Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse/Episode 305: The City That Dares Not Sleep

Sam & Max Episode 305: The City That Dares Not Sleep is the fifth game in the third season of the episodic series by Telltale Games. It is the final Sam & Max game of the series.

Max has been transformed into a gigantic, monstrous creature from the Dark Dimension. As he rampages the city, he releases psychic spores that appear as floating, flaming Max-heads, and which lull the populace to sleep to feed off their nightmares.

Sam, Momma Bosco, Papierwaite, Dr Norrington, acting-president Superball, Mr Featherly and the C.O.P.S. are locked in BoscTech labs seeking a solution. With no other hope in sight and Superball ready to launch a nuclear strike against Max, Sam leads a team inside Max's body in an effort to cure him before it's too late.

This final chapter of The Devil's Playhouse reveals the identity of the monochrome narrator who has led the player through the season.

BoscoTech
You start in BoscoTech, base of operations for countering Max's rampage. Acting-president Superball is ready to launch a nuclear strike against Max. Momma Bosco suggests entering Max's body through his mouth, accessing his brain and fixing whatever is wrong with him. Sam must put together a crack team to get the job done.

A heavily pregnant Sybil returns and joins the team to take on all the other roles. The next step is to get eaten.

Get Eaten by Max
Outside BoscoTech, Sybil has already modified the DeSoto for travelling through Max's body. All that's left is to make it appetising enough to get eaten. Flint Paper and Grandpa Stinky are hanging out on the street corner, and Sal is lurking in a nearby alley. Up on the roof, Satan and Jurgen are making a documentary film.

The recipe requires pork (or a substitute), water, cornmeal, oil and an egg. The water is already ticked off the list because there's a huge pool of water in one of Max's footprints nearby.

Escape the Stomach
You find yourself in Max's stomach but he's in a food coma that could last for weeks so no blood is flowing to the brain or other organs.

You reach the brain and discover a giant tumour. Sybil can't operate to remove it because it's electrified. Cutting the medulla oblongata should help, but Max's psychic powers separate the team and prevent you from reaching the central brain. The solution is to zap Max with a high voltage to temporarily block his psychic abilities, but that requires taking control of Max's body and forcing him into Battery Park.

Take Control of the Legs
Sybil can control Max's legs by running on a treadmill. But Max's psychic powers are broadcasting Sam's inner thoughts about Sybil's pregnancy. Sybil is understandably insulted and refuses to help while Sam has such negative views on parenting.

You can now control Max by clicking the Max icon at the top right of the screen. You are free to move him around the city but cannot do much without control of the arms. Explore the city to find Battery Park, your final destination, at the bottom right. The lights of BoscoTech Labs are also an obvious landmark where Sal is now hanging around on the roof.

Take Control of the Arms
Papierwaite can control Max's arms by playing Twister, but needs to know what commands to follow. Sam can read the commands from the arcade machine. Each command consiss of a direction (Left or Right) a limb (Hand or Foot) and an object (Bacon, Pistol, Bullet etc). Should be simple, but Max's psychic powers change anything Sam says so Papierwaite hears the wrong commands.

After giving three correct commands, Max has the final laugh and the resulting arm spasm (somehow) results in a Maimtron robot embedding itself in the arm control room with its radioactive core exposed. Sam faints from the radiation so needs to send in someone who is resistant to it.

Sal helps take control of the arms, giving you full control of Max (assuming you've already completed the Legs section). You can finally walk Max to Battery Park and grab the batteries to disable Max's psychic powers and gain access to the central brain.

Sam discovers the monochrome narrator is none other than Max's super-ego. Frustrated by Max's mindless violence and crude jokes, the super-ego has decided to kill Max with a psychic explosion that will take out half the USA with it.

Turn off the medulla oblongata (the switch at the far left of the room), then leave the central brain. Sybil tries to operate on the tumour, but it has been infected with Dark Matter. Only the Cthonic Destroyer - Max's psychic toy robot - can remove it. Dr Norrington senses that Skun-ka'pe has it.

Find Skun-ka'pe
The only psychic power left available to Max is the Astral Projector that will allow you to project yourself into the body of any Samulacra/Dogglegangers near to places Max remembers. Unfortunately, most of the his memories are missing and the book of slides that you can use with the Astral Projector is almost empty. Restoring Max's memories of places in the city will add new slides to the book.

Sam finds himself locked in a cell, with two other Samulacra nearby. You can't achieve anthing until you escape.

You are free, but Skun-ka'pe is nowhere to be found. Sammun-Mak's brain is in a jar upstairs, controlling the ship. Perhaps he knows where Skun-ka'pe is.

Grandpa Stinky emerges from the processing room. Perhaps he knows where Skun-ka'pe is.

You know where Skun-ka'pe is, and now just need to get there.

The Clone Processing Facility
The clone facility is in chaos. Flint Paper is fighting off ape minions and your Samulacra has a bomb strapped to his chest. A laser grid prevents you from getting any closer to Skun-ka'pe.

You're in the middle of the action and need to get the Chthonic Destroyer from Skun-ka-pe.

Cure Max
The Samulacra with the Chthonic Destroyer gets eaten by Max. After giving the destroyer to Sybil, her waters break, her focus becomes her baby and she won't help save Max anymore. Max demands that you save Sybil and the Max Super-Ego (the narrator) realises that Max does have a sensitive, selfless side. The narrator says he will remove the tumour while you save Sybil. The only way out is through the tear duct (newly cleared of tentacles) but to use them, Max must be crying.

Enjoy the ending, with the brief interactive portion of giving the Max-snot from your inventory to Momma Bosco.