Sheep

End the Wool Sweater Industry When You Play Sheep

 By Brad Cook
In Douglas Adams’ So Long and Thanks For all the Fish, protagonist Arthur Dent discovers that the dolphins were actually incredibly intelligent aliens who disappeared from the Earth one day to return to their home world. In Feral Interactive’s humorous game Sheep, we learn that another group of animals, sheep, are extra-terrestrial in origin too.

They were sent here by their alien masters to study life on this planet. They forgot their mission, however, and soon took to basking in the sunshine and contentedly chewing grass, without a care in the world.

Until their masters called them back home, that is. Your job is to herd the sheep through seven worlds — each with four levels — to Mount Mouflon, where a spaceship waits to take them home. The sheep, though, think they’re going to “Blue Hawaii.” This is not a game that takes itself too seriously.

Fraught With Danger
There are four herders — Bo Peep, Adam Half Pint, Motley, and Shep — to choose from in Sheep. Each has specific strengths and weaknesses that you should keep in mind depending on the environment of each level. Shep, for example, is smart, while Bo Peep has a knack for coaxing the most stubborn sheep out of harm’s way.

Despite what you might have read or seen about shepherding in the past, be warned that it’s not an idyllic occupation in Sheep. Every level is fraught with danger, from a sheep-eating shark that cruises through cornfields to electric fences which will turn your sheep into little piles of ash. You must herd a minimum number of sheep to the end of the level within a certain amount of time to advance to the next one, and you get a bonus if all the sheep make it there safely.

Each level also contains various special items, such as a radio that will make all the sheep follow your herder for a brief period of time, as well as one Golden Sheep. Collect all four Golden Sheep available in each world and you’ll unlock a bonus level, which could be a racing game or some other arcade-like activity. (To learn the fastest route to every bonus level, see the sidebar “Tips and Tricks for Superstar Shepherds,” at the bottom of the page.)

There’s more to discover in this game, of course, but you’ll have to uncover it for yourself.
  sheep
Round and Round. Herd your sheep through a variety of challenging environments, such as this disco.
Available from Feral Interactive

Sheep Media

Download Mac OS X patch

System Requirements:
Mac OS X version 10.1.3 or higher
233MHz PowerPC G3 processor or higher
64MB of RAM
100MB of free hard disk space

If you liked this game, check out:
Black & White: Creature Isle
The Sims: Unleashed

Tips and Tricks for Superstar Shepherds

racingThe first thing you need to do after you install Sheep is download the Mac OS X patch, which will allow you to play the game in Mac OS X as well as give you superstar shepherd powers. These new abilities include:
  • From the World Select screen, enter a number to jump to a specific world:
    1: Polygon Farms
    2: Village Fete
    3: Lost in Space
    4: Mr. Whoppy’s
    5: Clubnation
    6: Jurassic Playground
  • From the Level Select screen, press the B key to access the bonus level.
  • At any time during any level, press Shift-D to automatically complete the level and get a perfect score.
Next, review these tips and tricks (you can play Sheep with your mouse or a gamepad, but we’re including the keyboard controls here):
  • Don’t forget that you can do more than simply move toward the herd to get the sheep going. You can run (hold down Shift) to make them move faster or creep (Control) up on them, which won’t startle them as easily; the Control key also allows you to pick up and drop sheep, as well as activate things such as gates. In addition, you can shout (Spacebar) at the sheep to scare them, which comes in handy when they get stubborn (this happens often).
  • Press the Tab key to view each level’s map and plan the most efficient routes to the end.
  • If you start to lose sheep from the herd as you move through a level, don’t panic. As long as they’re wandering around a safe area, leave them alone and continue with the main group until you get them to the end. Then run back to the others and shoo them to the finish line.
  • Many hazards, such as electric fences, will affect your herder too if you run into them, so be careful. Your game won’t end if something bad happens to your herder, but he/she will become disabled and waste several precious seconds.
  • Walk up to the notice boards scattered throughout the levels to read helpful clues for getting the sheep past obstacles.
  • Every level has something, such as fences, that you can guide the sheep past (or over) for bonus points, but don’t worry about trying to collect every bonus or you’ll go crazy. Your main goal is keeping the sheep safe until you get them to the end of the level.