Game #7 – Sam & Max: The Devils Playhouse

Publisher: Telltale Games

Developer: Telltale Games

Platforms: PC/PSN/iPad

2009 was a year that I'm sure most Telltale fans would probably like to forget. Sure, we had the excellent Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People series, but it was also marred by the ultimately underwhelming Tales of Monkey Island, overshadowed by a fantastic remake of the original Secret of Monkey Island. 2010 though? Completely differnet story. The company announced a slew of interesting new series (including games based on Back to the Future & Jurassic Park), but also released the third season of their Sam & Max games, The Devil's Playhouse – and it's by far their best work to date.

Set across five games, The Devil's Playhouse tells the story of Max's psychic awakening, as he's now able to manifest his newly found psychic powers via several toys – allowing him to psychically project himself, speak for other people, transform himself and much more. It's this new found ability to play as Max which aids in the just plain wacky atmosphere.

Really though, where TDP excels is that Telltale attempt to try something new with each episode. For instance, the second game sees you play through four movie reels showcasing the adventures of Sam & Max's ancestors, and you'll need to constantly swap to achieve various things and progress. It's little things like this that make the series just that more interesting.

To cap it off, it works surprisingly well on consoles – the Mass Effect style conversation system works wonders, as does controlling your characters. Cap it off with great writing, fantastic music and excellent voice acting, and you have yourself one of the best downloadable experiences of the year.