Last we heard from Skunkape Games, their remaster of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse was slated for a Spring release. We’re out of Spring now, but I guess we can let it slide. Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse now has a release date of August 14, 2024 on PC and console.
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse was the third season of Telltale’s Sam & Max revival. It was also the last. It’s also the last one that Skunkape Games needs to remaster! Unless they’re going to touch up Sam & Max: Hit the Road. It was also potentially the best one. When it first released in 2010, I wound up only playing through half of it. I really enjoyed what I played. I thought it was terrific. Then I just stopped for some reason.
But that’s not going to happen this time. I’ve read all the Sam & Max comics and watched the show. I am determined to play through The Devil’s Playhouse this time to consummate my love for the series.
If you’re not familiar, the Sam & Max games are point-and-click adventure games. The duo was created by Steve Purcell and adapted into 1993’s Sam & Max: Hit the Road by Lucasarts. It’s one of the developer’s classic SCUMM adventure games and one of the best. The Telltale games are essentially a revival of that and were their first successful episodic series. They tried the episodic approach with their adaptations of Bone, but that only made it to two episodes.
Sam & Max feature the “freelance police,” whose role in society is uncertain. They solve weird crime. Sam is a giant bipedal dog, while Max is a hyperkinetic rabbity thing. If I were to describe their adventures, I’d probably use the word “hijinks.”
The Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse remaster releases on August 14 for PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.