

Best Writing – Comedy: Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse
However the creative process works at Telltale HQ, the end result is a genuinely surreal mix of concepts that rarely fails to tickle the funny bone, at least where Sam & Max are concerned. Lovecraft meets Godzilla plus a giant corn dog? Why not! And that’s not even mentioning purple alien apes, man-sized talking cockroaches, an army of naked, mindless Samulacra (doggelgangers!), a chestful of psychically-infused children’s toys, and a 1950s-style B movie narrator that could give Rod Serling pointers on weirdness. Okay, maybe that is mentioing them, but some things are just too memorable to leave out.
But lunacy alone doesn't succeed – cramming off-the-wall scenarios and random words into a blender does not equal funny. But whether it’s Max irreverently skewering pop culture icons or Sam deadpanning film noir narrations, The Devil’s Playhouse is a triumph because Telltale has once again shown a deft touch, a knack for comic timing and the conviction to see their bizarre ideas through to a sort-of-logical conclusion. Great one liners, epic plots that span time and space (and even life and death), and everything from outright slapstick to surprisingly subtle visual gags make the third season of Sam & Max our runaway Aggie winner for top comedy writing.
Runners-Up: Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World, Hector: Badge of Carnage, Scarlett and the Spark of Life
Readers’ Choice: Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse
The Freelance Police take no prisoners, and that was never more true than the best comic writing category. Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse rumbled over the opposition like a giant mutant rabbity thing romping through New York. And no wonder, as the quips, gags, and general manic hilarity started early and never let up through the entire third episodic season.
Runners-Up: Jolly Rover, Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, Kaptain Brawe: A Brawe New World
Next up: Best Writing – Drama... the envelope, please!
Continued on the next page...Heavy Rain
Platform(s): PlayStation 3
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse
Platform(s): Mac, PC, PlayStation 3
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
Platform(s): DS
Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
Platform(s): DS
Puzzle Agent
Platform(s): PC, Wii
The Whispered World
Platform(s): PC
Professor Layton and the Unwound Future
Platform(s): DS
Also known as Professor Layton and the Lost FutureAmnesia: The Dark Descent
Platform(s): Mac, PC
I see “Black Mirror 2” got runner-up in pretty much every category, AG staff AND readers!
Heavy Rain, champion of the people! It was a great game , the Origami Killer is amazing. My favorite characters were Gaius James Rover, Sadwick and the Origami Killer of course. I haven’t played one game the staff picked besides Heavy Rain..hmmm time to get busy!
I found Norman Jayden to be the most lovable character. Mixing virtual reality and drug addiction was a really nice idea)
So glad Amnesia took a handfull of prizes. Frictional Games deserve it so much.
Yes it was a surprising choice for best adventure of 2010! But a fair one. And good for AG and good for Cing, despite them not being anymore.
Wow! The Whispered World! And I didn’t even vote!
Most surprising: Sadwick. (After all the complaints about his voice).
My personal choice from the same game would have been ‘The Rock Bros.’.
I totally love how they sound exactly like I had imagined them when I translated their parts.
Big thanks to the AG community and of course the team.
Cheers, Dan.
Now I really must play Last Window. I actually found it at my local electronics store, didn’t even know there was a newer release from Cing than Again, but picked it up for 25£ and put it in my DS shelf, where it has been since (together with Again that’s also unplayed)..
Also need to finish the Whispered World, Sam and Max season 3, Heavy Rain and force my bf into playing Amnesia while I watch, as there is no way I’m playing that one alone..
At least I should have a lot to look forward to!
Now, this is a twist at the very end! This is the first time I hear about the Cing game and the fate of the developer. Must be for a good cause that the AG staff decided to put the spotlight on them! Unfortunately, the PC world may never find out the merits of this game. So sad…
As for the readers’ choice award… Interesting! The Whispered World is a very good game indeed, but does have some major flaws too. In my eyes S&M and Lost Horizon deliver a better overall package than it. My take - hype campaigns still work wonders for getting ahead. Alas!
An interesting Awards season with no easy picks amongst the contenders. Many thanks to the AG staff for making it all happen once again. Salute!
It’s great to see Cing getting the recognition they so rightly deserve. I bought The Last Window at launch but I still haven’t played it in fear of it being the last Cing game I’ll ever experience :-( Maybe now’s the time to get over it and play this wonderful game.
A great list of deserving titles, and a nice send-off to Cing. I anticipated every release and was heartbroken to hear they were being shuttered.
And a big thank you to the staff and readers of AdventureGamers.com for doing my favorite genre proud. I love visiting this site.
So happy to see all the love for The Whispered World; it’s easily one of the best adventure games I’ve played since the LucasArts era.
I won’t judge AG choice for best game because i haven’t played Last Window, but i’m really happy to see that community loved The Whispered World. It may not the a perfect adventure, but it really tried and at most cases succeded to catch the spirit of those “golden days” being original along the way as well. Black Mirror 2 and The Lost Horizon deserved to win some of the category i think, but - every award needs to have it’s “Scorcese” ![]()
And a big thank to AG editors who put this all together, now when you look at it, 2010. wasn’t that bad at all. I also hope that in the future we’ll get to see German releases much sooner in English localizations. I also hope to see more companies doing games and more adventure game publishers.
I have to say I’m VERY surprised that Sadwick was voted “best character.” Even once you gave in and turned off his atrocious, unlistenable voice, he was still a mopey, insufferable whiner in a stupid hat…
Surprised to see Heavy Rain win this. The story starts strong but falls to bits the closer you get to the end.

