The Bone graphic novels from Jeff Smith were first released in the ‘90’s and were well received at the time.  Recently, they have come to the attention of the general public again thanks to Scholastic publishing them under a new line of graphic novels. Because of the Scholastic label, many may think they are children’s books, but they are not, although they are easily accessible to middle readers due to the comic book style in which they are written. Coinciding with the book publications is a line of computer games developed by Telltale Games, a new game development company headed by former LucasArts members.

Telltale Games has taken the approach of short episodic games that can be downloaded from their site. The first installment was Bone: Out From Boneville, released last year.  This year the second installment, Bone: The Great Cow Race, takes up where the first story left off.

The story begins with Fone Bone, Phoney Bone, and Smiley Bone, the three Bone cousins from Boneville, heading to a town in the mysterious forest they discovered on a map from their first adventure. Actual gameplay begins with Phoney Bone in a bar, trying his best to con the customers into betting on a rigged cow race.

This is a traditional point-and-click third-person adventure game, where players move around the screen exploring hotspots, talk to the characters, and try to use their inventory items to solve puzzles. In this initial scene, Phoney Bone wants a drink, but can’t reach the bell to ring for service.  He’ll have to try to figure out some way to reach the bell above the bar.  Fortunately (or not, depending on the viewpoint), these puzzles aren’t too difficult and there is also a handy hint system that is only a click away.

I haven’t played the first Bone game and haven’t read the books, either. I was aware of them because of the republication from Scholastic, but I really only knew the names of the characters, and not much else. So, I didn’t know any background information about the characters or the story. After playing the game for around 30 minutes, I was completely confused as to what was the goal of the game and who some of these people were, like Gran’Ma Ben, Thorn, and the Dragon that the characters kept talking about. I forged on, though, only to get even more perplexed when I solved the first scene and was transported to Gran’Ma Ben’s farm, and began somehow playing as another Bone cousin (which fact I didn’t even pick up on until I’d played a little while; I kept wondering why my voice and general expressions seemed a little different!)

The Internet is a wonderful resource, though, and once I visited Telltale’s web site, I was on top of things. Sort of, anyway.

Prior to the bar scene, the Bone cousins had experienced many adventures in a desert, where they found a map that led them to a hidden forest.  This is where they met up with Gran’Ma Ben, her young protégé, Thorn, the Rat people and some young ‘possums. The dragon was also a central figure. Aaaaaahhhh, I said. Feeling more knowledgeable now, I blithely went on with the game.

Frankly, the first chapter of the game wasn’t very interesting to play, and this wasn’t due to my ignorance of the game’s history. It would have been boring whether or not I had played the first game. The puzzles weren’t challenging or interesting, nor were the conversations humorous. However, once the action moved into town and the local fair, things became much more humorous and interesting.

It is here, at the town fair, where the sheer fun of playing a well-designed adventure game is showcased. The voice acting is good, the dialogue choices are funny and the puzzles are integrated nicely into the story line. The story also becomes much clearer and cohesive. The script is sophisticated and clever, and many of the dialogue choices will have players chuckling.  I was reminded somewhat of Monkey Island and The Day of the Tentacle. The puzzles aren’t as challenging as some may like, but they fit well with the story and are fun. However, one puzzle doesn’t work as it should, due to a small technical detail with the cursor choice. One puzzle requires players to have Smiley Bone talk to Phoney Bone in the kitchen, but the “talk” icon won’t appear automatically as it usually does if players can talk to a character; instead, an action icon appears. This leads to players not knowing that Phoney can talk at this time. But if players do get stuck at this point, the hint system will say that Smiley needs to talk to Phoney.

Players can toggle back and forth between the three Bone cousins, which is necessary from time to time, as one character’s actions will sometimes advance the storyline for another cousin. This lends variety to the game, as do a few mini-games that can be played again.

The animation is good and the characters for the most part look like their comic book selves, except for Thorn.  Her character doesn’t look anything like in the comic book, in my opinion. The backgrounds are colored nicely and have good detail, and everything has a cute cartoony appearance.

Once I got to the fair, I thoroughly enjoyed the game.  Third-person adventure games are my favorite type of computer game, ever since my first experience with a computer game, King’s Quest 6. My top favorites include all the Monkey Island, Quest for Glory and King’s Quest games. I’m glad to see a resurgence in adventure games. Bone: The Great Cow Race, while not as good as some of these I’ve mentioned, is still well worth playing.  The only drawback is the shortness of the game. However, it’s meant to be short and episodic, and the price is reasonable at $13, which is about the going rate for two people to go to a movie. I can definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys adventure games that aren’t too difficult to solve.  Parents need to note that there is beer featured at the pub, which the Bone characters drink. This is taken straight from the books, though.

For optimum enjoyment I would suggest playing the first Bone game and then this one, which is how the games are designed to be played, anyway. 

Gameplay: 7.5
Although the game has a rocky beginning, it soon becomes engaging and amusing to play. However, it is a very short game and the puzzles aren’t very difficult. A few more interactive mini-game style puzzles would have been nice, as in the style of the Nancy Drew games and would have helped the appeal of the gameplay, but who can resist these Bone cousins?

Graphics: 8
Very nice graphics!

Sound: 7
The sound is nice enough in an average way, but the voice acting is really good.

Difficulty: Easy
The puzzles aren’t all that difficult, which appears to be the intention of the designers, evidently to make the game accessible to all ages and not put too much emphasis on just the puzzles, but the story as a whole.

Concept: 7
While there isn’t anything really new or innovative, the presentation and execution is excellent.

Overall: 7.5
This is a cute game that is interesting and fun to play. I really like seeing an adventure game that isn’t rated Mature, which seems to be the norm these days. It would have received a higher rating if the gameplay had been longer, but it is still worth the purchase price. A nice choice for families and all ages.