and the game, features little gnome creatures called Hidden People who are seldom seen, but cause havoc on the people who inhabit the land where they live.  Grickle has always been known for spooky settings and dark humor, and Puzzle Agent carries on that tradition well.

I have never played a brain-teaser puzzle game before, so I don't have anything of which to compare this experience.  It's all brand new to me, and I enjoyed the experience immensely.  Nelson must solve puzzles in order to advance.  He is given a ranking based on how many hints he used and how many wrong guesses he has made.  Hints can only be used four times per puzzle, and then they can only be used if Nelson has collected enough gum.  He thinks best when he's chewing gum, and although the town is completely out of stock, there is plenty of ABC, already been chewed, gum laying around.  If you click anywhere on the screen, it will create a small ripple of energy, and you can see any area you can interact with, including gum pieces, puzzles, objects of interest, and suspects to interrogate.  The adventure game portion of the game comes from the last two methods.  There is no object collecting and no inventory, but there are adventure game staples such as talking to non-player characters using dialog trees.  It is an adventure-lite, as the puzzles in this game are logic puzzles rather than inventory puzzles.  Not every puzzle needs to be completed in order to complete the game.  The puzzles that can be found using the screen ripple method are usually not mandatory, but they help in increasing or decreasing your rank.  The rank has no bearing on the story, but like Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, it gives the game a sense of replayability that adventure games usually lack.  Also like the aforementioned game, there is a freeplay mode once the game is over so you can keep playing puzzles you missed and increase your statistics if you wish.

The sound and music are excellent.  Jared-Emerson Johnson provides a creepy soundtrack that sounds exactly like it would be at home in any Grickle video.  The characters are voiced, which is a new thing for a moving Grickle production, but the Grickle comics have always had speech bubbles.  There are speech bubbles in this game as well, which lends further to the Grickle atmosphere.  The whole game really looks like a Grickle cartoon.  The voices are all done well, as to be expected in a voice production by Bay Area Sound.  Nelson has just the right amount of naivety in his voice, which works well with a character who usually never gets the opportunity to leave his desk.  Fans of the Grickle videos will be pleased to know that the vocal effects such as screaming are present here, and used to great effect.

This game is a great departure for Telltale, but the result is a really fun gaming experience.  Hopefully this pilot turns out to be green lighted for a complete series, as it would be a shame not to be able to experience any further investigations by Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Puzzle Agent: The Mystery of Scoggins is Out Now!

Puzzle Agent: The Mystery of Scoggins, the puzzle adventure game by Telltale Games based on the Grickle comics and videos by Graham Annable, is out now at the Telltale Store for Mac and PC.

They Stole Max's Brain and Puzzle Agent Trailers

At E3, Telltale has revealed trailers for their upcoming games, the suspense puzzler Puzzle Agent, and They Stole Max's Brain, the third episode of the third season of Sam and Max.

Sam & Max Season Two Now On Mac!

Sam & Max Season Two, also known as Beyond Time and Space, has been released for the Macintosh. If you already purchased the season or any of the games in the season for the PC from Telltale, you can now download the game from your games list for the Macintosh. If you haven't yet purchased the season, you can do so at The Telltale Store, and you will get both PC and Mac downloads for the same price. Also, consider adding Puzzle Agent to your cart, because you will get 50% off everything else that is in your cart, and Sam & Max Season Two is included in the deal!

The Tomb of Sammun-Mak Is Out Now

The Tomb of Sammun-Mak, the second episode of the third season of Sam & Max, The Devil's Playhouse, is out now for the PC and Mac! Those who ordered the season can pick it up now. If you haven't yet ordered it, you can buy it at the Telltale Store or through Steam.

If you buy it through the store, consider placing the Puzzle Agent Pilot in your cart. You will get 50% off everything else that's in the cart with the pilot. The Devil's Playhouse works as part of that deal.