effectiveness of the story. Save the World is considered by journalists in the video game industry to be the first successful application of episodic gaming, as Telltale Games had managed to release a steady stream content with only small time gaps. Previous attempts by Valve with the Half-Life series, Ritual Entertainment with SiN Episodes and Telltale Games themselves with Bone were for a variety of reasons not considered successful implementations of the distribution model. Beyond Time and Space was considered similar to Save the World and reviewers equally praised and faulted the game on this, although overall Beyond Time and Space received a good reception from critics. The success of the franchise has spawned a selection of merchandise, including posters and prints, items of clothing and sketchbooks of Purcell's work during various stages of the series' development. Collectable statues of the characters have also been created. However, despite references in Purcell's sketchbooks and demand from both fans and journalists alike, plush toys of Sam have not been produced, but a plush toy of Max has been created and sold, albeit limited edition, as a collaboration between internet shop Hashtag Collectibles and Steve Purcell. Boss Fight Studios produced a new line of action figures based on the Freelance Police for 2019, and the prototypes were first revealed at New York Toy Fair. References External links Sam & Max Funhouse Steve Purcell's Sam & Max blog Sam & Max.co.uk Sam & Max at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on February 10, 2017. 2005 webcomic debuts 1987 comics debuts Crime comics Eisner Award winners Fictional duos Fictional private investigators Humor comics Mass media franchises Video game franchises Comic strip duos Comics about police officers Comics characters introduced in 1987 Comics adapted into animated series Comics adapted into television series Comics adapted into video games Comics set in New York City Fictional dogs Fictional lagomorphs Male characters in comics Male characters in animation Male characters in television Male characters in video games