4cr Plays – Puzzle Agent

Extending the television metaphor behind their games (which come in episodes, comprising a season), Telltale recently announced their “pilot program.” This program gives the company a convenient way to try new ideas as download-only, single-episode games. Basically, a low-risk way to step outside of their comfort zone and gauge fan’s taste for a full season.

Telltale’s first pilot, Puzzle Agent, launches this week. It’s still an adventure game, but the developers didn’t lie – it is definitely a step outside of their typical formula. Think less Monkey Island, more Professor Layton.

Puzzle Agent follows the exploits of Nelson Tethers, agent of the FBI’s Department of Puzzle Research. The Scoggins eraser factory has closed after a mysterious accident, and Nelson is sent in to, well, solve the puzzle. By golly, the President needs his erasers! However, this case definitely won’t be a simple open-and-shut matter. The tiny town of Scoggins, MN seems to be hiding a bevy of secrets, mysteries, and literal puzzles. Oh, and Nelson is being stalked by gnomes. Gnomes!

Agent Tethers’ adventure combines a number of different influences, from Fargo to The X-Files to Three Days of the Condor, into a game that is fundamentally about how weird the Midwest is. Believe me, it is still a funny game – the Midwest is an awkward place, and a ton of humor lies in just how awkward it is.

For me, Puzzle Agent strikes closer to home than any of Telltale’s previous series. I actually moved to Minnesota about a month ago, so their timing was perfect. I’m living right in the capitol, not out in some rural nightmare like Scoggins, but all of the stereotypes and jokes still apply. The people talk in hilarious accents, are friendly to the point where it is just weird, you can freeze to death on a stroll, and there is a never-ending supply of the mysterious hot dish. Don’t get me wrong, this game is freaking hilarious whether or not you’ve been exposed to the Midwest – my recent immersion into Minnesota culture made it twice as funny (and three times as awkward).

Now, I haven’t noticed any gnomes in real life, but I realize that I just might not be looking closely enough.

One of the first differences that players will notice between Puzzle Agent and the company’s typical offerings is that Agent is in 2D! All of the art has been hand-drawn by Grickle artist Graham Annable, and it looks fantastic. Everything has these big, bold edges and this fuzzy, crayon-like coloring. The best part – this means that the developers don’t have to sacrifice graphic quality. The game will look pretty much the same on the iPhone as on the Wii. I will say, while the gameplay may arguably be more suited to a portable platform, it looks bloody fantastic on a 1920×1200 monitor.

I suppose I should bring up the gameplay, as that is the biggest departure from the norm. Puzzle Agent is a bit different. You aren’t doing the typical adventure game thing of picking up X to use on Y later. Tethers advances by solving puzzles. Ever played Professor Layton on the DS? Puzzle Agent is just like that. You talk to people, and they will often ask you to solve puzzles before divulging any information (even after the puzzles, it might not be useful information). These puzzles are usually related to the conversation, but can take pretty much any form. For instance, if a guy has accidentally let out his bug collection, you might be asked to draw pens around them in such a way that each bug has the proper amount of grid space. An absent-minded waitress will ask you to figure out which dish goes to each diner, given certain rules (nobody ordered a dish that looks like their spouse, the ice cream goes next to the ham, etc).

It is definitely a neat approach, and occasionally leads to some fantastically clever puzzles. The downside – the other 2/3rds of the time, the puzzles are either mind-numbingly easy or impossible to decipher from the instructions alone. Fortunately, you can get help on the latter. You can get any number of hints on a puzzle, each progressively more revealing. There is a limit on this – you can only get a number of hints equal to the number of pieces of gum that Tethers is carrying. Gum helps him concentrate, but sadly, Scoggins is out of it. To get more hints, you’ll have to hunt for chewed pieces attached to the scenery. You’ll want to keep your eyes open – I needed a fair number of hints throughout the game.

Ultimately, Puzzle Agent is a good game for that tiny niche desperate for something to tide them over until the next Layton. My time in Scoggins was funny, a tad bit weird, and just a little creepy, and I appreciate what Telltale is doing here. I love this style of game, but Puzzle Agent’s actual puzzles are a bit of a mixed bag. If this was the first episode of a complete season, I might be a bit more down on it. However, as a single 5-6 hour game priced at $10, I do recommend it for fans of this kind of game. It’s a solid couple evenings of entertainment, and the price is pretty much exactly right.

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. Puzzle Agent will launch this week (theoretically today) for the PC and Mac, and later this summer for the iPhone, iPad, and WiiWare.