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Telltale's Scoggins game is Puzzle Agent, and they also reveal their Pilot Program 30 Apr, 2010 / 12 comments

By Tingler

The Mystery of Scoggins has been revealed, now with the slightly less catchy name of Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent. Destructoid has the reveal, including the first video of main character Agent Tether's encounter with one of The Hidden People.

Telltale also revealed that Puzzle Agent will be the first game in what they are calling their Pilot Program, which seems designed to get quirky games like this out the door at a faster rate. If these 'pilots' are successful, then a full series could be commissioned. Puzzle Agent itself features obviously the work of Graham Annable and is a puzzle/adventure game in the style of the excellent Professor Layton & The Curious Village (if you're an adventure game fan, own a DS and don't have this game, shame on you).

Puzzle Agent follows Nelson Tether, the lone agent of the FBI's Puzzle Investigation division. Nelson is sent out to Scoggins, Minnesota, to investigate why the town's eraser factory has been closed down. Nelson soon discovers that the town is hiding some kind of secret and it's up to you to find out what's going on.

The game will be released on PC, Mac, iPhone, and iPad in June.

EDIT: IGN has their own post up too, and they claim the game is also coming to WiiWare too.

Source: Destructoid

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12 Comments

  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 30 Apr, 2010, 19:41…
    Jake has confirmed the game's made in the Telltale Tool, it's not some 2D Flash thing as some have speculated.

    Jake

    Yep same tool as always There are some nice new tricks at work in the modeling of the environments to keep the Grickle look going.



  • Avatar
    Capn_Nacho on 30 Apr, 2010, 15:42…
    Looks pretty damn great. The visuals and animation are looking really beautiful, and I love that the audio is the same creepy string vibe as Graham's shorts. I hate that the guy from Destructoid called his style "simplistic" when actually Annable's style is very advanced, singular, and carefully honed. His drawings are very simple and minimal, but the writer seems to think "simple" and "simplistic" (which reads like an insult) are synonyms.

    Haggis

    I just hope the puzzles will be good. As good as the game looks, the actual puzzles will make or break it.



    That's definitely true. I'll be buying no matter what, but a game like this depends on good puzzles. Remember The 11th Hour? Yuck.
  • Avatar
    Remi on 30 Apr, 2010, 14:24…
    If you don't own "Professor Layton" you are definitely a Lost watching idiot. (It never gets old!)

    Oh, and love the artistic direction of this game. Nice.
  • Avatar
    Haggis on 30 Apr, 2010, 09:04…
    I just hope the puzzles will be good. As good as the game looks, the actual puzzles will make or break it.
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 30 Apr, 2010, 08:16…

    The Tingler

    Jake

    For what it's worth, full name is Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.

    The game's full name or Agent Tethers' full name? I still prefer The Mystery of Scoggins!



    Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent: Pilot: The Mystery of Scoggins
  • Avatar
    The Tingler on 30 Apr, 2010, 08:02…

    Jake

    For what it's worth, full name is Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.

    The game's full name or Agent Tethers' full name? I still prefer The Mystery of Scoggins!
  • Avatar
    Kroms on 30 Apr, 2010, 08:01…
    That video sold me, though I'm a little iffy about Professor Layton-style gameplay. I'm definitely still buying it (as others have said, Graham Annable + Telltale can only be good), but I'd have liked it more if they'd gone for a detective game where you're actually a detective. Where you actually went around uncovering clues and such. That would be a good if incredibly difficult game to make.

    Also, anyone else get a hardcore Fargo vibe off that video? It's not just the setting and the snow, it's the whole atmosphere. Telltale are getting really good at making atmosphere work.

    I wonder who's writing this pilot, and when we'll get the next one.
  • Avatar
    ocki on 30 Apr, 2010, 05:40…
    I'm definitely buying this! Grickle is amazing! Hope they capture the same mood that was in "The Hidden People".
  • Avatar
    black_sheep on 30 Apr, 2010, 04:29…

    Jake

    For what it's worth, full name is Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.


    I like the full official title better, to be honest. "Puzzle Agent" alone just seems bland.
  • Avatar
    jp-30 on 30 Apr, 2010, 03:57…
    Awesome. This could be a good one for the family on wii. (Destructiod have also added Wiiware to their platform list)
  • Avatar
    Jake on 30 Apr, 2010, 03:53…
    For what it's worth, full name is Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent.
  • Avatar
    syntheticgerbil on 30 Apr, 2010, 02:56…
    Is it weird I'm more excited about the "Pilot Program?"

    That's such great initiative to start doing take a chance one offs!

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