In 2004, after the adventure game Sam & Max: Freelance Police was canceled, several members of the development team left LucasArts to start Telltale Games. They went on to make three seasons of episodic games starring Steve Purcell's dog and rabbity thing crime fighters between 2006 and 2010.

As the intergalactic villains who seek the Devil’s Toybox close in and Max’s psychic abilities grow beyond his control, the Freelance Police will come up against their most frightening adversary yet: the power of Max’s mind.

Max has always been the more unhinged member of the Freelance Police—a lovable lunatic with a knack for spreading chaos wherever he goes. But recently his abilities have taken a supernatural turn.

It all started when he stumbled upon a mysterious toy that allows him to glimpse the future. Now Sam & Max have aroused the attention of a host of villains from across the galaxy who are hellbent on acquiring the magical Toys of Power to achieve their own ends.

As those who seek the Devil’s Toybox close in and Max’s psychic abilities grow beyond his control, the Freelance Police will come up against their most frightening adversary yet: the power of Max’s mind.

The final installment, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse, was one of the last traditional adventure games Telltale made before hitting it big with The Walking Dead.

Considered by many to be the best of the series, The Devil's Playhouse marked an ambitious new direction when it came out in 2010. As Telltale's PlayStation 3 debut, it was the first Sam & Max game with native gamepad support. It was also the first Sam & Max season with a tightly serialized story and cliffhangers to keep players engaged between episodes -- a format Telltale had recently perfected with Tales of Monkey Island.

Since 2020, Skunkape Games -- a small indie team made up of some of Telltale's founding members -- has been remastering the episodic Sam & Max trilogy, and the epic conclusion is almost here! 

ENTER THE SAM & MAX HOLIDAY CONTEST

If you could make a Christmas gift for Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell, what would it be? This is the theme of Skunkape's first-ever "Oops, We Missed Halloween So Let's Do a Holiday Contest Instead" contest, launching today!

To enter, send a picture or video of your handmade Sam & Max themed entry to contest@skunkapegames.com by December 17 at 11:59pm PST. Entries will be judged by Steve Purcell and the Skunkape team.

Two grand prize winners will score a bundle of Sam & Max goodies:

• Boss Fight Studio's brand new Sam & Max Wave 2 action figures (Scuba Max & Ratso and the Rubber Pants Commandos)
• Limited Run Games' Sam & Max: Beyond Time and Space Collector's Edition for PC
• A game key for the platform of your choice when Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered launches in Spring 2024

Runners up will also receive a Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered game key. The winning entries will be revealed the week of December 18 during a holiday Twitch stream with the dev team.

GIVE THE GIFT OF SAM & MAX MUSIC

Looking for a classy gift for the Sam & Max fan in your life? Look no further than Skunkape's Sam & Max Save the World vinyl soundtrack!

All of the key music from the six-episode season is included, neatly packaged in a trifold case featuring cover artwork by Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell. (Holiday shipping deadlines: December 5 international; December 14 within the US.)

Key Features:

• A bizarre paranormal adventure: Explore odd locales, meet eccentric characters, and solve brain-tickling puzzles in an interactive story with a surprise around every corner.
• Rabbity-thing mind meld: Jump into Max’s brain and use the Toys of Power to see the future, teleport, read minds, and other tricks.
• No walkthrough required: The game detects when you’re stuck and provides subtle hints.
• Beautifully remastered: Lighting, lip-sync, cinematography, music, and more have been updated and enhanced to bring Telltale’s 2010 episodic season up to modern standards.
• Last in a trilogy: See the episodic Sam & Max series through to its epic conclusion.

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse Remastered is coming to PC (Steam), Nintendo Switch, Xbox One (played on Xbox Series X|S via backward compatibility, and PS4 in Spring 2024.