Puzzle Agent 2

There are those big, epic adventure games that try carefully to integrate their puzzles into the storyline so that they don't really seem like puzzles at all. And then there's Puzzle Agent 2, a game that pretty much makes no secret that it's there solely for the puzzles and only the puzzles.  And luckily it's pretty damn entertaining.

I don't talk much about casual games all that often and that's because...well....I don't honestly play them that much. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing them.  I get hooked on the occasional Bejeweled game or a hidden objects game.  But other than the fact that they're kind of fun, there really isn't much more to say about it.  So why am I focusing on Puzzle Agent 2?

Well, because Puzzle Agent 2 is my favourite type of casual/indie game: a story-driven one.  Yes, the story junkie in me is coming out again.  Honestly, I really enjoyed this one.  I never played the first one, but I don't think you necessarily have to.  You play as Nelson Tethers, an agent of the FBI in the puzzle division...god, how I want to pursue that as a career! He returns to Scoggins, Minnesota to tie up some loose ends of a previous case.  Again, I didn't play the first game, so I'm not sure what exactly went down in that first case, but it's not very long before a whole new mystery crops up in the form of a missing person and a mysterious legend of woodland gnomes that haunt the area.

Gnoooooomes

I happen to love mystery stories, so this was already up my alley.  And...it's...AWESOME.  You'll wander around every corner of Scoggins and you can't help but feel like something is just...off about the whole place.  The townspeople are constantly on edge and wary of Nelson, despite him having solved an earlier case.  Added to that are the honestly terrifying whispers that occasionally creep up.  They made me feel like I was in an episode of Lost.  Except in Puzzle Agent, there's a better pay-off.

But what about the actual puzzles?  Pretty entertaining and a few that are quite challenging, actually.  And despite the fact that this is a game made purely for the puzzles, it was nice to see that all of them still made sense to the story.  If you're stuck you can ask for a hint, which you gather in the form of chewing gum around town, but as a result you'll get a lower score on the puzzle itself.  If anything, there were probably a few too many maze/slider puzzles (freaking slider puzzles) and one puzzle actually requires you to know advanced algebra...seriously...but still, even the most challenging of puzzles remained enjoyable.

I think what was nice about this particular puzzle game was that there was so much care put into every aspect of it.  The puzzles are the main gimmick of the game, yes, but they aren't treated as the only important one.  The story had a complete arc, the characters and voice acting were enjoyable, and the animation and music was bizarre and creepy and really set the mood.  You don't see that a lot in casual games and it makes all the difference my game experience.

Welp, this was a short talk, but it's a also a short game.  And a fun one at that.  If you like puzzles, check it out.  Unless you don't like gnomes....the definitely don't play this game.