Telltale unveils quirky new iPhone and iPad game Puzzle Agent

If your gaming focus lies strictly on iPhone, you may not have heard of Telltale Games. That’s about to change.

The talented chaps at Telltale are trend-bucking purveyors of humorous, story-led gaming. In recent years they’ve been responsible for taking the brave step of resurrecting the Monkey Island and Sam & Max franchises – two fiercely lauded point and click adventure series.

Why the history lesson? Well, the company has just announced the first game in a new initiative, and it’ll be making its way over to both iPhone and iPad.

Puzzle Agent is a quirky adventure-puzzler in a similar vein to the Professor Layton series on DS. Not a bad thing to be compared with at all.

You play the part of Nelson Tether, sole agent in the FBI’s Puzzle Investigation department. I love it already.

Tether (that’s you) must investigate the mysterious closure of a sleepy American town’s eraser factory, one brain-bending puzzle at a time. Along the way you can make use of the game’s hint system, which is linked to Tether’s enhanced thinking abilities while chewing gum.

Hey, if it works for Sir Alex Ferguson…

It’s all looking delightfully odd – a feeling greatly enhanced by the distinctive hand-drawn visuals contributed by artist Graham Annable.

Telltale’s new Pilot Scheme has been launched with the intention of releasing the sort of left-field games, like Puzzle Agent, that wouldn’t normally have much of a chance of receiving the green light.