Axel the painter has a serious case of artist’s block. Frustrated and unable to achieve his goal of “painting all four seasons in a single day”, he and his dog Pixel take a break, only to fall asleep and find themselves trapped in a strange and surreal land where they will embark on a fantastic journey through the four seasons.

Using simple point-and-click gameplay, lead the duo through beautiful hand-drawn environments that will find Axel & Pixel solving puzzles, meeting strange characters, and riding zany vehicles. While in the Dream World, help Axel to find hidden sketches and tubes of paint that he can collect and use as inspiration to create his masterpiece.

Key Features:

• Meet Colorful Characters: Help painter Axel and his dog Pixel to solve challenges and find their way home! Players will laugh along as the duo deal with the Ice Giant, his mischievious rat apprentice and many more strange inhabitants of the Dream World, all inspired by the beauty of nature.
• See Stunning Vistas: Set out through lush hand-drawn environments, where Axel & Pixel will have to overcome the many obstacles in their way. Scale mountains, cross rivers, build rafts, or fly away in an air balloon as you journey through the Dream World.
• Experience The Four Seasons: 24 levels featuring varied landscapes await you. In addition to helping Axel & Pixel through their adventures in the game’s main levels, you can take on the game’s vehicle levels in arcade mode and post your high scores on the online leaderboards.
• Complete Your Artistic Masterpiece: Axel can sketch the most beautiful scenes, and paint tubes are hidden in the environment. Searching for these bonus items will give Axel the tools and inspiration to complete his finest work of art.

Axel & Pixel (800 points) will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday

Sam & Max have been kicking around pop culture for over twenty years, with independent comic books penned by Steve Purcell, a graphic adventure game (Sam & Max Hit the Road), an animated television series, and an Eisner-winning web comic. Sam & Max Season One is highly acclaimed as an innovative episodic game series that went on to win numerous awards in the U.S. and internationally, including several Adventure Game of the Year honours.

The Sam & Max series' refreshing humour is completely unique in today's gaming climate. With great stories, witty scripts akin to prime-time cartoons such as The Simpsons or Family Guy, and gameplay that makes you feel as if you're playing an episode of your favourite television show, it's no wonder Sam & Max has become known across gaming enthusiast and mainstream audiences alike as the world's first interactive sitcom. The well-liked characters have returned in Sam & Max Season Two, with five episodes widely recognized to be even better than the first.

Sam and Max are on the job again in the critically acclaimed Sam & Max Season Two brimming with crime-fighting adventure and chaos. Structured like a TV season, each of the five episodes has its own self-contained plot while together they form part of a season-long mystery. Like the best TV series, Sam & Max Season Two draws the player in with great characters and multiple intertwined plot lines, building to a high stakes climax in the season finale.

The crazed journey begins with a giant robot attack and never lets up, taking the crime-fighters on a series of wild missions boasting twisted storylines and engaging gameplay with their own unique brand of justice that takes them from frozen arctic regions to the fiery opposite end of the spectrum.

Key Features :

• Story-driven gameplay: Each of Season Two’s five episodes has a self-contained plot but is also part of a larger, season-wide mystery. Subplots weave in and out of the main storyline, similar to a TV sitcom
• Interface: Sam & Max Season Two has a simple “point and click” interface that is easy to navigate on both PC and Wii. The player moves Sam around the screen and interacts with the game world using the mouse or Wii remote
• Pick up and play: Sam & Max Season Two has been designed to appeal to both hardcore and casual gaming audiences. Even the most inexperienced gamer will be up to speed in minutes, thanks to an optional tutorial during which Sam and Max lead the player through a simple puzzle while explaining the interface and basic gameplay
• Innovative hint system: Sam & Max Season Two detects when a player is stuck based on how much time has passed since the last puzzle was solved. Max or another character then gives a hint. In this way, hints are fully integrated into the playing experience. Hint frequency is set by the player, and hints can be turned off completely by those who prefer not to use them.

Sam & Max Season 2 (1600 points) will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade this Wednesday