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Best Setting: Puzzle Agent
Who would have expected a game set in Minnesota to be so memorable? Scoggins, the sleepy setting of Telltale’s Puzzle Agent, combines cartoonist Graham Annable’s simple art style with the equally simple sensibilities of a remote northern American town blanketed in snow… and secrets. Soon after FBI special agent Nelson Tethers arrives by snowmobile, it becomes clear that something is “off” in Scoggins. Local establishments such as Valda’s Hotel and the Moose Ear Diner appear to be warm and hospitable, but when Agent Tethers tries to get down to business, the tight-lipped citizens give him the cold shoulder. No one wants to talk about the accident at the imposing eraser factory on the outskirts of town. That’s partly because the townsfolk are too obsessed with solving puzzles to give him their full attention. In another game this preoccupation may seem tacked on, but in a town as remote and eccentric as Scoggins, we’re willing to believe it.
Though its cozy locales and Nordic-accented inhabitants sprinkle the town with character, Scoggins’ stark outdoor locations are the ones we remember most. Vast landscapes with no footprints in the snow – yet someone has been here. An icy forest that yields a grisly surprise. Bright eyeballs shining from the shadows. (You see them, don’t you?) Those shivers running down your spine aren’t due to the weather. No, there’s a mystery adrift in Scoggins, and it infuses this seemingly idyllic winter wonderland with an ice-cold edge. Who knew little guys in red pointed hats could be quite so terrifying? Puzzle Agent combines cute and creepy in a wintry rural landscape unlike any other, and for that reason it made the Aggie cut for this year’s Best Setting.
Runners-Up: The Whispered World, Alchemia
Readers’ Choice: The Whispered World
The world of Silentia is about to be destroyed unless young Sadwick can stop it, though he himself is fated to cause its ruin. And what a loss our readers have decided that would be, clearly impressed by The Whispered World’s rich fantasy setting filled with rural caravans, lush forests, cliffside towns, and towers in the clouds. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that it’s all beautifully designed in stunning hand-drawn 2D artwork.
Runners-Up: Lost Horizon, Amnesia: The Dark Descent
Next up: Best Graphic Design... 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 Future
Amnesia: 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.
