Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent
Steam header
Publisher(s)	Telltale Games
Designer(s)	Graham Annable
Composer(s)	Jared Emerson-Johnson Rich Vreeland Nick Mastroianni
Platform(s)	Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation Network, iPhone, iPad
Release date(s)	June 30, 2010
Genre(s)	Adventure/Puzzle

Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent is an adventure/puzzle game by Telltale Games, in collaboration with Graham Annable. It is the first game to come out of Telltale's pilot project. It was released on June 30, 2010. The game claims to be influenced by the works of David Lynch, Stanley Kubrick and the Coen brothers (most notably Fargo).

A WiiWare release of the game was planned but eventually cancelled.

Gameplay

The game structure resembles a linear adventure game - the player doesn't have an inventory, but can traverse into dialog trees with other characters. Some items or choices of dialog result in puzzles to be solved, although in some cases the puzzle has no consequence in the game's progress. The types of puzzles vary from jigsaw through maths to logic puzzles. Each of them has a basic short description about the objective of the puzzle, while some have a basic set of rules and conditions that help the player deduce the solution. The player can request three hints for each puzzle, and each hint costs the player a piece of chewing gum - gum is on shortage in the town, as the hotel clerk explains, but Nelson can collect pieces of used gum he finds at each location. The puzzles don't automatically approve the players solution, even if the player provides the correct answer - Nelson must send the answer back to HQ where it is either approved or rejected. If the solution is approved, the player is given a score depending on how many hints he used and how many failed attempts he had (the latter is represented in taxpayer dollars), and an optional further explanation is provided on how the puzzle can be solved.

Plot

Puzzle Agent

Agent Nelson Tethers (voiced by Doug Boyd) is the sole member of an obscure branch of the FBI, the Puzzle Research Division. Dozing off while working on a crossword puzzle, Tethers dreams of a man in a space suit approaching him and scribbling something on the crossword. As the man in the spacesuit lifts his visor to reveal his face, Tethers wakes up and in his fright tears up the crossword. Upon reassembling the torn pieces, Tethers discovers that the word "SCOGGINS" had been written there. At that moment, he is called and given his first field assignment: the factory that produces the erasers used by the White House has mysteriously stopped production, and attempts to contact the factory have been met only with strange puzzles. Tethers is dispatched to the small town of Scoggins, Minnesota where the factory is located to get it running again before the "eraser shortage" becomes dire.

When Tethers arrives in Scoggins, he finds that many of the townsfolk are obsessed with puzzles and speak of "whispers". At the eraser factory, Tethers learns from Sheriff Bahg that the factory was closed down after an "accident" involving an alleged "explosion"; the factory's foreman, Isaac Davner, also hasn't been seen since. The nature of the accident and Isaac's fate can't be determined because the factory is sealed with an unusually complex lock. After discussing the accident with Sheriff Bahg and Isaac's wife, Glori, at the Moose Ear Diner, Tethers looks into two suspects: Randal Scruffman, a repairman who may have a crush on Glori, and Mike "Lobster" Lobb, one of Isaac's coworkers who recently had a fight with him. Traveling to Lake Svenz, Tethers finds Lobb sitting on a stump in the nearby Sasimy Woods, nearly frozen to death while solving a puzzle. Lobb hands Tethers a gear, a "key" to the factory, before dying. Tethers then finds Scruffman at an ice fishing hut on Lake Svenz, where Scruffman explains that the night of the accident he was repairing a damaged fence adjoining the town's hotel.

Tethers begins encountering red gnome-like creatures who hinder his progress. The townsfolk call them "the Hidden People", though most consider them to be nothing more than legend. However, Tethers is told that a group of townsfolk called Brothers of Scoggins believe in the Hidden People and are known to practice old Nordic rituals at their Lodge. Investigating the Brorskap Av Skogen Lodge, Tethers sees Glori and three other men chanting in a circle inside. Sheriff Bahg catches Tethers and escorts him back to town, telling him to stop nosing around the town's traditions. Tethers then spots Glori sneaking across town and follows her to the factory, where she leaves a plate of food. Tethers watches as several Hidden People appear and poke at the food; suddenly, more Hidden People surround Tethers, scaring him into running into a tree and knocking himself unconscious.

Tethers awakens in the Lodge. Bjorn, the head of the Lodge, reveals that the Hidden People "whisper" puzzles to the townsfolk which fuels their obsession. Bjorn also cryptically says that Isaac Davner was "chosen" by the Hidden People. Bjorn does not know what it means to be "chosen", only that it is an honor. After Tethers is given the pieces to a second gear, a Hidden Person steals the gear and leads Tethers on a chase back to Lake Svenz. He enters the ice fishing hut to retrieve the gear, but is locked in by Glori Davner, who then uses a chainsaw to sink the hut with Tethers inside. Tethers manages to escape and returns to the Lodge for the third and final gear. There, he is confronted at gunpoint by Sheriff Bahg. Tethers distracts Bahg with a crossword puzzle in his coat pocket, and proceeds to the factory to open the lock using the gears. Intending to rescue Isaac, who had been trapped within the factory the entire time, Tethers makes his way past several obstacles, including a massive eraser which had fallen and caused the "explosion" sound in the factory. As Tethers comes upon a puzzle-maddened Isaac, a swarm of Hidden People rush into the room. Tethers shoots at them, but to no avail; the Hidden People grab Isaac and carry him out a window into the night.

The following day, the eraser factory has been reopened but Isaac Davner remains missing. Back at FBI Headquarters, Tethers is congratulated on his work, despite it turning out that the President hadn't even been aware of the eraser shortage. Tethers' superior brushes off Isaac's disappearance, claiming it's a matter for local law enforcement to handle, and leaves Tethers alone in his office.

External links

• Puzzle Agent at GameRankings
• Puzzle Agent at Metacritic