[Dea ex Machina]

I pre-ordered my subscription to Tales of Monkey Island like a sensible nerd, and now I am on the horns of a dilemma. I get a coupon for one free Telltale game with my preorder, and I don't know how I should use it.

I've already got all of the Sam & Max games, thank goodness, so that means I just have to choose between the Bone, Strongbad, and Wallace and Gromit games. That's still a lot to choose from, though. So, I could use some advice.

I'd like something reasonably stand-alone. It's not much of a bargain if I have to buy all the rest of them, after all. (Now, if I WANT to buy the rest of the series eventually just because the game I played is so darn good, that's different. I'd just rather not be dying of suspense.)

Bone? I love the comics desperately. Which solves the suspense issue nicely; I already KNOW what happens next. And what happened before; if I pick the second game as my freebie, I won't be lost. But would it be TOO predictable, since I know the comics so well? How are they as games? Which of the two is the better value?

Strongbad? I'm not really a follower of Homestar Runner. I've seen the Trogdor episode, of course, who hasn't, and I enjoyed it. But that's about it, really. Are these games worthwhile for someone who isn't a hardcore fan?

Wallace and Gromit? Liked the shorts. Which is like someone saying "I am a carbon based life-form," really. Who doesn't like W&G? They are very likeable. I'm not obsessed, though. And I worry that the games in this series might be too intertwined for me to just pick one episode and play it on it's own.

So what's your advice? And to my fellow sensible nerds who pre-ordered Tales of Monkey Island, what did YOU choose as your free download? How did you pick it? And are you happy with your choice?

[Genjin]

Doesn't Telltale offer Demos for such decisions? I remember playing a demo from the first Bone Episode a long time ago. Other than that I cannot help you, I only played Sam & Max as Full-Versions from Telltale, Sorry

[booB]

For myself, personally I would pick Wallace and Grommit. Strongbad (and anything Homestar-Runner related) annoys the living crap out of me... but then, I've never played his game. I HAVE played a demo of W&G... it has sort of a Dreamfall-like method of revealing hotspots (big brackets around them), but with a classic point-and-click interface (like the rest of the Telltale games).

[tastebud]

i preordered monkey island and so did my friend. after some research, i chose Strongbad 8-Bit is Enough, and he chose the new wallace and gromit:muzzled.

[fov]

And I worry that the games in this series might be too intertwined for me to just pick one episode and play it on it's own.

The Wallace & Gromit games are actually fairly self-contained. I'd suggest checking out a demo for whichever of the Strong Bad games most appeals to you, and if it doesn't seem like your cuppa tea, opt for Muzzled instead. It's the newest Wallace & Gromit episode and very charming. (There is a Wallace & Gromit demo that you can try, but it's a season-wide demo, so it doesn't contain gameplay from this episode specifically.)

[sTyLnK]

Wallace and Gromit rocks. Personal opinion obviously, but in terms of which episodes are the best so far I would go with episode 3, episode 1, episode 2. All of them were still fun to play. Can't wait for the next one!

[YarTTomlliw]

Agreed, I really liked Wallace Episode 1, and am anxiously awaiting the 2nd on XBLA. You can't go far wrong with them, imo.

That, and obviously all the Sam and Max episodes.

[Keregioz]

Originally Posted by booB

For myself, personally I would pick Wallace and Grommit. Strongbad (and anything Homestar-Runner related) annoys the living crap out of me... but then, I've never played his game. I HAVE played a demo of W&G... it has sort of a Dreamfall-like method of revealing hotspots (big brackets around them), but with a classic point-and-click interface (like the rest of the Telltale games).

I'm playing wallace and gromit and the controls are not "classic point and click".
You have move the character with the keyboard. That's not the case with the rest Telltale games which ARE classic point and click.

[MrMike]

Before the TellTale sale ended, I picked up W&G episodes 1-3 for 5 bucks each. My plan is to use the pre-order freebie episode for W&G episode 4. When the time comes for me to pay for shipping the Monkey Island Disc, I will add the W&G disc to my cart as well, since I will have thus purchased the whole season of W&G. It's not too bad for getting a whole season of W&G for only 15 dollars.

[Lupin The Third]

I have a question. The special DVD that we get at the end of the season...does it include all the episodes? Or merely bonus content?

[fov]

The game episodes plus bonus content that can be viewed in a DVD player.

[youfightlikeadairyfarmer]

Strong Bad is actually funny. Puts sam and max to shame humor-wise. If you like hr.com definitely get that.

[bandidoquest]

I'm a big fan of Telltale, so it's hard to tell you which one to choose. I believe that Wallace and Gromit is a really great choice (especially the last episode, "Muzzled", the best released so far). On the other hand, Strong Bad would be good as well, even if you're not a fan of the shorts (I had never heard about Homestar Runner before the game and I still enjoyed it).