E3 2010: Puzzle Agent by Telltale

I was able to get an exclusive look at Telltale’s newest puzzle adventure game Puzzle Agent.

The game is based on the Professor Layton puzzle series. You play as Nelson Teethers, the FBI’s one and only puzzle agent. After a weird occurrence happens in his office a piece of paper with a single word is left on his desk. Nelson decides that this piece of paper must be important and decides to follow the lead, which leads to more clues and more leads, and eventually Nelson is in the middle of a big mystery. Nelson, is now determined to solve the mystery of what happened, and investigate in the best way he knows how, by solving puzzles.

You talk to various people in the game and try to get information out of them, but the only way they will help you out is by giving you puzzles to solve. One puzzle i ran into during the game was a maze sort of puzzle where you had to place logs on the map to create different paths. The puzzles are either mandatory to progressing the story line or optional, and there are different colored puzzle pieces next to the name that let you know which are required and which are optional.

You are also allowed to use hints in the form of gum (since chewing gum helps Nelson concentrate). You only have a certain number of pieces but you can find and earn more as the game goes on. You earn points at the end of each puzzle based on if you made any mistakes or if you used a hint or not.

The game was equally funny and downright creepy. If you are a fan of Professor Layton and don’t mind a bit of creepiness, then you will love this game. The game will also be episodic like the rest of the Telltale games.