by James W. McKinley

Created on: September 08, 2010

Telltale games is well known for bringing new life into the adventure game genre. Puzzle Agent is a new direction for Telltale. While adventure games have always had their share of puzzles, this is the first Telltale game which has its gameplay solely dependent on puzzles. With other puzzle based adventures on the market, can Puzzle Agent offer enough to make a mark?

Even though the game focuses on puzzles, there is a rich story to be found in Puzzle Agent. You play as Nelson Thethers, a puzzle agent from the FBI. Following the closing of the White House's sole supplier of erasers, you're sent to Scoggins, MN to investigate the factory and reopen it. During your investigation, you will encounter many strange residents in the town. Each character is well written with plenty of personality. None of the townsfolk feels flat, even through the art style may make you think otherwise.

With heavy pencil outlines and limited animation, some players may be turned off by the art styling of Puzzle Agent. Even with its self-limiting art style, the game feels well put together. The characters are all unique and by the end of the game the art style feels very organic to the world. While the art style is definitely not for everyone, it does allow the player to focus on the puzzles and not the pretty graphics.

Accompanying the subtitle art style is a mellow musical score. With a majority of the puzzle music very low, it does a good job of keeping the game interesting while not making the music the central focus while working on a puzzle. However, the music score is capable of punctuating each plot twist with a sudden spike in tone and volume. Overall, Puzzle Agent's music is superb and is the highlight of the game.

Of course, a puzzle game is nothing without its puzzles. This is where Puzzle Agent falters slightly. Playing much like the Professor Leyton series, players are given a series of puzzles to discover and solve throughout the game. Some puzzles move the story along while others are just distractions. The problem is that at times it is hard to discern which puzzles are linked directly to the story and which are just added fluff. While many of the story driven puzzles are given to you as a roadblock that you must solve to move forward, this isn't always the case. There are a few times you must seek out the next puzzle to move along the story. This can lead to playing fluff puzzles while trying to figure out which of the puzzles in an area is the storyline puzzle. While

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