Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse cover
FranchiseSam & MaxSeriesSam & Max

Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse

Critic score1 critic
First release
Apr 02, 2010
Genres
Indie, Adventure, Point-and-click · Mystery, Action, Science fiction, Comedy

Wield psychic powers against fearsome foes in this epic 5 game comedy saga. In The Devil’s Playhouse series, a mysterious power calls to the strongest and strangest who might wield it - intergalactic warlords and eldritch gods, under-dwellers and scholars of the arcane. This first episode starts with a bang as gorilla invader Skunk'ape sets his sights on Max’s mysterious abilities. While mastering his future sight, teleportation, shape shifting and mind reading powers - and investigating their source - Sam & Max must fend off villainous Skunk’ape and get him banished to The Penal Zone. The saga plays out in a surreal symphony of mayhem that gets deeper and more twisted with each episode. * Episode 1: The Penal Zone * Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-Mak * Episode 3: They Stole Max's Brain! * Episode 4: Beyond the Alley of the Dolls * Episode 5: The City That Dares Not Sleep

Also known as Sam & Max Season 3, Sam & max 2010, Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse - Episode 1: The Penal Zone, Sam & Max: Season Three

Attributes

No Attributes added.

Details

Storyline, release dates, time to beat, age ratings, modes, links, keywords

Storyline
The game begins with a Twilight Zone-style narrator who tells to the audience that Sam & Max have come to learn of the "Toys of Power"- seemingly harmless toys that Max is able to use to perform various psychic abilities, such as teleportation and precognition. They first use the toys to stop the alien General Skun-ka'pe from destroying the city, who has come to Earth to seek out the Toys himself, and banish him back to the Penal Zone- an interdimensional prison that he escaped previously to the episode. During this mission, the Freelance Police encounter a cult of Mole Men who have been watching over a mysterious artifact called the Devil's Toybox that has been sitting in the basement of Sam and Max's office for quite some time. By watching some dusty film reels, they learn that their great-grandparents, Sameth and Maximus, were chosen by the cryptic Mr. Papierwaite to retrieve the Toybox from the Tomb of Sammun-Mak, an ancient Pharaoh. However, when they successfully recovered it, Papierwaite attempted to use Maximus' psychic powers and the Toybox to summon the Elder God, Yog-Soggoth, and bring about the end of the world. Sameth and Maximus managed to stop Mr. Papierwaite by tricking him into saying the summoning words himself and then tasked the Mole Men of the time with watching the Toybox in the basement under their office building (they were supposed to help, too, but were unintentionally killed by a protection spell).Read more

The game begins with a Twilight Zone-style narrator who tells to the audience that Sam & Max have come to learn of the "Toys of Power"- seemingly harmless toys that Max is able to use to perform various psychic abilities, such as teleportation and precognition. They first use the toys to stop the alien General Skun-ka'pe from destroying the city, who has come to Earth to seek out the Toys himself, and banish him back to the Penal Zone- an interdimensional prison that he escaped previously to the episode. During this mission, the Freelance Police encounter a cult of Mole Men who have been watching over a mysterious artifact called the Devil's Toybox that has been sitting in the basement of Sam and Max's office for quite some time. By watching some dusty film reels, they learn that their great-grandparents, Sameth and Maximus, were chosen by the cryptic Mr. Papierwaite to retrieve the Toybox from the Tomb of Sammun-Mak, an ancient Pharaoh. However, when they successfully recovered it, Papierwaite attempted to use Maximus' psychic powers and the Toybox to summon the Elder God, Yog-Soggoth, and bring about the end of the world. Sameth and Maximus managed to stop Mr. Papierwaite by tricking him into saying the summoning words himself and then tasked the Mole Men of the time with watching the Toybox in the basement under their office building (they were supposed to help, too, but were unintentionally killed by a protection spell).

Release dates
iOS
Apr 02, 2010
PC (Microsoft Windows)
Apr 15, 2010
PlayStation 3
Apr 15, 2010
All 5 release dates
Mac
Apr 15, 2010
PlayStation 3
Jun 30, 2010
Time to beatIGDB · recorded
Main Story
10h
Main + Extras
13h
Completionist
18h
Game modes
Single player
Perspective
Third person
Where to buy
Keywords
vampire, episodic, spaceship, psychic abilities, achievements
… All 32, dialogue trees, teleportation, cult, playstation network, single-player only, anthropomorphism, playing cards, protagonist's name in the title, mind control, breaking the fourth wall, game reference, playstation plus, unreliable narrator, steam play, arcade cabinet, presidential protagonist, playstation now, been here before, shape-shifting, tentacles, clone, one-handed gameplay, indie royale, developer commentary, astral projection, hidden room, pax prime 2010

At a Glance

Critic Score
72
Main Story (IGDB)
10h
Main + Extras (IGDB)
13h
Completionist (IGDB)
18h

How it plays

Languages

  • Englishinterface, audio, subtitles
  • Deutschinterface, subtitles
IGDB · recorded 27 Oct 2026
Also in 2 other languages

Language data: IGDB · recorded 27 Oct 2026