So, here we are again. It’s round 3 for Telltale Games’ Sam and Max series, with the unlikely duo returning to our screens for another bite size slice of comic adventuring littered with in-jokes and bizarre quips. With the previous two instalments already logged and turning in impressive – if a little easy – outings for Steve Purcell’s revered characters, The Mole, The Mob and the Meatball aims to keep the ball rolling in the right direction.

Having seen off a revenge-seeking former child star and a mad-as-a-monkey hypnotised talk show host, Sam and Max are this time being tasked with infiltrating the Toy Mafia, who are unleashing a range of hypnotic teddy bears upon citizens. As you’d expect the usual blend of jaunty characters and events follow, and it’s safe to say that as far as comedy goes Episode 3 is the funniest of the lot, with some viciously amusing gags and some great nods to previous adventure games, such as when Sam asks Bosco if he has a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle.

You’ll be seeing a lot of Bosco and his store once again, as well as Sybil who has another new profession. Whilst both offer some great gags and are integral to completing the game, it is somewhat of a shame that once more Telltale have recycled two locations for the player to adventure in. Even interacting with certain objects draws an identical response from Sam and Max as previous episodes, meaning that you have to sit through quite a few of the same jokes once more.

This is made more frustrating due to the fact that the new area players visit is pretty much one large room and a couple of smaller rooms, which leaves fresh content a little on the short side. On the flipside, the area – a mafia-controlled casino – is crammed full of the usual charm and comedy you’d expect from the series, and even features a revamp of the classic ‘Whack-a-rat’ game that featured in Hit The Road over a decade ago.

Whilst the recycling of areas is one concern for the series, the ease at which this latest episode can be completed is another. There are only six puzzles for the player to undertake throughout the game, and only one of these is anywhere near taxing. What’s worse is that some puzzles require near enough no thought at all, with one in particular relying on the player using Sam and Max to link up the intro and punch line to some obvious jokes in order to complete something that in context with the rest is actually a pretty important task.

It is a shame, and once again puts a question mark on whether the episodic nature of the series is hamstringing Telltale into giving each episode simple, self-contained puzzles. One thing you could never aim at the developer is that they don’t care about the series - especially given the obvious care and attention the game’s aesthetics have been given. Hopefully with a bit of tweaking here and there, a few more new locations and characters and some more tasking puzzles thrown into the mixing bowl the series can avoid getting stuck in some what of a rut when future episodes are released.