Telltale Games acquired Sam & Max, a silly little duo of a noir dog and insane bunny rabbit, in 2004. Before this, LucasArts had adapted the game from a late-80s comic book series. While the characters central to the series weren’t household names, their point-and-click adventures have made them cult favorites. Developer Skunkape Games has gone on to remaster and rerelease three of the games originally published by Telltale, and we’ve finally arrived at the trilogy’s conclusion. Here’s our review of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse for the Nintendo Switch.

Proceeded by Sam & Max: Save the World and Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, the third and final remaster in the Sam & Max trilogy is arguably the most beloved. By the time that it originally released in 2010, Telltale had taken the series and really expanded its quirky yet wholesome nature. While the game would come to consoles, it was actually first released on the iPad following its initial launch. The developers at Telltale wanted to highlight the future of touchscreen gaming, and while iPads aren’t necessarily the premier place to play games in 2024, there are a lot of people who use them to do so.

In five funny and adventurous chapters, Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse centers on the discovery of “Toys of Power”, seemingly harmless toys that grant Max various psychic abilities. Whether fighting off General Skun-ka’pe or going into Max’s brain to fight his superego, these toys play a fun role in diversifying the Sam & Max experience while keeping it familiar. I would argue that the over-the-top stories central to this final collection in the trilogy make it the most memorable. There are a lot of moments where you’re watching the story play out and you almost can’t believe how insane things have gotten.

If you haven’t played a Sam & Max game before, you do have a little bit of a blind spot to deal with if you start here. The Devil’s Playhouse‘s mechanics are largely point-and-click with minimal movement around closed-off spaces. Like other Telltale games, you have a sense of choice and variety in the gameplay, but not to the point where you’ll actually shift the story in any meaningful way. Really, you’re here for the vibes. The vibes just so happen to involve world invaders, a psychic rabbit, an old-timey noir dog, and a bunch of other weirdness. In a world of carbon copies, it’s refreshing that even today Sam & Max feel wholly original.

The game looks wonderful in its remastered form. Boasting the same improvements as previous Sam & Max remasters, the game is as smooth as ever with updated character models and lighting, new cinematography, environment design, and music. I think from a remaster standpoint these games also do a good job in maintaining their unique art style while making modern improvements. The games are still a little clunky to play, but these point-and-click adventures all sort of feel like this. If you’re turned off by that sort of gameplay, skip this release, but otherwise, it’s worth a little jank to spend time with our favorite freelance police.

While these games are not lengthy and do show their age a little bit, they’re wonderful relics of the point-and-click past developed by iconic teams at LucasArts and Telltale Games. You don’t have to begin with the first release of the remastered trilogy, but if you want the full experience, head back to Sam & Max: Save the World and start things from the beginning of the Telltale series. If you’re eager for over-the-top stories and a lot of crazy fun, then feel free to start here. Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse plays wonderfully on the Switch and is also able to be played wherever you prefer to game.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse was provided by Skungape Games for the purposes of this review.

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Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse

$19.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Fun return to the cult classic Sam and Max series
• Great fresh features for a remaster
• Zany stories that still entertain players in 2024

Cons

• Few mechanics improvements from original release
• Short chapters don't take long to complete
• Shows its age a little even with the fresh coat of paint