GLOBAL – Aardman Digital has once again partnered with Nokia to produce Barnstormer, its first Shaun the Sheep mobile game for the Windows Phone platform.

A running and jumping game, Barnstormer sees Shaun tackling a variety of farmyard races, avoiding obstacles such as hay bales and mud pits, and collecting balloons to help him on his way.

Moving beyond the single-button action that’s become the norm for this genre, Barnstormer requires two hands to play and also involves kinetic input, such as when you have to shake the phone to shake off the mud that’s slowing Shaun down.

It’s also differentiated in the quality of the graphics, which are true to those you’ll be familiar with from Shaun’s bigger-screen outings and share the typical Aardman sense of humour.

We’ve had a go and it’s a fun ride. But don’t take our word for it. Here’s Jay from MyNokiaBlog putting the game through its paces and proving it can offer quite a challenge if you’re not totally focused on the task.

Shaun the Sheep is enormously popular with pre-school children so, if you have some in your life, this is a great bet for keeping them entertained on a car journey.

It’s a relatively short game, but different medals for completing the levels in the shortest time add to its longevity and also add an extra competitive element if the game is being shared between two children.

Aardman’s Lorna Probert says it was a no-brainer to work with Nokia to produce the game: “This alliance with Nokia to produce Shaun the Sheep’s first mobile game on the Windows marketplace is an obvious next step for the brand given its successful track record in the digital world. Barnstormer will be a great way for fans to interact with the brand on-the-go and we’re confident it will be a hit with consumers of all ages.”

It’s available from the Windows Phone Marketplace for the princely sum of 0.79p.