Bone: The Great Cow Race

A Game That competently evokes the cosiness of watching Time Team of a Sunday evening, eating heavily-buttered toast and safe in the knowledge that you've done all your homework - The Great Cow Race isn't a masterpiece, but it is a thoroughly amiable outing for he of the nubbin-nose. Opening with the beautifully self-referential line: "Well the last one was fun, but short... in reference as much to last year's cow race as Out Of Boneville itself - what follows is a far more streamlined and engaging sopliomore effort from the gang at Telltale.

The lead characters lubricate the game with an ounce of judiciously spread charm, allowing the game to amble along without drawing too much attention to its occasional failings. While our hero, the intensely lovable Fone Bone, is busy trying to point-and-click his way into the heart of orphan-girl Thorn by proving his manliness, grumpy brother Phoney Bone is trying to convince punters to bet on his own 'Mystery Cow' - the suit for which is being created by eccentric songstrel brother Smiley Bone using a hat that looks like an udder.

A few of the mini-games still grate, conversations occasionally demand mindless clicking until you discover a verbal sweetspot and the supporting cast aren't half as interesting as those of LucasArts of yore. Overall though, this is a cheaper, slightly longer and certainly more rewarding slice of saccharine silliness than before. Still not perfect, but very, very cute.