Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent

Nelson Tethers

Steam - World - Title card.

Developer Telltale Publisher Telltale Published 2010-06-30 Platforms iOS, Macintosh, Windows Genres Adventure, Comedy, Graphic adventure, Multi-genre, Passive puzzle, Puzzle, Visual novel Themes Adventure, Comedy, Law Enforcement, Mystery, Suspense Series Puzzle Agent Distribution Commercial

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent, more commonly known as just Puzzle Agent, is a puzzle video game with graphic adventure elements developed and published by Telltale for Windows and Macintosh on 2010-06-30, and then ported to iOS.

In the game, you play Nelson Tethers, an FBI agent working in the little-known puzzle division. You're called to a small town in Minnesota to investigate why the eraser factory, which supplies the White House with all its erasers, has been shut down. Once there, you discover that something very strange is going on! To uncover the story, you must solve various logic puzzles.

Personal

Own?	Yes. On Steam.
Won?	Yes. Needed an in-game hint on one puzzle.
Finished	2018-08-12.

I got this game from a bundle of some sort and I liked the cartoon drawings in the screenshots enough to install it. I beat it after my second sitting.

Review

6	5	6	5	4

Best Version: Windows

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The game uses a variety of puzzle types throughout the game.
• The cartoon style is fun to look at.
• The voice acting, sound effects, and ambient music is good.
• The gnomes are quite creepy.
• None of the puzzles were so difficult I couldn't figure them out (I needed one hint, and required a second chance on three puzzles, but eventually solved them all). I prefer puzzle games where the puzzles are too easy rather than too hard, so this was good for me.

Bad

• The game reuses its puzzle styles too much. I understand not wanting to have to remake a new engine for every puzzle, but that's kind of the point of the game.
• As far as logic puzzles go, there isn't anything new here. If you're familiar with traditional logic puzzles on paper or in other games, you will pretty quickly understand every puzzle in the game. Although, some of them still take a fair amount of time to solve.
• For as easy as most of the puzzles are, the game awards way too many hits. I only needed hints for a single puzzle in the whole game, so I had about 30 in reserve by the time I finished it.
• The way you get a sonar of every object in the area when you click pretty much makes the "hidden" items, like the gum and evidence, not hidden at all.
• The game has a few pretty conspicuous, though unobtrusive, graphic glitches and I can't understand why they weren't fixed.
• Although it takes a couple hours to beat, the game doesn't have nearly enough puzzles.
• I noticed several random numbers around the map that never seemed to come to anything. I'm assuming I missed a hidden puzzle or Easter egg, but it would have been nice to have an idea of what it was.

Ugly

• The story is quite interesting, mysterious, and creepy, but it ends abruptly. Several characters have side plots with no closure. There is a sequel, but that is no excuse for leaving so many plot holes.

Media

Screenshots

• 

  Missing gnome puzzle.

• 

  Crow pictures puzzle.

Videos

Longplay.

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are some female NPCs like the inn keeper and diner waitress, but none are important.
Bechdel test?	Fail	No women ever speak to each other.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	Everyone in the game is white.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Links