Skunkape Games have announced Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered, an updated version of the third installment of Telltale Games series of Sam and Max games. It has been twelve years since the original release.
Sam and Max started life as characters created by Steve Purcell in his youth, and later debuted to the public in a 1987 comic book series. The pair of anthropomorphic vigilante private investigators would go on to star in the 1993 release of LucasArts' Sam and Max Hit the Road, a classic LucasArts point and click adventure, and could be considered one of the best Sam and Max games. The fame from Hit the Road earned them the animated series, The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police between 1997 and 1998. Nearly ten years later, Telltale Games released Sam and Max Save the World in an episodic format. Early in the history of Telltale Games, Save the World received positive reviews.
Telltale Games would go on to create two more seasons of Sam and Max games, with The Devil’s Playhouse being released episodically throughout 2010. Skunkape Games is made up of former developers from the series, with their name being a reference to a Devil’s Playhouse character, “General Skun-ka'pe.” Skunkape games have since remastered the first two seasons of Sam and Max and have now announced that the third season is due in 2023.
While the trailer doesn’t show much, it does a lot to re-establish some key locations and show them in a much clearer rendering with current gen lighting. The trailer also does not announce which platforms the title will be available for, but considering the previous two Sam and Max remasters were made available on PC, PlayStation, Switch, and Xbox. It could be assumed that The Devil’s Playhouse may be accessible on the same platforms. Hopefully, Skunkape Games will be able to confirm where the game can be played soon.
With ten years between the original release of The Devil’s Playhouse and Sam and Max: Save the World Remastered, it’s good to see “everyone's favorite dog and rabbity-thing” getting this attention again. The success of Return To Monkey Island and Pentiment helped make 2022 a great year for adventure game fans, and The Devil’s Playhouse Remastered will fit in nicely with the current landscape of gaming. Perhaps the title will be successful enough to warrant a brand-new outing from Sam and Max in the future, though for now, fans will likely be happy to see a classic season getting a remaster.
Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered is currently in development.