Puzzle Agent

Located in an obscure corner of the FBI headquarters is the office of one Agent Nelson Tethers. Tethers heads up the department of puzzle research, and as such, he's the one the FBI goes to when the eraser factory in Scoggins, Minnesota, which supplies the erasers used by the White House, suddenly stops production, and all inquiries are responded to with puzzles. But this isn't just any mission, as right from the start, when you have a dream and find the word scoggins scrawled on your crossword puzzle prior to learning about the eraser shortage, it is apparent that something far from ordinary is going on, and the things you'll uncover, and see, out there in Minnesota will test the limits of Agent Tether's sanity.

The art style does have a certain kind of charm.

Dramatic introductions aside, Puzzle Agent plays like a point and click adventure game, but instead of having an inventory and attempting to figure out what goes where, or who you need to bring this particular item to, your progress is metered by puzzles. They are everywhere in this game, and you'll find that people won't talk to you until you've helped them with their problem, such as finding the correct fuse for a neon sign or properly arranging food on someone's plate. Successfully completing a puzzle will unlock dialogue options with someone that might otherwise remain silent, resulting in forward progress, though there are a number of optional puzzles as well. You'll also want to keep an eye out for gum, of the already been chewed variety, because you can use that to get a hint if a particular puzzle is giving you problems.

A pinging system helps you find options you might otherwise overlook.

There are a total of 37 puzzles in the game, which could easily fool you into believe that is a lot. Unfortunately, there are several that are just the same puzzle, but harder. One requires routing Agent Tethers' snowmobile around a map, and since it is so icy, the only way to charge directions is to ricochet off of logs you place around the map. You do this same puzzle three times, to varying degrees of difficulty. Another is a number of puzzles that require you to distribute weights amongst various birds, where each type is limited to how much it can carry. This puzzle also occurs in multiple forms. Repetition isn't necessarily a bad thing, and is pretty important with puzzles (how else will you learn?), but it would have been nice if the game dropped one or two of the jigsaw puzzles in place of those word problems, or just something a bit different. Still, it is nice that there was some variety in the puzzles available, it's just unfortunate that there wasn't more.

One of the more unique puzzles, where you must route out each lift, which move in tandem, while avoiding traps. It requires to you consider each lift, and remember what you're doing as you go along, because nothing actually moves until you submit your solution.

My reason for acquiring Puzzle Agent was simple: I played a bit of Puzzle Agent 2 for a contest, enjoyed it, but didn't want to progress any further without taking on the first one. That's good, because the first game is a bit short, and seems like it ends abruptly, though given what the secret of Scoggins is, I can't blame Tethers for wanting to get the heck out of there. I managed to complete the game in a single sitting, which is not what I was expecting to do, because the game takes around 3 hours to complete, if you've got a mind geared towards puzzles. The normal cost of the game is $5, but I would suggest waiting for a sale so it's $2.50, though it's not much of a price difference, so maybe you just get it now and burn through it. Just know that this game can best be described as a combination of entertaining, bizarre, and at times, difficult - 7 out of 10.

So, the final breakdown:

Score: 7/10

Suggested Price: $2.50