Sheep Watch Dog

Sixty fields, four seasons, and a flock that only moves because it is afraid of you. Keep them together — the wolves are looking for whoever drifts.

You are a sheepdog. You cannot command the flock — only frighten it.

Wolves come for whichever sheep has drifted furthest from the others. So the job is not to chase them off. The job is to keep the flock together, and get them home before dark.

DRAG TO STEER. TAP TO BARK. That is the whole control scheme, and it works one-handed.

THE HARD PART ISN'T THE CONTROLS Chasing a wolf means leaving the flock. A flock left alone spreads out — and a spread-out flock is exactly what gives the next wolf something to grab. Often the right move is not to chase at all.

A FLOCK THAT ISN'T FOLLOWING A SCRIPT The sheep run on a published model of real sheepdog behaviour, built from GPS traces of a working dog and 46 merino sheep. The weaving run a real sheepdog makes behind a flock is not animated here. It just happens.

• 60 fields across four seasons, from spring pasture to deep winter • Six kinds of wolf, each one teaching a different lesson • A farm to improve — your dog, your fences, your guardian dogs • Named sheep. Losing one is meant to sting • The Long Winter: an endless mode, once you've earned it

Free to play. Banner ads on menus only, never over the field. One purchase removes ads for good.