We've just pushed an update live for Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse that puts a lot of teeny tiny longstanding bugs to bed. And then once they're all tucked in sound asleep? Well, you'll see. Also if you're looking for more Max in your life, we've spent the last year hard a
We've just pushed an update live for Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse that puts a lot of teeny tiny longstanding bugs to bed. And then once they're all tucked in sound asleep? Well, you'll see.
Also if you're looking for more Max in your life, we've spent the last year hard at work on an updated version of Poker Night at the Inventory, and it's just come out this week. Check it out:
Patch notes for today’s Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse update (version 1.7.0):
All Episodes:
Fixed an issue where Sal's lipsync often stopped working after his first few lines, and when it did work it wasn't fully playing on his snout.
Girl Stinky's photo in Sam's notebook has been updated to more closely match the pose and facial expression from the original game.
Fixed clicking on sliders in the UI snapping to a nearby value instead of grabbing the slider.
Fonts scale better at low resolution. If you ran the game at 720p or lower, you probably noticed that the fonts looked a little crispy. They should now look more smooth on low res displays. If you play the game at 800x600 on a CRT let us know how the fonts look.
Episode 301: The Penal Zone
Fixed Sam's nose briefly appearing at the edge of the screen when attempting to use the homing beacon on Skunkape.
The cardboard box at the top of the pile of Sybil's junk now has a bottom, so you can't see through it when viewed at low angles.
Sam now puts his hands in his pockets when exiting Skunkape's ship. In the original it was ambiguous whether his pockets were supposed to puff up here or if his hands were merely behind his back, but enough people mentioned it that we committed to the pocket reality. Ambiguity's for chumps.
Episode 302: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Fixed the old timey notebook cover showing up in the opening credits by mistake.
Fixed a camera angle that got knocked into the wrong position during a late-game closeup of Papierwaite.
Episode 303: They Stole Max's Brain!
Fixed the camera clipping through a statue in the planetarium when using Future Vision.
Fixed the brain backpack being briefly visible when using Future Vision in the planetarium.
Fixed Frankie the Rat sometimes t-posing when returning to interrogate him multiple times.
Toned down laser lights during battle cutscenes in the planetarium when flashing VFX are set to off.
Episode 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
Fixed Rhinoplasty visual effects not lining up with Max when he is transformed into a cake.
Fixed sorting of Max's muzzle flash when firing his gun in the opening cutscenes.
Fixed Charlie's eyebrows sometimes going insane and getting extra fuzzy looking.
Fixed Charlie's eyebrows sometimes disappearing behind themselves. Charlie's eyebrows had a lot going on before this patch.
Fixed Charlie sometimes becoming visible again after skipping lines.
Episode 305: The City Tthat Dares Not Sleep
Fixed the Narrator's eyebrows sometimes snapping to the wrong position before transitioning to their new expression. This is a very eyebrow-forward patch, it turns out.
Fixed Grandpa Stinky's truck being very briefly visible in Max's hand at the wrong time in the opening credits montage.
Fixed Maimtron visibly stopping while flying during the opening credits montage.
Fixed Sam not looking at the flaming Max head when talking to it in the stomach.
Fixed some instances where Sybil's eyes were looking in the wrong place due to animations and dynamic look-ats fighting with each other.
Fixed instances where hidden characters would appear briefly when skipping lines during on-screen radio scenes.
As always, thanks for letting us know when you find a bug. If you've got a bug that you've encountered but don't see it here, please let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to squash it.
ICYMI, our next game is a remastered version of Poker Night at the Inventory , which features four fan-favorite characters — Max (from Sam & Max), Strong Bad (from Homestar Runner), Tycho (from Penny Arcade), and The Heavy (from Team Fortress 2) — bantering over a game of Tex
ICYMI, our next game is a remastered version of Poker Night at the Inventory, which features four fan-favorite characters — Max (from Sam & Max), Strong Bad (from Homestar Runner), Tycho (from Penny Arcade), and The Heavy (from Team Fortress 2) — bantering over a game of Texas Hold’em. It'll be out on March 5!
To celebrate, we’re expanding the scope of our (more or less) annual arts & crafts contest, which has been Sam & Max themed in the past, to include all four of these guys. (And, if you feel like it, poker!)
What’s in it for me?
The joy of creating art for art’s sake. Just kidding. We’ll send each winner a Poker Night at the Inventory game key for your platform of choice. How many winners, exactly? We won’t know until we see the entries!
But that’s not all. For a few of our favorites, we’ll toss in a set of Poker Night themed chips that have been carefully stashed away in a team member’s closet for the past fifteen years. They might be, um, shedding a little. They just need someone to love them.
And the grand prize? That's where it gets really special. The creator of our #1 favorite entry will get a game key plus a prize bundle that includes one incredible item from each of the four franchises:
A pair of Max slippers from Uncute (currently sold out!)
A talking Strong Bad plush (also sold out!)
A portrait of Tycho painted by Penny Arcade’s Mike Krahulik (truly one of a kind!)
A Team Fortress 2 poster signed by Valve employees (the envy of all your friends!)
The Fine Print
Your entry must include at least one of the four characters.
Your entry doesn’t have to relate to poker… but we might like it more if it does. 👀
Any creative endeavor is welcome, be it fan art, cosplay, sculpture, video, music, needle arts, food, etc. We love entries that surprise us.
Too many ideas? Can’t decide which is best? No problem! Enter as many times as you want (but you can only win once).
AI-generated assets and images will not be considered. We want to see stuff made entirely by you!
US and international entries are allowed. Be prepared to give us your mailing address if you win one of the physical prizes. We'll cover shipping but can't be responsible for any import taxes or tariffs charged after the package leaves our care.
Email your entry to [email protected] by 11:59pm Pacific time on Friday, February 27. Rather than sending big attachments, please host them somewhere like Google Drive and send a link. Your email should also include anything you want us to know about the entry, and your name / social media handles (for us to post on Bluesky/Twitter if you win).
Once the contest closes, the extended Skunkape family will argue about our favorite entries for a few days and reveal the winners on or around March 4.
So break out those crayons, scissors, and welding torches, and make something that will wow us!
On September 14, 2005, Telltale Games held an evening event in a downtown San Francisco high-rise. The attendees were mainly potential investors, with a few journalists invited to hear a Big Announcement. Telltale’s first episodic adventure game, Bone: Out from Boneville, was hou
On September 14, 2005, Telltale Games held an evening event in a downtown San Francisco high-rise. The attendees were mainly potential investors, with a few journalists invited to hear a Big Announcement. Telltale’s first episodic adventure game, Bone: Out from Boneville, was hours away from release, and they were secretly working on CSI: 3 Dimensions of Murder, but the surprise announcement was for something else… and Steve Purcell was sitting in the audience, rocking his trademark fedora.
Just after midnight, Adventure Gamers broke the news that Telltale and Steve had signed a deal to make episodic Sam & Max games—and an entire fandom wept openly.
An Episodic Sociopathic Lagomorph
The Sam & Max announcement made its way to the decision-makers at GameTap, a new video game streaming service owned by Turner Entertainment. The media company had found success airing old shows and films on channels like Turner Classic Movies and the Cartoon Network, and now they were trying to do the same thing with old video games, but GameTap was off to a bumpy start. They needed original content to attract subscribers. A game that came out episodically, like a TV show, would be a perfect fit.
Fast forward to the spring of 2006: GameTap announced at E3 that Telltale’s Sam & Max Season One would debut on their service that fall. GameTap had a huge E3 booth that year, with the Sam & Max trailer playing on a loop on the big screen. Telltale’s CEO Dan Connors even did a live interview with Space Ghost! Unfortunately the video footage has been lost to time, but we had a signed Space Ghost poster hanging in the office for years, so we’re 99.9% sure this really happened.
Speaking of Posters...
GameTap also handed out Sam & Max posters at the booth, featuring new art by Steve Purcell. We later used the art on postcards that we brought to trade shows like Comic-Con and E for All (story for another time), but the poster was only ever available at this show, making it uber-rare.
And… we want YOU to win one!
Recently, a former GameTap employee reached out to us saying he’d found one of these rare posters in his closet and couldn’t bear to throw it away. So we said, “Send it to us, we’ll have a contest!” And he did, and we are.
The contest has five trivia questions. Each correct answer gives you a chance to win. Entries are open through 11:59pm PDT on Sunday, September 21, and we’ll announce the winner on Monday the 22nd on our Bluesky and Twitter.
(If you like behind-the-scenes stuff, Steve described his process for creating this artwork on Facebook.)
But Wait, There's More!
In honor of how old and decrepit we are this momentous anniversary, all three Sam & Max remasters and soundtracks are on sale this week. If you’ve been waiting to give us your money, the time to act is now. Pick 'em up piecemeal, or splurge on the bundles for an even bigger discount!
Over on The Sam & Max Funhouse page , Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell shared a little bit of behind-the-scenes process on his new cover illustration for the Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack. We thought you might like it so we've reproduced the post and imag
Over on The Sam & Max Funhouse page, Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell shared a little bit of behind-the-scenes process on his new cover illustration for the Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack. We thought you might like it so we've reproduced the post and images here!
In Lisbon last fall I snapped a worn poster pasted to a wall cause the blue on pink spoke to me. I noodled a sketch to that effect in Procreate. Tried green for the background instead of pink. Drew the line art in croquill and ink knowing I planned to digitally color instead of paint. The little box of text in the corner was always meant to look hand lettered.
With a logo and text assist by Jake Rodkin and some texturing applied, here’s what we wound up with…
We hope you've been enjoying the soundtrack! Just a reminder, the 10% off launch deal ends tomorrow. If you're looking for more ways to listen, it's also made its way to Bandcamp, and should start appearing on Spotify, YouTube Music, Apple Music and more in the coming weeks.
Thanks everyone who has been listening to The Devil's Playhouse Soundtrack these last couple days! If you haven't listened to the soundtrack yet, you really should! And now's the best time, since we just put out a little update: Added FLAC version. Now you can listen in pure, los
Thanks everyone who has been listening to The Devil's Playhouse Soundtrack these last couple days!
If you haven't listened to the soundtrack yet, you really should! And now's the best time, since we just put out a little update:
Added FLAC version. Now you can listen in pure, lossless quality. The audophile's delight.
Added a new track - "Straight & Pharaoh" - to Disc 4. Enjoy a suite of all the music that plays throughout the streets in the alternate dimension revealed in the back half of They Stole Max's Brain.
Updated album cover art to the final version.
Fixed some inconsistencies between actual track title and filenames.
Maybe… …you’ve played one or two of the Sam & Max remasters, but haven’t completed the trilogy? …you enjoyed Telltale’s Sam & Max games back in the day, but haven’t tried the spiffy new remasters? …you’ve never been on a case with the Freelance Police, but you’re intrigue
Maybe…
…you’ve played one or two of the Sam & Max remasters, but haven’t completed the trilogy?
…you enjoyed Telltale’s Sam & Max games back in the day, but haven’t tried the spiffy new remasters?
…you’ve never been on a case with the Freelance Police, but you’re intrigued?
Well, we have a sale for you! And you! And you!
Welcome to the Sam & Max Trilogy Sale—a weeklong celebration of the episodic adventures that put Telltale Games (of The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among Us fame) on the map in the early 2000s, and have recently been revived by Skunkape Games, a small crew of the original developers. (Hey, that's us!)
When Telltale shut down in 2018, we acquired the rights and spruced up all three episodic Sam & Max seasons for modern platforms. And now we want you to play them!
We’ve also marked down Jared Emerson-Johnson’s amazing Sam & Max soundtracks, including the long-awaited The Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack, newly available for the very first time.
Want to hear a bit about the remastering process right from the horses’ developers’ mouths? We’ve dug three streams out of the archives so you can do just that. Tune in on the sale page.
And what if you’re the Sam & Max fan who already has it all? Hey, tell your friends! These deals will be on Steam for one week only.
Back in the aughts, Telltale’s Sam & Max Save the World (aka Season One) and Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space (aka Season Two) had official soundtrack releases shortly after their season finales. Back then we used to listen to music on these silver drink coaster thingies
Back in the aughts, Telltale’s Sam & Max Save the World (aka Season One) and Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space (aka Season Two) had official soundtrack releases shortly after their season finales. Back then we used to listen to music on these silver drink coaster thingies called “compact discs.” It truly was a golden age.
When Telltale’s third Sam & Max season, The Devil’s Playhouse, wrapped in August 2010, fans eagerly anticipated its official soundtrack release… but that release never came. As documented in a long-running thread on Telltale’s forum, excitement gave way to frustration, and then to despair, as months passed with no announcement of a Devil’s Playhouse OST.
The studio grew, shifting its priorities to games based on splashier licenses like Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and The Walking Dead, and the team members who’d worked on soundtracks in their spare time moved on. By the time Telltale shut down in 2018, any remaining chance of a Devil’s Playhouse OST seemed utterly destroyed. As CoastertheDimmwitt wrote on the forum after the studio’s closure, “Seems like the wait will truly be eternal now.”
But then… a plot twist!
The release of our Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse remaster in August 2024 brought another opportunity for this soundtrack to see the light of day. It’s taken eight months, since it’s a labor of love by people who also have day jobs. But boy is it worth the wait.
TOMORROW, 5,344 days after the original season wrapped, you can get The Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack right here on Steam. If you have the memory of a dried trout, hit the wishlist button and you’ll get an email when it’s live.
And if you’re sitting there thinking “I was willing to wait 5,343 days, but 5,344 is one too many”—we hear you! Join us TODAY at 5pm PT / 8pm ET on YouTube for a live listening party, with Sam & Max team members hanging out in the chat.
The soundtrack features nearly three hours of music by series composer Jared Emerson-Johnson, overhauled with updated instruments, a new mix pass, additional live performances, and new tracks created for the remaster. It’s organized into three thematic sections, with never-before-heard Narrator dialogue* to carry you through this epic auditory odyssey.
Your ticket has been torn. There’s a concession booth up ahead. Prepare to take your seat in… The Devil’s Playhouse!
*Unless you’re one of the few who stumbled across these unused voice files lurking in the original game data!
Adventure games are almost synonymous with the PC, and some of the best proved that videogames could be funny long before modern favorites like Thank Goodness You're Here. Revolution gave us Broken Sword; Sierra delivered King's Quest; LucasArts brought Day of the Tentacle, Full
Adventure games are almost synonymous with the PC, and some of the best proved that videogames could be funny long before modern favorites like Thank Goodness You're Here. Revolution gave us Broken Sword; Sierra delivered King's Quest; LucasArts brought Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and of course both Monkey Island and Sam and Max, which then moved into the care of Telltale Games. This gave us the magnificent Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse, which recently got a Steam remaster - and now a new update for 2025 has fixed one of its oldest frustrations, alongside another welcome addition.
We've got a quick update for The Devil's Playhouse that fixes some extremely well aged bugs. Many of these are bugs from the original release, bugs that thought they would be comfy in an early retirement after fifteen years out in the wild. We're sorry, bugs. Happy New Year. Ther
We've got a quick update for The Devil's Playhouse that fixes some extremely well aged bugs. Many of these are bugs from the original release, bugs that thought they would be comfy in an early retirement after fifteen years out in the wild. We're sorry, bugs. Happy New Year.
There are also a couple tiny, but welcome, quality of life improvements in here, too:
All Episodes:
Increased subtitle playback speed to match previous seasons. Sam & Max Save the World and Beyond Time and Space have always had a nice snappy subtitle speed. For whatever reason, the third season's has always been slower. A few people pointed it out and asked that we make it consistent, so we did.
Added support for using the d-pad to walk Sam around and control the Max Mode camera. We're not sure why this wasn't a feature before, but it is now.
Episode 301: The Penal Zone
Fixed typo in address on BoscoTech Labs address sign on the Street. Hello "43rd Street" goodbye "43D Street," you had a good run.
Episode 302: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Fixed an Elf voice/subtitle mismatch in the 1900s Street.
Fixed no film reel being selected when you return to the Astral Projector selection screen using a gamepad.
Episode 303: They Stole Max's Brain!
Fixed Papierwaite's animation when saluting in Egyptian Planetarium. (For the curious, he was previously playing an animation meant for a four-fingered hand, so his ring finger was just sticking out weirdly.)
Episode 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
Sam now actually draws his gun when you use the gun on Harry, instead of a sound of a gun drawing playing against nothing happening.
Episode 305: The City Tthat Dares Not Sleep
Fixed incorrect Russian translation of Sam's line when picking up detective record in Max's Brain.
As always, thanks for letting us know when you find a bug. If you've got a bug that you've encountered but don't see it here, please let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to squash it.
Hot on the heels of our last patch, we have another. This one is smaller, more subtle, dare we say more... intimate. A patch just for you. While we've got you here alone, we're going to discreetly remind you that the Skunkape Halloween Contest is back! If you're in the mood to ma
Hot on the heels of our last patch, we have another. This one is smaller, more subtle, dare we say more... intimate. A patch just for you.
While we've got you here alone, we're going to discreetly remind you that the Skunkape Halloween Contest is back! If you're in the mood to make some Sam & Max fan art, now's the time! Check out the contest post for a rundown of the rules and prizes. (Spoiler: they include Sam & Max plushies from Uncute, and the still-in-development Devil's Playhouse Original Soundtrack!)
Here's what's fixed in today's patch:
Episode 302: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Fixed objects intersecting projection screen when completing reel 3 in Train Car 3.
Fixed Max teleporting after opening Kringle's trunk in Train Car 2.
Fixed music pitch and ambient sound pitch not restored after using Max's Astral Projection power.
Episode 303: They Stole Max's Brain!
Fixed intermittent crash when making a dialog choice just before ambient lines end during interrogation sequences.
Episode 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
Fixed Sam not slapping Max at the end of the golden shorts cutscene in Docks.
Fixed Max and Grandpa Stinky gun effects and sounds playing throughout cutscene when revealing secret passage.
Fixed Max getting smacked after entering Clone Chamber from Stinky's.
Fixed Charlie disappearing near the end of transition to final puzzle cutscene when skipping lines in Statue of Liberty.
Fixed incorrect Russian translation of Stinky's "Out, dammit... stupid spot..." line in Clone Chamber.
Fixed incorrect Russian translation of Bluster Blaster's "THIS IS TOTALLY AWESOME!" line in Docks.
All Episodes:
Fixed spelling of "Sephen Whetstine" in closing credits.
As always, thanks for letting us know when you find a bug. If you've got a bug that you've encountered but don't see it here, please let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to squash it.
Here’s a scary story: last year we completely forgot to hold our annual Halloween contest. 😱 We rectified that for the holidays, but this year we’re (just barely) better prepared. We hereby kick off 2024’s Halloween contest, with entries due by 11:59pm Pacific time on October 31
Here’s a scary story: last year we completely forgot to hold our annual Halloween contest. 😱
We rectified that for the holidays, but this year we’re (just barely) better prepared. We hereby kick off 2024’s Halloween contest, with entries due by 11:59pm Pacific time on October 31. That gives you three weeks to get all artsy craftsy in the spirit of the spooky season… let's go!
THE RULES
Send pics (or other files as appropriate) of your Sam & Max themed entry to
[email protected] by 11:59pm Pacific time on Sunday, October 31. If your file is too big to play nicely with email, sending us a link to a Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. works too. Also tell us how you want to be credited if we share your entry. (Your name or handle, website URL, Twitter, etc.)
Your entry can be fan art, sculpture, cosplay, music, video, words... anything, really! (As long as it won't make our lawyers mad. Keep it legal!) Check out the winners from 2023, 2022, and 2021 to see which entries we’ve gone for in the past.
You can submit multiple entries, but only win once. By submitting, you grant us permission to use your entry (with attribution) for promotion on social media, the Skunkape website, and other places where promotion happens.
To select the winners, the Sam & Max Remastered team will hold a democratic vote overseen by a panel of objective nonpartisan observers. (Pretty sure we’ve got some of those around here somewhere…) In the event of a tie, Steve Purcell gets the tie-breaking vote.
THE PRIZES
10ish runners-up will get your choice of a Sam & Max Save the World, Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space, or Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse key on your preferred platform
3ish honorable mentions will get a game key AND a Steam key for the brand new Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack (so new we haven’t even released it yet!)
1 grand prize winner will get a game key, a Devil’s Playhouse soundtrack key, AND a set of Sam & Max plushies courtesy of our buddies at Uncute!
Let the creativity commence! We'll announce the winners the week of November 4.
We've identified and fixed a bunch of bugs (some 14 year old originals, some brand new to the remaster, oops) and pushed those fixes live in an update we have creatively named "1.4.0!" Thanks to everyone who wrote in with reports. The version 1.4.0 patch is now live on Steam, and
We've identified and fixed a bunch of bugs (some 14 year old originals, some brand new to the remaster, oops) and pushed those fixes live in an update we have creatively named "1.4.0!" Thanks to everyone who wrote in with reports.
The version 1.4.0 patch is now live on Steam, and will be making its way to other platforms in the near future. What's fixed? Read on...
All Episodes:
Fixed sign spinner textures that were horizontally mirrored in Russian.
Episode 301: The Penal Zone
Fixed Max's "Don't bother him, Sam!" line missing translations.
Fixed background disappearing when teleporting while Max is being strangled in Lab Street.
Fixed Sam's hat briefly intersecting the background during "first teleport" cutscene.
Fixed the Toybox power cable rudely intersecting Max in final cutscene.
Episode 302: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Hid curse effects when cutting to projection room after picking up love letter in Green Car.
Fixed Can 'O Nuts animation popping when Nefertiti goes to see Jurgen.
Fixed train car wall being visible on projection screen when finishing reel 3.
Fixed Russian typo in Elf dialog choice in Yellow Car.
Fixed incorrect Russian translation of ratings joke in Tomb.
Episode 303: They Stole Max's Brain!
Fixed Sammun-Mak statue's mouth sometimes getting stuck open after a cutscene. Apologies to lord Sammun-Mak for the embarrassment this caused.
Fixed Grandpa Stinky VO playing when interacting with statue after he's gone.
Fixed spelling of "Granda Stinky" in notebook.
Fixed incorrect Russian translation of "Canis Erectus" sign in Museum.
Fixed purple outlines when Narrator is on screen in final cutscene
Fixed incorrect Russian translation of "Oh, brother."
Added missing sound effects when using Future Vision on Papierwaite during fight.
Episode 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
Fixed Max's gun and muzzle flash sometimes being visible after shooting tentacles or detransforming in Clone Chamber.
Fixed Max's gun sometimes being visible after detransforming in Museum Office.
Fixed Sam sometimes being off screen when reading his mind in Lab.
Fixed lip sync interfering with Max's seance trance animation when summoning Momma Bosco in Lab.
Fixed thoughts and effects stickers not translated into Russian in Lab.
Fixed transformation FX drawing behind Max in Statue of Liberty.
Fixed Max's legs drawing if front of piano when he ascends in Statue of Liberty.
Fixed Max's glow FX in Statue of Liberty. Max's eyes glowing white: gamer's delight.
Fixed Max disappearing if you skip his first line of dialog after grabbing the tentacle in Statue of Liberty (Nintendo Switch only).
Episode 305: The City That Dares Not Sleep
Adjusted buildings so you can't see into the void when using gun on Max Monster in Lab Street.
Increased volume of sound FX when Maimtron crashes into Max Arms.
Fixed static characters visible in final shot of epilogue.
Added footsteps and other missing sound effects to epilogue.
Fixed erratic Narrator eyebrow movement when Sam accuses him of lying.
Fixed Max's lips moving while Sam is talking and other language resource bugs in epilogue cutscenes.
Fixed Sam Jr. inventory VO not playing in some places.
Fixed uranium pellets texture not translated into Russian in Max Stomach.
Fixed incorrect narrator superego name plate normal map in German and Russian.
If you've got a bug that you've encountered but don't see it here, please let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to squash it. (Or do our best to help you out if it's less of a bug, and more of a you problem.)
It's been about two weeks since Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse shipped, and we've been having a blast watching you all play the game, both the folks who have been replaying it again years later, and the lucky first-timers. Thank you, all of you! We've also been busy. Thanks
It's been about two weeks since Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse shipped, and we've been having a blast watching you all play the game, both the folks who have been replaying it again years later, and the lucky first-timers. Thank you, all of you!
We've also been busy. Thanks to the help of fans writing in or posting playthroughs, and a bunch of help from Sam & Max players across Discord, we were able to identify and squash a ton of bugs. While some of these were new to the remaster, many of them are 14-year-old bugs from the original game. Finely aged bugs. They lived a long and full life, but alas, it is their time.
The version 1.3.0 patch is now live on Steam as well Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
All Episodes:
Fixed Max sometimes going invisible during cutscenes when de-transforming from Rhinoplasty.
Fixed instances where Max was sometimes scaled infinitely small if the player left a scene when Max was still shapeshifted via Rhinoplasty.
Fixed hotspots sometimes being briefly visible in Max Mode.
Fixed times when the cursor would get stuck as your currently active inventory item deep in the pause menu.
Fixed moments where Sam would appear to collapse in a little bit at the shoulders at random seeming times. Or maybe his arms would go slightly into his body and his ears go droopy. (It was an animation compression issue! Now you know!)
Restored Charlie looking at the camera in Max Mode while Max is holding him.
Removed Shakespeare quote from dialog box scene that was sometimes visible very briefly. RIP to some great writing by the Bard.
Removed old ratings from VHS covers in main menu.
Fixed visual pop that sometimes appeared briefly at the beginning of opening credits.
Fixed places where timed sequences would expire while the player was in the middle of opening Max Mode, causing Max mode to try and close itself at the same time. We have sorted it out; the game is no longer trying to destroy itself in these moments.
UI systems (Max Mode, Inventory, etc.) can no longer be activated before a scene's intro cutscene has started.
Fixed Yog-Soggoth spelled incorrectly in multiple places. Sorry about that, Yog-Soggoth. No disrespect.
Fixed reversed characters in Russian subway map texture.
Episode 301: The Penal Zone
Fixed times when the camera would stubbornly refuse to change after backing out of DeSoto close-up view, leaving players stuck on in that camera.
Fixed times where the DeSoto was sometimes missing after loading a save.
Fixed situations where the BoscoTech Labs elevator would be in the wrong position when teleporting out from ground floor, then teleporting back in again.
Fixed DeSoto animation pop when backing up in Street enter cutscene.
Fixed Skunkape's feet sticking out of ship in Street intro cutscene. They were really tiny, it was adorable. Now fixed.
Fixed hatchet floating in the air after skipping lines when talking to Flint.
Fixed Russian translation of "incontinent cop" when asking Stinky about the letter.
Fixed Street music not returning after talking to COPS when choosing "Phone call."
Stopped Sam from continuing to move around on the flag pole above BoscoTech Labs even if the game is paused.
Adjusted Max's Future Vision image of Pudding Head Lincoln to align with actual events.
Fixed missing background behind Sam when using Future Vision on him while on Skunkape's Flagship in Act 3.
Fixed old cutscene framing when teleporting back to the DeSoto if you left it in the Mysterious Alley.
Fixed Grandpa Stinky's badge visible when using future vision on him in act 3.
Fixed Grandpa Stinky not moving in Max mode while holding Max.
Fixed back button visible after teleporting from Stinky's to Stinky's cell phone in act 3.
Fixed incorrect Russian translation when using back door in Meesta Pizza.
Moved Flint Paper Nutri-Specs content from Stinky's to a new location, so you can still hear it. Find Flint somewhere else later in the episode!
Moved Superball's Nutri-Specs content from Street to Ship.
Moved Demon Broth Nutri-Specs content from Stinky's to Ship.
Added missing sound effects to use banana peel cutscene in Pawn Shop. You're welcome.
Fixed instances where a second Rift Generator could be added to inventory after plugging it in, teleporting to Lab and then teleporting elsewhere. Sorry Rift Generator dupers, this loophole is now closed. (Having multiple Rift Generators was useless, and just made life harder, to be clear.)
Fixed background actors sliding instead of walking in the background behind Bob's Toys! (Nintendo Switch only).
Episode 302: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Fixed Max being able to use ventriloquism on Sam and the Guardian while stuck on the wall in the Tomb.
Fixed Sam moving when game is paused while stuck on the wall in the Tomb.
Fixed Max missing when returning to Tomb after switching reels while stuck on the wall.
Fixed Bust going missing from the pedestal after getting hexed by Nefertiti in Tomb.
Removed dead space at the end of cutscene in the Tomb where the Toybox gets enchanted.
Fixed another item dupe situation: It was previously possible to add a second Sammun-Mak bustto inventory after splitting the first one and getting stuck on Tomb wall.
Fixed blown out lighting in Sam ventriloquism cutscenes.
Added missing sound FX to a few Can 'O Nuts cutscenes.
Fixed scream when using ventriloquism on Nefertiti in Tomb. THEM.
Adjusted Max mode camera in blue train car so you can't see into the void. Void's privacy now being respected.
Fixed Mole Dad getting stuck in T-pose in green train car after opening trunk and asking him about it.
Improved mallet sound effect when Snowcone hits Icebox on the street, after solving the toy idea puzzle.
Fixed Cavern finale music continuing to play during Narrator sequence.
Episode 303: They Stole Max's Brain!
Added autosaves to interrogation sequence.
Fixed dialog UI sometimes going off screen during interrogation scenes if you made a choice right when a character's explanation was coming to an end.
Added missing sound effects to a few enter and exit cutscenes in interrogation sequence.
Fixed buildings falling behind Sign Spinner Minion when he gives Sam the Rhinoplasty.
Fixed Sam's holster sometimes not being attached in Museum.
Fixed Minions missing their weapons when returning to Planetarium in act 2.
Fixed incorrect Norrington picture in notebook before discovering his identity.
Fixed Street lighting being too bright in Max mode.
Fixed Sam's bulging eyes in Street intro cutscene. 👀
Fixed camera intersecting the brain pack when using a door while Max is transformed outside the Radio Yurt.
Fixed Max dialog repeating when entering Egyptian Planetarium the first time.
Fixed duplicate Max sometimes being visible during Planetarium finale. Timestream altered, jackass.
Episode 304: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
Fixed clone not looking at Sam in Clone Chamber intro cutscene.
Fixed Max's gun and muzzle flash not getting hidden after shooting tentacles in the Clone Chamber.
Changed text from "Hey little buddy!" to "Max!" to match Sam's voice when talking to Max.
Fixed door intersecting trash can when using Future Vision on Sam in the Museum Office.
Fixed clones intersecting debris in the Clone Chamber.
Fixed Sam's "use microphone" line in the Clone Chamber not making sense after cloning Momma Bosco.
Fixed spelling in "Tunnel to Clone Camber" text in Lab. It's a Chamber now.
Fixed spelling of "PLAINS" in Sam line in Statue of Liberty finale.
Fixed Bosco's letter inventory item missing an alpha channel in Russian.
Episode 305: The City That Dares Not Sleep
Fixed music switching too early in BoscoTech Labs before Sybil shows up.
Fixed Maimtron lip sync not working.
Fixed opening credits montage font missing Cyrillic characters.
Fixed Grandpa Stinky's lighting being blown out on Skunkape's Flagship when using low quality graphics on PC.
Fixed Grandpa Stinky's position on the Flagship during dialog so he's facing Sam.
Fixed Sal sometimes being visible in Lab Street final cutscene when he should be long gone.
Fixed Russian translation of "All rights reserved" in closing credits.
If you've got a bug that you've encountered but don't see it here, please let us know in the comments and we'll do our best to squash it. (Or do our best to help you out if it's less of a bug, and more of a you problem.)
Somewhere, in the infinite blackness beyond the limits of human comprehension, an ancient, terrible power lies waiting. Since the dawn of time, villains throughout the galaxy have searched for a way to tap into that power, bending all of creation to their own twisted ends. But yo
Somewhere, in the infinite blackness beyond the limits of human comprehension, an ancient, terrible power lies waiting. Since the dawn of time, villains throughout the galaxy have searched for a way to tap into that power, bending all of creation to their own twisted ends. But you needn’t freak out, my friends. There’s nothing to fear... Unless, of course, this power should somehow fall into the wrong hands.
Welcome, my friends, to Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered.
After three years of hard work, we’re beyond excited to bring you the most ambitious of Telltale’s Sam & Max seasons, gloriously remastered for today’s video game playing devices. Read on for a long list of what we’ve done in the remaster—or bookmark this post for later if you want to go in blind! But first…
Launch Discount Details
The Devil’s Playhouse has a 10% launch discount on Steam through August 27. It’s a good way to save a few bucks!
But hey, if you own our other Sam & Max remasters, here’s an even better way: buy the Complete Trilogy bundle.
https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/42652
You’ll get 25% off PLUS the 10% launch discount, and the games you already own will be subtracted from the purchase price. That comes out to $13.49 (or equivalent in your local currency) for The Devil's Playhouse if you already own Save the World and Beyond Time and Space.
Free DLC: The Original 2010 Version
Want to compare and contrast between the original and the remaster? We have you covered! The 2010 episodes are included with the remaster as free DLC.
We’re still pulling together the bonus features, but when those are ready you’ll be able to access them through the launcher too. We'll update this post when the archival special features start to drop.
And now take your seats, turn off your cell phones and pagers, and prepare yourselves for an epic list of everything* that’s changed in Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered.
*Maybe not everything. We have the memory of a dried trout. If you’re curious about something you notice in the remaster that’s not mentioned on this list, please ask us about it!
The Big Stuff
We re-lit the game from the ground up. Like our first two Sam & Max remasters, The Devil's Playhouse is lit head to toe in beautiful cinematic lighting, dynamic shadows, and color grading, with an eye toward keeping its original "old stinky film" look while letting the world shine through in a way meant to evoke Steve Purcell's original comics. We touched all the lighting in the game, from the biggest environments to the tiniest cutscenes. We also added some new atmospheric effects to this season, most notably some soft volumetric sun shafts that appear in the occasional shot.
Every environment and character are higher resolution, allowing for added detail and smoother animation. This season has always featured the beautiful work of concept artist Ryan Jones, and we were able to work from his original drawings to add extra detail to the characters and environments that couldn’t be done with the original 2010 polygon counts. We pushed the environments as far as we could toward feeling like the comics come to life. We also re-exported and cleaned up all the game's original animation files to remove the compression and shaky jank that plagued them, and redid the lip sync animations with more modern tools. And there are a ton of new little Easter eggs hidden in the dark corners of the world, so keep an eye out.
We added full point-and-click support. When The Devil's Playhouse came out in 2010, Telltale was at a crossroads regrading what type of games they wanted to make and which platforms they were prioritizing. As a result, they ditched the traditional point-and-click adventure game controls in favor of a gamepad-first approach. We decided for the remaster, why not both? So we went back and worked full point-and-click mouse support into the game. You can also still play using a gamepad, arrow keys, the old click-and-drag mouse approach, or a touchscreen if you're on a Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. With point-and-click added to The Devil's Playhouse, and full gamepad support added to the first two remasters, all input types are finally supported across the entire Sam & Max trilogy and you can play the whole series however you'd like.
The audio quality is improved across the board, almost every piece of music has been remixed and mastered by the original composer, and there are a few new pieces here and there. The original release of The Devil's Playhouse sounded better than either of the previous seasons, but it still suffered from intense audio compression, resulting in scratchy voices and muddy sound effects. We went back to the source files and re-exported everything at far higher quality. We also worked with series composer Jared Emerson-Johnson, who dug out his original composition files, updated many of the sampled instruments to something more modern, and finished off the tracks with a new mix and mastering pass. We also brought back series regular Jordan Wardlow to record live saxophone for a few key story moments in the game that were previously MIDI synth only. ("But where is the soundtrack?" you're probably asking. It's on the way and we'll have news soon!)
Nutri-Specs are available on all platforms, hidden somewhere in the game for you to find. Long ago, when The Devil's Playhouse was first in development, the Telltale team had an idea for a bonus Toy of Power that could only be found by players who solved a series of puzzles outside the game. (If any of you remember Treasure Hunting in the original release of Tales of Monkey Island, it was likely going to be something like that.) This toy, the Nutri-Specs, was a pair of glasses Max could wear to learn the nutritional content of various items in the world. It gave you a good excuse to poke around The Penal Zone and hunt for things that Max might be able to make fun of.
Unfortunately for everyone, the web game was canceled before it was finished, and as a result the Nutri-Specs were never available to PC players. On PlayStation, you received the toy after talking to the COPS early in the game.
In the remastered version, Nutri-Specs are back, available for all players on all platforms, but we have hidden them inside the game itself. Keep a lookout as you play the game, to see if you can figure out how to unlock them.
Film grain looks nicer, and you can turn it off if you want. The Devil's Playhouse was always supposed to feel a little bit like an old movie you're watching at a rep screening (or maybe on an old haunted film projector in the basement below your office). The original release had a film grain effect that we loved, but not only was it turned on all the time, it used something like six layers of full screen transparency, which absolutely murdered the frame rate on low spec PCs and in the PlayStation and iPad ports. We've redone the film grain effect to be both more authentic and more performant, and most importantly it now has an on/off toggle in the game's settings screen for the haters.
The game's user interface got an overhaul. We love the weird and wacky interfaces present across The Devil's Playhouse, and wanted them to truly shine in the remaster. In the case of Max Mode, we LITERALLY wanted it to shine: the Max Mode wheel has been completely rebuilt, inspired by the original concept renderings, and is now a beautiful piece of chrome glinting in the light, emitting all sorts of radiant beams and sound effects. Sam's detective notebook was also given an overhaul, with a cleaner graphic design treatment as well as fancier animations of him opening, closing, and turning the pages. And in the dialogue selection interface, Sam has gone 2D! He's now a keyframe-animated character who follows the mouse around, drawn by Calis (an artist in the animation industry) and supervised by Steve Purcell. Keep an eye out for his costume changes!
A few lost voice lines have been restored. When working our way through the game's content, we found a few places where a line or two of dialogue were intended to play, but couldn't. This usually happened because of a bug in the game's logic that meant the right conditions for the line to be heard could never occur, or something simpler: the object in question was never on camera, so the player couldn't click on it. We've restored about a half dozen of these across the game. Other than this restoration of some lost lines, no voice recording or dialogue has been altered in the game.
Spoilers Begin Here
If you've never played The Devil's Playhouse before, we recommend you stop reading here, as the game has many story and puzzle spoilers that build on each other as it progresses. If you've played before but don't want to be spoiled by what's new so you can find it for yourself, we also recommend stopping here! If you must know all the new stuff though, read away...
Per-episode changes
Episode 1: The Penal Zone
"These are completely different streets." The Devil's Playhouse takes place around Manhattan on city streets that, for budgetary reasons, were cheaply built out of shared parts instead of being unique locations. We took many of the streets around this episode and rebuilt them entirely, starting from new concept art and modeled them from scratch. When you leave Sam & Max's neighborhood and start to visit their version of New York, we wanted each destination to feel like its own unique place, and to really feel like you're getting to see the city. The flatiron building you visit now has a traffic jam and a neighborhood bodega across the street. BoscoTech Labs is now a haunted old brownstone on a sleepy neighborhood block. The toy store is nestled up against an elevated train line. Most of the streets in the original ended in dead-end alleys out of performance concerns, and we've opened many of those up to complete city blocks, to make them feel more like part of a bigger city. We also added random New Yorkers walking around in the background of some scenes to add some more life.
Straignt & Narrow is once again straight and narrow. In the earliest days of The Devli's Playhouse development, the team thought Sam & Max's street might feature more centrally in the story, like it did in the previous games. There was a belief that it was difficult to shoot because it was so long, and a belief that it should match the rest of the (cheaply built) city street environments. As a result, the street was given a big elbow bend in the middle, and was rebuilt out of parts that had less care and attention than the original. For the remaster, we restored the street to its original un-bent, hand-built glory, using the assets from Beyond Time and Space as a starting point, and then re-added The Devil's Playhouse's special touches. Stinky's has its new paint job. Bosco's is abandoned and covered in graffiti. Sam & Max's building is boarded up following the fallout of a Maimtron 9000 attack in the last game. We took things a little further too: you can now see into the construction site next door to the office, to give the street a little continuity between games. And careful viewers will catch a glimpse of Sybil's in the opening scene before it's squished.
The Crime-Tron got an upgrade. It's now easier to place clues directly on the scanner bed from your inventory, and the state of the scanner is far more readable. Also, when you do find a match the city map screen has gotten an overhaul inspired by cheesy motion graphics of '70s/'80s movies.
Skun-ka'pe's ship is a little more alive. As part of our new lighting pass, you can see the sun sweeping across the bridge when Skun-ka'pe steers his ship around the city. The water in the bottle by Sam & Max's cage bobbles around. Stinky's chair is actually hovering. The bubbles in the Alien Brain's tank actually bounce and move around him. It's the little things, but we think they add up!
Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak
Maximus got his hat back. Let's get the biggest news out of the way: after being relegated to the original character concept art, Maximus's little hat has finally been reunited with its rightful owner. Hat enjoyers, your day has arrived.
The Tomb is now lit by cauldrons of flame, and is damp. If you've ever seen the original concept illustrations for the Tomb of Sammun-Mak, you may have noticed there are huge bowls of fire held aloft by the hippo statues in the center of the room, but in the original game that whole center area was dark. We've re-lit the flames for the remaster, and also added the icky pools of water surrounding the inaccessible areas at the bottom of the scene.
Sammeth & Maximus' street got... longer? Years ago fans noticed the Esperanto Bookstore is missing from the street in the 1900s, even though it wasn't removed until a giant battle robot attacked the street in Beyond Time and Space. We put it back! It's now a brand new Esperanto newspaper store. If we hadn't said anything, we're not sure anyone would have noticed it was added, but now you know. Also, it's snowing now!
The theater now has an establishing shot. To keep this in line with many of our other environments across the trilogy, we thought it'd be nice to add an exterior establishing shot for the theater. Does it look familiar? Maybe you've been here before... or will be here again one day, depending on your perspective.
The mole family basement got a fresh coat of paint. The original concept of the mole people apartment showed a freshly whitewashed brick room, and we loved that look so we brought it into the game proper. Also, the basement environment is now more architecturally consistent across all its appearances in various episodes and various times in history.
Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain!
Flint gives you interrogation advice from his own office. Instead of appearing in front of a low-resolution brick wall, now Sam's memory is more clear and he can picture exactly what Flint's office looked like on the day he was teaching Sam how to interrogate a suspect.
Max's brain is now sloshing around in liquid. We went back to the original concept art and learned that Max's brain was supposed to be floating in a jar of demon broth, but that got lost or cut along the way, and in the original game he was just floating mid-jar with no explanation. We added the fluid back and gave it a little satisfying slosh, as a treat.
The city streets got a Sammun-Mak glow-up. We went through and gave the world you experience in the second half of this episode an art pass, adding detail and atmospherics wherever it made sense.
Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls
The Clone Chamber is more foggy and ominous. When Ryan Jones first drew a concept of the Clone Chamber, he painted it with an eerie green haze that filled the entire back of the room, with just the lights of the clone pods shining through. This looked great, except for one problem: the Telltale engine didn't support fog at the time. Whoops! Now we have so much fog we don't know what to do with it, so we put some of it in the remastered version of the Clone Chamber, restoring Ryan's eerie glow to the place.
The golden shorts the clones wear are sparkly. Finally!
The lever on the toaster actually animates and the toast toasts. Finally! Wait, nobody ever noticed this before? Okay, fine. But it does do those things now.
Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep
The hologram in BoscoTech Labs stays on for the entire episode. The hologram has always been one of our favorite details in this episode, but it was previously only used for one shot in the opening cutscene. This is a small change, but was a nice way to set this version of the environment apart from its appearances earlier in the game.
And finally...
Cloned minions now have gold underwear, too. We're not sure how the original shipped without this, but at last with this fix, we can declare this the definitive release of Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse.
Tomorrow, the Skunkape team and a special guest or two will take over twitch.tv/GameHistoryOrg for a festive holiday stream. 🎄🎅 🎁 First we’ll reveal the winners of our holiday contest . Then we’ll play Sam & Max: Ice Station Santa and chime in with our memories of working
Tomorrow, the Skunkape team and a special guest or two will take over twitch.tv/GameHistoryOrg for a festive holiday stream. 🎄🎅 🎁
First we’ll reveal the winners of our holiday contest. Then we’ll play Sam & Max: Ice Station Santa and chime in with our memories of working on Telltale’s Sam & Max games and Skunkape’s remasters. And the whole time, we’ll be raising money for an incredible cause: the Video Game History Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.
So far, the VGHF has raised about $38K toward their $50K goal winter fundraising goal. Let's help them get over the finish line!
What’s in it for you?
Besides the chance to hear about the development of the Sam & Max games from people who made them, we have donation incentives!
Since announcing the charity stream on Twitter last night, we’ve already raised almost $2,500! Many of our initial rewards have already sold out, but we’re digging deeper and will add more rare artifacts before the stream starts.
We’ll give away three Friendly Demon Song mini-CDs and a signed Sam & Max Save the World vinyl soundtrack during the stream, and we have a few exciting stretch goals planned. What are they? You’ll have to tune in to find out!
The past two years, we’ve held a Halloween arts and crafts contest for the Sam & Max community. This is a continuation of a tradition that started at Telltale, and we love seeing what you all come up with. Here are last year’s winners. Then this year we were so busy working o
Then this year we were so busy working on The Devil’s Playhouse… we forgot about the contest!
Good news, Sam & Max fans. The contest has risen from the dead AND we have news about The Devil’s Playhouse!
The Power of Christmas Compels You
We’re calling this one the “Oops, We Missed Halloween So Let’s Do a Holiday Contest Instead” contest. Here’s how it works: the holiday season is upon us. Steve Purcell is a wonderful person who gave us all the gift of Sam & Max. We really should return the favor, don’t you think?
If you could make Steve a Christmas gift, what would it be? Get creative! The only rules are that your entry has to relate to Sam & Max in some way, and it’s gotta be legal. Nothing that would make Baby Jesus cry (on his birthday, no less).
Send a picture (or other files as appropriate) of your entry to [email protected] by December 17 at 11:59pm (PST). (Copy/paste that address into your email -- if you try clicking it, Steam will give you a "blocked link" message.)
We’ll pick our favorites and reveal them during a holiday Twitch stream the week of the 18th. Before sending in your entry, please review the fine print below.
Two grand prize winners will score a bundle of Sam & Max goodies:
A game key for the platform of your choice when Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered launches in Spring 2024
Since we always have trouble picking our favorite entries, there will most likely be a bunch of runners up, too. Those people will also win a Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered game key.
The Fine Print
If your file is too big to play nicely with email, sending us a link to a Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. works too. Also tell us how you want to be credited if we share your entry. (Your name or handle, website URL, Twitter, etc.)
You can submit multiple entries, but only win once. By submitting, you grant us permission to use your entry (with attribution) for promotion on social media, the Skunkape website, and other places where promotion happens.
To select the winners, the Sam & Max Remastered team will hold a democratic vote overseen by a panel of objective nonpartisan observers (okay, maybe not). In case of a tie, Steve Purcell gets the final say.
Wait, what was that? Did you say The Devil’s Playhouse is launching in Spring 2024?!
Yes! We’d originally expected to release Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered this year, but we’ve been keeping quiet until we could be more certain of the date. Now that 2023 is almost over, we can say for sure that the game won’t be out this year. (Sorry!)
But we’re super close, and within a few months you’ll be playing the final game in the episodic Sam & Max trilogy, in all its remastered glory.
