Puzzle Agent Reviews

[h1]Ryan George Style Pitch Meeting:[/h1] Publisher (without glasses): So, you have a quirky little puzzle game for me? Game Designer (with glasses): Yes, sir, I do! Publisher: Oh, okay, cool. So, what’s the gimmick here? Is it like a Match-3, or—? Game Designer: Oh, not at all! It’s a mystery adventure game where you play as an FBI agent solving puzzles to uncover the dark secrets of a weird small town! Publisher: Oh, okay, so like a detective game? Game Designer: Kinda! But instead of actual detective work, you just solve puzzles people randomly throw at you until the story progresses! Publisher: Wait, why are people just... randomly giving the FBI agent puzzles? Game Designer: Oh, because that’s just how this town works! Everyone here communicates exclusively through puzzles! You ask someone for directions? They make you solve a puzzle. Need to open a door? Puzzle. Want to order a sandwich? Buddy, you better be ready for a logic grid. Publisher: …So these people have lost their minds. Game Designer: Absolutely! This town is deeply unwell. Publisher: Okay, so what kind of puzzles are we talking about? Game Designer: Oh, you know, just a bunch of completely unrelated brainteasers—you’ll have: >Jigsaw puzzles where you put a ripped-up note back together, >Spot-the-difference games that somehow hold national security secrets, >Logic puzzles where you have to figure out who sat where at a dinner party for no reason, >And sometimes, a guy will just hand you a pile of toothpicks and ask you to make a giraffe out of them! Publisher: Wow wow wow, wow. That is entirely random. Game Designer: Oh, super random! You’ll have no idea how these puzzles relate to the story! Publisher: And they’re all easy, right? Game Designer: Oh, super easy, barely an inconvenience! Except for the ones where we deliberately make them stupidly vague just to watch players suffer. Publisher: Oh, making people suffer is tight! Game Designer: Right? Sometimes you’ll be staring at a puzzle for 20 minutes thinking, “This makes no sense,” and then it turns out the answer is hidden in some obscure dialogue a guy mumbled an hour ago! Publisher: Very cool of you to do that! Publisher: So tell me about our protagonist! Game Designer: Oh, he’s this nerdy, socially awkward puzzle-obsessed FBI agent named Nelson Tethers! Publisher: Oh, so he’s a genius detective? Game Designer: Not even a little bit! Publisher: Oh. Game Designer: He solves cases exclusively through puzzles and has no real detective skills whatsoever. If someone confesses to a crime, he’ll still be like, “Hmm, I better solve this Sudoku just to be sure.” Publisher: So he’s just bumbling through this town annoying everyone? Game Designer: Constantly! He’s out here interrogating people who just want to buy groceries, demanding they give him puzzles. And the townspeople are all like, “Bro, just leave us alone.” Publisher: So he’s deeply unlikable. Game Designer: Oh, aggressively unlikable! Publisher: Fantastic. The Big Plot Twist: It’s Puzzles... All the Way Down! Publisher: Alright, so what’s the big mystery he’s uncovering? Game Designer: Oh, so get this—there’s a secret underground Puzzle Factory where people have been designing puzzles to control people’s minds! Publisher: Oh my god. Game Designer: Right?! So you’re solving puzzles to figure out how the puzzle factory works, and—wait for it—you have to solve puzzles to STOP the puzzles! Publisher: Wow wow wow. Wow. Game Designer: It’s puzzles inside of puzzles inside of puzzles! Publisher: That just sounds like a nightmare. Game Designer: Oh, absolutely! The Villain: A Very Polite, Very Ineffective Bad Guy! Publisher: So who’s the big bad guy here? Game Designer: Oh, it’s this creepy old man running the Puzzle Factory, and he’s just… incredibly weird. Publisher: Oh, is he like super evil? Game Designer: Not really! He just kinda stands around being mysterious. Publisher: So he just lets the FBI agent shut down his whole operation? Game Designer: Oh, for sure. He doesn’t really stop you at all. If anything, he’s kinda helpful. Publisher: Wow, very considerate! Game Designer: Right?! He’ll ominously be like “You’ll never uncover the truth...” and then immediately gives you a puzzle that reveals everything. Publisher: That’s... the worst villain I’ve ever heard of. Game Designer: Thank you! Publisher: So let me get this straight—this is a game where: ✔ You solve a bunch of random puzzles that barely connect to the story... ✔ You play as a super annoying, socially awkward FBI agent... ✔ The villain is polite and doesn’t do much... ✔ And the puzzles suddenly spike in difficulty just to make players miserable? Game Designer: That’s exactly it! Publisher: Well, okay then! Game Designer: Great! Publisher: Wow wow wow. I’m just… I’m speechless. What else you got? Game Designer: Oh, well, I was also thinking of adding a level where you have to... solve a puzzle to open a door... and then solve a puzzle to close the door... Very deep! Publisher: What? Game Designer: What? Publisher: Well, okay then! Game Designer: Great! [hr] [h1]The SUS Files: Sussy Erasers – The Crewmate Clue[/h1] [Scene: FBI Office – Night] Mulder’s desk is a disaster—"Puzzle Agent" screenshots, red string, erasers, and suspicious cheese slices cover every surface. A crude map of vents labeled "SUS?" is pinned to the wall. Scully enters, already regretting this conversation. Mulder’s Descent into Madness Mulder: Scully, the Hidden People… they’re venting. They’re among us. Scully: Mulder, it’s a puzzle game. Mulder: No! It's a confession disguised as a game! Nelson Tethers? An FBI agent investigating a puzzle-based conspiracy? Too convenient, Scully. This game is trying to tell us something! Scully: It’s telling us to solve puzzles. Mulder: Exactly! It’s conditioning us to obey orders! The factory, the cheese, the erasers—it’s all a distraction! A mind-control experiment! The Puzzle Agent Breakdown ✔ You play as Nelson Tethers, a socially awkward FBI agent sent to investigate a shutdown at an eraser factory. ✔ Instead of real detective work, you must solve a series of increasingly bizarre puzzles because… reasons. ✔ At first, it’s fun—spot-the-difference, jigsaw puzzles, logic riddles. Then suddenly, you’re deciphering cryptic nonsense created by an eldritch being. ✔ The town is full of weirdos who either ignore you or drop ominous hints. The villain? An old man who barely does anything. ✔ The game ends just when things get interesting. No closure. Just an abrupt stop. The Realization Scully sighs, picking up an eraser. She pauses. It’s simple. Too simple. A rounded, minimalistic form… almost like… like a… Scully: Mulder… this… this eraser… She turns it over. A faint, visor-like indentation. A chill runs down her spine. Scully glances at Mulder’s conspiracy board. The red string forms… a crewmate. The Final Revelation A notification pings from Mulder’s laptop. NEW PLAYER HAS JOINED THE GAME. The screen flickers. A dark, crewmate-like figure lingers at the edge. Its unblinking eye stares at them. A single red message appears: "SUSPECT DETECTED. ELIMINATING WITNESSES." The office light flickers. A vent slides open. [EMERGENCY MEETING SOUND EFFECT] [FADE TO BLACK] Final Thoughts Mulder’s Review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5 Suspicious Erasers!) – Weird, fun, but unsettling. Puzzle difficulty ranges from “cute” to “this was written by a cryptid.” Scully’s Review: ⭐☆☆☆☆ (1/5 Crewmate Erasers!) – "Mulder lost his mind over this game. I fear for him." Final Verdict? A great indie game… or a government psyop. Either way, we recommend it. [END] [hr] [b] In Scoggins cold, where secrets hide, Nelson Tethers must decide. Puzzles twist, the answers tease, Erasers lurk, cheese brings unease. Hidden whispers, truth untold, Mind erased, the case runs cold. [/b]

Really good humor and entertaining puzzles. A game I loved coming back to.

I don't usually play point & clicks or puzzle games but really enjoyed the Twin Peaks in Northern Minnesota vibe of this one. Most of the puzzles were achievable, I definitely used the popular Steam guide to cheat on the hard ones. Overall great experience.

Didn't much care for any of the puzzles. I liked the story even though it was short and the artwork was good. But the puzzles were only difficult because the rules were confusing or because they lacked context. Otherwise they were all pretty easy. Only had to use a pen and paper on a few.