Direct Controlled Adventure Game Review: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - The Bogey Man

The Bogey Man is the fourth, and final, episode of Telltale's first game that employed cinematic camera angles, the direct controlled adventure game, Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures.

The game finds Wallace in a very unenviable position when Ms. Flitt mistakenly thinks that he gives her a marriage proposal, and says yes because she finds him to be brave after foiling Monty Muzzle's plans in Muzzled! Now, Wallace and Gromit have to find a way to make him unappealing so that she will break off the wedding plans. An opportunity to do so finds itself in the local golf course, Prickly Thicket. 

I really enjoy the new location. It's always good when the artists can stretch their imaginations beyond the usual locations, and they did a fine job here. They didn't have the freedom they had with The Last Resort, as the location had to be set more in a real-life scenario rather than the bright and colorful art that come from the imaginations of Wallace and Gromit.

While there is not a memorable adversary like in the previous episodes, the episode does do a fine job tying up all of the hijinks of the previous episodes into a nice little bow. Kudos also go to the fine pun in the title of the episode. I'll admit it had me thinking it would be about the monster of the same name when I first read the title at the time of release. I love a good misdirection, and that is perfect.

This is around the last time Telltale Games had somewhat challenging puzzles before making what Dan Connors called easy adventures with Back to the Future and eschewed them completely in Jurassic Park: The Game, before switching to the choices-and-consequences-style that made it a popular company with the release of the first season of The Walking Dead. So, in retrospect, I appreciate the puzzles here more than I did at release. They still aren't as good as the previous episodes, and I still miss the boss puzzle fights against a memorable villain, but there are some good ones here. The final puzzle is a challenge as well, but not so much that it should stump most people.

The icing of the game, the music, is wonderfully cinematic. Jared Emerson-Johnson did some of his best work on this series. The voice actors continue to shine here. They are all at their best here, at the point when they had gotten the hang of their characters, and Ben Whitehead offers a performance that was near that of which he would perform when he became the official voice of Wallace after the passing of Peter Sallis.

The Bogey Man has a few slight issues when compared to its predecessors. The puzzles aren't quite as clever as those in the previous episodes and there is not a fun boss puzzle fight with a memorable villain as in previous episodes. However, there are still some good ones here. The fun story that feels like it was ripped straight out of an Aardman short makes up for any shortcomings, slight as they moght be. The artists show off their craft fantastically here. They created a realistic new location in much gusto. It was a welcome reprieve from the town scenes that show up in every episode. The music composed by Jared Emerson-Johnson is cinematic enough to fit right in with Telltale's cinematic camera style employed by this game. Despite its flaws, The Bogey Man is a fine close to one of Telltale's best offerings of their early years

Final Verdict:

4 out of 5

Direct-Controlled Adventure Game Review: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - The Last Resort

The Last Resort was the second episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, the adventure game adaptation of the clay-animated Wallace & Gromit films by Aardman Animations. 

The story finds the dynamic duo on their way to a beach holiday. However, the weather has other plans when a huge storm abrupts, leaving the two forced to stay at home. This isn't a problem for Wallace, however, as he builds a beach resort inside his own house. Of course, Wallace being Wallace, he wants to show his new invention off, so he invites all of his neighbors to have a beach holiday at his place. As usual, things eventually go pear shaped, and the way this happens is delightful.

The puzzle-based final fight was fun in the first episode, but this one has it beat. It also has a fun boss, of sorts, who gets a rightful comeuppance. The duo have to deal with this adversary throughout the episode, so it is fun to give the bully some just rewards at the episode's end.

The music is fantastic as usual, with Jared Emerson-Johnson providing a soundtrack that would feel right at home in one of the duo's films. The art is also fun here, with the Telltale team going all out on the beach theme. It's bright, it's colorful, and it's all Wallace in it's wackiness. 

 

Any Wallace & Gromit production has to have a great voice cast, as all of the characters have to shine through their vocals, with the exception of our favorite silent star, Gromit. Wallace has an eclectic group of neighbors, and we get to see their personalities shine in this episode. All of the voice actors are great in their roles. Ben Whitehead's Wallace voice is still a bit deep, but since he provides all of the quirkiness that Wallace requires, the slight difference from the performances of original voice of Wallace, Peter Sallis, is soon forgotten.

The Last Resort is not only a fantastic follow-up to the premiere episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, but it also tops it in every way. Although it takes place in Wallace's house, the beach resort premise gives way to some much needed variety to the usual glum basement with some fun props and backgrounds. The voice cast and music remain fantastic, as they all live up to the legacy of Aardman's most famous project.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Direct-Controlled Adventure Review: Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures - Muzzled!

Muzzled! was the third and penultimate episode of Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Telltale's adventure game adaptation of Aardman Animation's popular Wallace & Gromit clay-animated films. 

This time, the pair find themselves at a charity fair run by a man named Monty Muzzle. Monty Muzzle is raising money for a new dog shelter to replace the previous shelter which was destroyed by the storm which was the impetus in the creation of Wallace's failed indoor theme park. Wallace aims to help the endeavor his newly invented ice cream van that can create any flavor of the treat. However, something strange is afoot in Monty Muzzle's fair.

The series regulars are used in a fantastic manner as excited visitors and exhibit runners at the fair. However, the standout is the new character of Monty Muzzle. He is right up there with memorable Aardman one-off characters (at least for the time period of their release) such as Shaun the Sheep and Feathers McGraw. With the complicated license issues, it's unlikely Monty will be in any further projects, which is a shame as he really is a fantastic character.

The puzzles here are a lot of fun. None are particularly challenging by 90s adventure game standards, but there are some neat ones here. I particularly enjoyed the prize puzzles and the final battle. The final scenes in this series have always offered fun puzzle-based battles, but this one is very memorable. Almost twenty years later, this battle is still fresh in my mind alongside that in The Last Resort.

The music continues to shine, and Jared Emerson Johnson has once again provided fantastic compositions which fit the Aardman atmosphere perfectly. The voice cast also remains strong, with Struan Rodger, in particular, providing a great performance as Monty Muzzle. Ben Whitehead also began to come into his own in the role as Wallace in this episode, as he sounds more like the original voice of Wallace, Peter Sallis, than ever before.

Muzzled! is a fantastic episode. It continues the fantastic adaptation of Aardman animations in the Wallace & Gromit Grand Adventures direct-controlled adventure games, retaining the feel of the clay-animated films, The music continues to fit the atmosphere well and the voice cast shines, especially that of the new character Monty Muzzled. This is the best episode of the four-episode series and is well worth playing to anyone who is a fan of adventure games or even just Wallace & Gromit in general.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hold'em Poker Game Review: Poker Night 2

Poker Night 2 is the sequel to Poker Night at the Inventory, Telltale's quirky poker game that pit various video game characters against each other in a high-stakes game of poker.

New characters join the bunch this time, from a wide range of franchises. This time, Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., Ash Williams from The Evil Dead, Claptrap from Borderlands, and Sam from Sam & Max are the poker players. Returning characters include Max from Sam & Max, who provides humor at Sam's side, and Reginald Van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island, who is the host of the Inventory speakeasy where the poker games are held. New characters joining the mix include GLaDOS from Portal, who deals the cards with her usual deadly wit, and Mad Moxxie from Borderlands who serves as the bartender of The Inventory.

This time around, Texas Hold'em poker isn't the only name of the game. Omaha Hold'em poker can also optionally be played. The new poker style is played through as robust of a system as its tried-and-tested brethren. Once again, as was the case with its forerunner, the main draw of the game is the interactions between the characters. There is no multiplayer mode, so the fun comes in hearing all of these characters from vastly different franchises talking with each other. The premise of the inventory is that it is a place where video game characters come on their days off to relax, and these conversations really help nail that concept down.

The unlockables in the first game could only be used outside the game, but this time there are those that can be used in-game as well. Of course, there's still unlockables that can be played outside of the game, in Borderlands 2 in this case, but the Inventory unlockables add a lot to the game itself. There are multiple poker table and chip themes that can be unlocked based on the various series represented. However, the most fun unlockables are those that change the entire internal design of The Inventory to be themed after the various intellectual properties of the game characters. It's a lot of fun to play in an environment themed after Aperture Science, for example, and watch the wit of GlaDOS be unleashed in her natural enviroment.

The music is once again provided by Jared-Emerson Johnson and includes various jazz motifs themed after the properties to which the characters belong. All of the game characters are voiced by their usual voice actors, with Dave Boat once again voicing Max, but, unfortunately Bruce Campbell does not appear as Ash. He is voiced by Danny Webster, who does an admirable job. He doesn't hit the rich tones of Campbell's voice but he provides the character's sarcastic wit well and works as an Army of Darkness-era Ash that hasn't yet gained the undertones in his voice that he would reach with age.

Poker Night 2 is an improvement upon its predecessor in every way. From the new addition of Omaha Hold'em alongside the usual Texas Hold'Em to the table, chip, and building unlockables, poker has never been better in a Telltale game. The franchises are a lot more varied this time around and the addition of non-poker playing characters such as Mad Moxxie and GlaDOS are a very welcome addition. The music remains top-notch and the voice work is just as good as you would expect from the usual voices of these characters. The one unfortunate loss is that the legendary Bruce Campbell does not play the role of Ash Williams, but Danny Webster does a fine job providing the sarcastic snark to a young thirty-something version of the character. If you can track it down, it's well worth a play.

Final Verdict:

4 out of  4

Sam & Max

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual review coming soon

Telltale poker games

Poker Night at the Inventory review

Texas Hold'em Poker Game Review: Poker Night at the Inventory

Poker Night at the Inventory was part of Telltale's short lived Pilot Program wherein crazy concepts were given a pilot episode and the fan and critical reaction would determine whether another episode would be ordered.

It is a spiritual sequel to Telltale Texas Hold'em, except rather than the original characters of that game features such video game characters as Max from Sam & Max, Strong Bad from Homestar Runner, Tycho from Penny Arcade, and The Heavy from Team Fortress 2. The player plays against these four and is simply referred to as "The Player".

The setting is The Inventory, a speakeasy where video game characters go to relax when not in their respective games. The host of of The Inventory, Reginald Van Winslow from Tales of Monkey Island, is the person who brings the player to the table to play high-stakes poker with the rest of the characters.

Like Telltale Texas Hold'em before it, Poker Night at the Inventory contains a solid Texas hold'em framework, but the real fun comes from the conversations with the various characters at the table. Each of the characters use their respective voice actors, although Dave Boat puts in a very suitable performance as Max, and Tycho receives a voice for the first time thanks to Andrew Chaikin.

The conversations are a lot more fun than its predecessor as they benefit from the lore of each intellectual property represented. It is a real joy to have the characters speak to each other, and it is especially fun for fans of the characters, as they will often reference characters and situations from their respective franchises. The excellent performances from the voice actors really help as well, as they all keep you invested in the game and really do make it feel like a bunch of game characters just having some fun on their day off.

Texas Telltale Hold'em used excellent jazz music by the band led by Jerry Logas, the father of one of the developers of the game, Heather Logas. The music of Poker Night at the Inventory is provided by the stalwart composer that is used by Telltale in most of their games, Jared Emerson-Johnson. He provides a really jazzy soundtrack that includes a new theme for The Inventory as well as jazzified versions of songs from the franchises represented. The jazz remix of the office theme in Telltale's Sam & Max games is especially enjoyable.

Poker Night at the Inventory is a worthy spiritual successor of Telltale Texas Hold'em. The music and voice acting is spot-on, with Dave Boat and Andrew Chaikin especially shining in their new roles as Max and Tycho, respectively. The Heavy, Max, Tycho, and Strong Bad bring great conversations that help make up for the fact that it is one-player only. This is one of the few times where a multiplayer mode would actually hinder the game, as it wouldn't be nearly as fun to play the game without hearing the character conversations. 

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Homestar Runner

Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People - Episode 5 review

Halloween Hide & Seek review

Sam & Max

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 5 review

Poker Night 2 review

Telltale poker games

Telltale Texas Hold'em review

Poker Night 2 review

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

Point-and-Click Adventure Review: Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space: What's New Beelzebub?

The final episode of Sam & Max not only closes the second season with a bang but effectively closes the story started by Telltale's first Sam & Max episode, Culture Shock.
In the game, Sam & Max discover a passage to hell under the building that houses the Freelance Police office. They find that hell is run like a corporation and that Satan is just a figurehead. They have to discover who are the real brains behind the torture and torment.
Telltale gets super creative in this episode, to the benefit of the whole series up to that point. Once Sam and Max discover the room of ironic punishments, they find they can interact with each of them. This allows Sam & Max to interact with people from their past, as well as people with whom it is a surprise that they are now in hell.
The art design in each of these punishment dioramas is really fun and creative. The puzzles are also just as creative. Telltale used the crazy logic of the Sam & Max universe to its advantage in the finale of the first season. However, they have outdone themselves here. Everything including the story, the characters, and the puzzles are suitably weird, wacky, and really enjoyable.
Jared Emerson-Johnson and Bay Area Sound have once again delivered fantastic music that fits the game really well. The voice actors, likewise, have delivered some of their best performances of the entire season. You can tell that everyone had a lot of fun doing this episode, as everything shines.
What's New Beelzebub? is the finale that Sam & Max truly deserve. The music, voice acting, art direction, and story are great. The villain reveals, in particular, is fantastic. This episode satisfyingly closed the storyline of the first two seasons, allowing Telltale to go in a completely different direction in the third season. Whether it's the original game or the remastered high-definition version by Skunkape Games, it's a fantastic game that any fan of Sam & Max, or just point-and-click adventure fans in general, should experience at least once. 
Final Verdict:5 out of 5

Beyond Time and Space (Season Two) Episode 4 review

The Devil's Playhouse: Episode 1 review

Gameplay Trailer for The Expanse: A Telltale Series Released

 

LCG Entertainment's Telltale Games YouTube Channel Released a gameplay trailer for The Expanse: A Telltale Series, the choices and consequences video game based on the Amazon Prime/SyFy series which itself is based on a novel series. The game is being co-developed by Deck Nine and LCG Entertainment's new Telltale studio. 

The Expanse: A Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us 2, the latter of which is being co-developed with AdHoc Studio, both are a series of firsts. They are the first games to be co-developed and released by the new Telltale. They are also the first games to bear the Telltale Series designation to be developed with Unity rather than the Telltale Tool.

We'll find out if the games were worth the wait when The Expanse: A Telltale Series and The Wolf Among Us 2 are released later this year.

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.

Happy New Year

2020 was an awful year, but it did bring some surprises. We got a Sam & Max Save the World (aka Sam & Max Season One) high-definition remaster from Skunkape Games (a company registered to Dan Connors and staffed by many early Telltale developers) for Windows and Switch.

I'll be updating the reviews on the season to Mega Reviews shortly, but I'll just say now that the Switch version is awesome. It's so much fun playing Sam & Max on the go.

On the subject of Sam & Max, 2020 also brought the announcement that a virtual reality game starring the titular duo will be coming from Happy Giant in 2021. Titled Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual, the game will finally bring to life the virtual reality Sam & Max environment that was first teased in Sam & Max Hit the Road way back in the halcyon year of 1993.

Skunkape Games also hinted at a high-definition remaster of Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space (aka Sam & Max Season Two) as well, so 2021 should prove to be a very good year indeed for the dog and hyperkinetic rabbity thing.

Hopefully it's a very good year for the rest of us as well.

Point and Click Adventure Review: Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space - Moai Better Blues

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on March 2, 2019.

The second episode of the second season of Telltale's Sam & Max series takes the weird and wacky and rolls with it, creating a memorable episode with equally memorable characters and situations.

This episode takes Sam and Max to Easter Island where they meet arguably the weirdest set of new characters seen up to this point in Telltale's take on the duo. Of course, oddness usually equals goodness in the world of the Freelance Police, and that is certainly the case here. The new characters are presented, scripted, and voiced excellently. There are also some characters who return from Season One, and their interactions with the new characters are some of the best and most memorable parts of this episode. Plus, this is the episode that gave us Banang, which became a recurring gag in Telltale's games right up to their unfortunate majority closure and assignment in 2018.

The puzzles are equally as memorable and are among the best of Telltale's games up to this point. They are strange but have a weird logic to them that oddly works in the twisted world of Sam & Max. The portal puzzles remain one of my favorites throughout the entirety of Sam & Max. They took a while to figure out, but once I put my mind to the strangeness of the world, I figured them out right away. I've loved them for their weirdness ever since.

Jared Emerson-Johnson and Bay Area Sound are also at the top of their game in this episode. The island setting allows them to get their groove on, with a mix of tropical island beats and the jazz undertones that the series has always been known for, going right back to the original LucasArts adventure game. The voice work is also top-notch, with both the returning and new cast delivering some of the best performances so far.

This episode is an excellent example of a Telltale at the top of its adventure game-making powers. It's a fun, and funny episode, with excellent music, excellent music, and excellent puzzles. It's well worth a play for anyone who is even remotely curious about Telltale's earlier adventure games.

Update March 16, 2023: There is now another way to play the game. Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space Remastered by Skunkape games does update the game to the latest version of the Telltale Tool. It also has improved lighting, high-definition graphics, and a remade title song. Because of changing views on various culture-related issues, Bosco has a new voice actor. Because the new Bosco fits the game well, and the script changes are minor, this is now my favorite way to play the game.
 

Final Verdict:

5 out of 5

Beyond Time and Space (Season Two) Episode 1 review

Beyond Time and Space: Episode 3 review

Adventure Game Review: Hector: We Negotiate With Terrorists

This review was originally posted on the McMurray Internet Channel website on February 22, 2019.

Straandlooper's first episode of Hector: Badge of Carnage was originally released without Telltale's involvement for iOS, after which Telltale got the publishing rights, ported it to other platforms and helped make the other two episodes in the season.  Even without Telltale's involvement, however, the first episode still has plenty to make it worth playing.

The game is a raunchy comedy game, set in an English town called Clappers Wreake. That sentence alone sets the tone of the episode, as there are innuendos everywhere, plenty of taboo subject matter, with a dark, distinctly British sense of humor aplenty. The game follows a crooked cop named Hector and his naive partner, as they attempt to stop a terrorist and rescue the hostages. The episode title is perfectly succinct, as Hector will negotiate with the terrorist to satisfy all of his twisted demands.

The game is presented as a classic two-dimensional point-and-click adventure, and there are plenty of inventory puzzles to work out.  Some of them go to weird (and sometimes unsettling) lengths, but they all fit within the tone of the game. The voices are all performed by one person, which is amazing, as they are all very memorable.  The music isn't quite as memorable, but it does fit the tone of the game nicely.

The first episode is mostly a setup for future episodes in terms of story, as it's mainly a fetch quest to fulfill the needs of a terrorist. Once Telltale becomes involved the story begins to shine, but this first independently produced episode still has a lot to offer and is a necessity if you want to enjoy the full story. If you enjoy raunchy British-style comedy, you'll likely enjoy this game.

Final Verdict:

3½ out of 5

Skybound To Finish Telltale's The Walking Dead Final Season

The official Twitter page of The Walking Dead was updated with news that Skybound, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman's company, will be finishing the final two video game episodes of The Walking Dead: The Final Season.

Telltale previously stated that they were looking towards multiple partners to hire the staff of The Walking Dead Season Four so that they could finish the season properly. So, it looks like there's a (tiny) bit of good news for at least some the staff members that were let go from Telltale without warning last month.

Telltale Games Lays Off Its Staff Except 25, Cancels Most Projects

Telltale's CEO Pete Hawley released a statement on Thursday that Telltale Games began a majority studio closure, keeping a staff of 25 on to fulfill the company's contractual obligations to its board and partners.

Today Telltale Games made the difficult decision to begin a majority studio closure following a year marked by insurmountable challenges. A majority of the company's employees were dismissed earlier this morning, with a small group of 25 employees staying on to fulfill the company's contractual obligations to its board and partners. CEO Pete Hawley released the following statement: 

"It's been an extremely difficult year for Telltale as we worked to set the company on a new course. Unfortunately, we ran out of time trying to get there. We released some of our best content this year and received a tremendous amount of positive feedback, but ultimately, that did not translate to sales. With a heavy heart, we watch our friends leave today to spread our brand of storytelling across the games industry." 

Telltale will issue further comments regarding its product portfolio in the coming weeks.

Mr. Hawley also responded to a question about the future of the remaining staff, stating, "to be clear, we're not shutting down. As odd as that may sound, 25 of us will continue, foreseeable. I'll make further comment in the coming weeks."

Telltale Games Announces Poker Night 2 Is No Longer For Sale

Telltale Games has announced that Poker Night 2 is no longer available for sale. The game was a crossover poker game from 2013, sequel to the 2010 poker crossover game Poker Night at the Inventory, and spiritual successor to Telltale's first game Telltale Texas Hold'em Poker. It was a single player game that allowed either Texas Hold'em and Omaha Hold'em rules of play that pit the unseen player character against several characters from pop culture, including Max from Steve Purcell's Sam & Max, Ash Williams from Army of Darkness, Brock Samson from The Venture Bros., and Claptrap from Borderlands, with GLaDOS from Portal as the dealer.
Telltale released a statement explaining the reason that the game is no longer available for sale.

Poker Night 2 has been withdrawn from sale on digital platforms due to the expiration of our digital distribution agreement. We currently do not have any plans to renew this agreement.

If you already purchased the game, you can still redownload it from the platform on which you bought it.

This doesn't affect Telltale's other poker games, as Telltale Texas Hold'em and Poker Night at the Inventory remain available for sale.

The Wolf Among Us Season Two Delayed Until 2019

Telltale announced on their website, that due to the "fundamental changes" (likely referring to the restructuring after a round of layoffs that happened due to a toxic environment that cultivated in the studio after the surprise success of the first season of The Walking Dead), The Wolf Among Us Season Two has been delayed until 2019.

They've stated that the reason for the delay is because they are "committed to exploring new ways to tell our stories. Taking this extra time will allow [them] not only to focus on quality but also to experiment and iterate in order to craft something truly special".

If this means that the gameplay will be significantly different than the cut-and-paste style gameplay that's been in Telltale's games since The Walking Dead, then the delay is certainly most welcome.

Telltale Shakeup

I last posted adventure game news way back in... 2016! Holy Moly! Since then, a lot has been going on at Telltale:

They've completed season one and season two of Batman, season two of Minecraft: Story Mode, season one of Guardians of the Galaxy (season 2 hasn't been announced... but it's pretty inevitable), and Season Three of the Walking Dead.

Plus, they announced season two of The Wolf Among Us (yes!), and announced that season four of The Walking Dead will be the final season.

Even more surprisingly, Kevin Bruner quit and Dan Connors stepped back temporarily as CEO. Then, Pete Hawley, the former general manager of games at Zynga replaced Dan Connors as CEO.

Then, on the 7th of November, a little more than a month after Pete Hawley became CEO, Telltale laid off 25% percent of its staff.

According to The Verge, the atmosphere at Telltale was toxic long before Pete Hawley came in. Kevin Bruner apparently stifled creativity and pushed employees into long crunch times.

Dan Connors was mentioned to be a much less imposing figure, but Pete Hawley isn't off to a great start. But some employees are hopeful that they'll have more creative freedom going forward.

I hope so as well. This blog was once named "Telltale Fan" after all. I wish the employees who are still at Telltale luck that they'll be able to once again make the games they want to, without being overworked. And, I wish those that lost their jobs luck in the future. If any of you haven't yet landed a new job, hopefully you will soon. And hopefully the next job will be your dream job.