Puzzle Agent is a really charming puzzle game by Telltale and Graham Annable, The game is basically Professor Layton by way of Twin Peaks, and is from a simpler time when Telltale was just coming up with point and clicks after Lucasart's game division shut down.
Apparently Graham is well known for his comic series Grickle where The Hidden People and his art-style comes from, but I've personally never heard of it.
However, his art style is really charming and is a major aspect of what makes this game so memorable, even with the short runtime it's hard not to fall for a failure of a Dale Cooper wannabe who has a knack for puzzle solving, and the general style of the game is great.

However, if you look into it more than just a short one-sitting puzzle time-waster then you'll start to notice a lot of flaws, starting with just the puzzles, they tend to be all over the place, you'll have some fairly interesting ones, but especially in the second half of the game you're just getting thrown the same puzzle again but now it's harder, or now it's themed differently.
Often the puzzles are really poorly explained or unclear or just plain tedious to figure out rather than interesting, and it can be really annoying to be docked in your score heavily just because there was a rule to the puzzle never told to you.
Lastly the tile spinning and jigsaw puzzles end up being very trivial, as for the tile puzzles you can just spin them until the picture lines up decently, and for the jigsaw ones you can easily just accidentally click things together just moving things around, next thing you know you've got the answer in front of you.

Story wise it's interesting, but it feels like Puzzle Agent 2 should have been the games second half, rather than just ending, I assume it was just because the game was a shot in the dark, and they only continued on because sales were high enough to make a sequel worthwhile, but it just leaves the first game really shallow, you start getting into the depths of the mystery, and then the game just ends on a massive cliffhanger.
And often it feels like the mystery is just implied rather than actually being there, paper thin ideas of "oooo what's actually going on behind the scenes" when there's not enough going on to make it seem anything more like, yeah, this character has an explained mystery and this one is just cryptic for the sake of it.

There's also 3 jumpscares that happen during the puzzles, the first time it got me pretty good and was a nice way to startle the player without feeling cheap, but when they do it a second time it just feels cheap, and the third time it's barely even a scare and more of just a cutscene, so I didn't really mind it all that much.

Regardless though the game is still super memorable off of it's charm alone, and I seriously recommend anyone who enjoys puzzle games like Professor Layton to give the game a shot, it's not to the quality of Layton's adventures but it's cheap and short, and you'll probably come out greatly enjoying some part of it.

Kind of like a more laid back Professor Layton game. I liked the artstyle, but it does have sort of a low-budget vibe. Puzzles are easy but relaxing for the most part. There were a couple which had some weird wording or were a bit unclear, but nothing too hard to get through. Story-wise it's pretty good as well, despite some heavy-handed dialogue (which btw is fully voiced!) and a rushed, mediocre ending. The humor didn't resonate with me entirely either, but I still chuckled a couple of times. Overall if you like puzzles / are a Layton a fan, definitely give it a go, given how cheap it is it's definitely worth it.

Pořizovat si to samostatně se nevyplatí (poměrem cena/výkon a ani kvalitami), ale Puzzle Agent je tak častou „výplňovou vatou“ různých bundlů, že pokud se vám do rukou přeci jen dostane, tak není třeba se mu vyhýbat jak čert kříži; a to i navzdory tomu, že jde o prachsprostou (a co hůře nepovedenou) vykrádačku nintenďáckého Laytona. A vykrádačka je to stejně tak neskrývaná jako důsledná; stejný princip děje, obrazovek, nápovědy, stylu… Jen shodná laťka kvality nebylo převzata. Že je děj střelený a poněkud „dada“ by až tak nevadilo, to je ostatně i u Laytona (byť ten aspoň drží pohromadě a má svůj styl). Ovšem že zdejší puzzly a hádanky jsou nenápadité, stavící na opakujících se principech a s mnohdy nejasným (nikoli záměrně dvojsmyslným) zadáním, tak to už je horší.

Ve své podstatě se pouze do zemdlení opakují variace na puzzly „z bodu A do bodu B“ či „najdi řešení, když víme že pokud platí XY, tak YX…“ čili ne, přicházet na kloub zdejším puzzlům není na rozdíl od Laytona zábava. A zatímco u něj jste po vyřešení zvlášť zapeklitého hlavolamu měli pocit zadostiučinění, tak tady si maximálně tak oddechnete, že jste o jeden hlavolam blíže konci. Ten naštěstí přichází poměrně záhy již po cca třech hodinách hraní.

Puzzle Agent is a delightful, short point-and-click adventure game that will leave you scratching your head while enjoying its quirky and charming style. The graphics may not be the sharpest, but they perfectly suit the game's almost chalkboard-like art style, which features some zany characters that will keep you entertained throughout.

Although the game follows the classic point-and-click formula, it deviates from tradition by completely removing the inventory system. Instead, you'll solve puzzles and brain teasers, including literal puzzles, mirror puzzles, math puzzles, logic puzzles, and sliding puzzles. Some of these are easy to solve, while others can be quite challenging, leaving you scratching your head for a while. However, the explanations for some of the puzzles can be a bit sparse, making it tough to understand the logic behind them.

Despite that, you'll feel an immense sense of accomplishment when you crack a particularly tough puzzle, and the game rewards you with a satisfying jingle. The game's setting has a Gravity Falls, Twin Peaks, small-town vibe, with something off-kilter at every turn. You can't quite put your finger on what's wrong, but you know it's there. This unsettling atmosphere runs throughout the entire game, which unfortunately ends on a massive cliffhanger. Puzzle Agent 2 is the next game in the series, but Puzzle Agent 1 finishes on a frustrating note.

In conclusion, Puzzle Agent is an excellent game that combines charming visuals with entertaining puzzles, but it suffers from a sparse explanation of some of the tougher brain teasers and a disappointing ending. Overall, if you're looking for a short and sweet point-and-click adventure game with a touch of mystery and brain-tickling puzzles, Puzzle Agent is well worth your time.

All puzzles completed, no wrong answers, no hints used. It's been very interesting to see this example of Telltale Games' earlier work! Similar in many ways to the 3DS's Professor Layton series, Puzzle Agent is essentially a series of standalone puzzles tied together with a narrative based on investigation of a missing-person investigation by an agent of an imagined 'puzzle division' of the FBI (which despite some 'dark' themes, is told in a generally light-hearted manner). There's a nice variety to the puzzles, and while none are especially difficult, solving each once always brings a sense of satisfaction.

The game does come across as somewhat unpolished, with simplistic 'cartoon' graphics and low-frame animation, though that may be by design - and ultimately, for both the puzzles that are the game's core and the accompanying story, this was an enjoyable experience.

Imported from my Backloggery

Despite having enjoyable and sharp writing, that kind of reminded me of a Tim Schafer game at times, an interesting mystery and a cool vibe/art style, this game did not grab me at all. My biggest issue is that I really just wanted to see where the story was going, but I was interrupted by really annoying puzzles that felt cryptic and inconsistent. When I solved them, I didn't feel smart, I felt lucky. The way that they transparently make you feel bad for failing a puzzle bothered me too.

Nice little one-sitting puzzle-by-way-of-point-and-click-adventure game. Took me about 3.5 hours, all said and done. Absurd, yet dry sense of humor, with a surprising amount of jump-scares and spooks. Nice, consistent art style which matches the overall tone.

I wish there was less puzzle repetition and I felt like some necessitated a little trial-and-error, which sort of went against the whole scoring system, but it's not too big a gripe. Worth your time if you like a little brain tease and simple, small-town mystery stories.