Sheepish

Sheepish is a Windows remake of the 2024 ZX Spectrum game by Gabriele Amore.

Across the windswept fields of Woolshire lies Sheepdog Farm, a model of discipline and ovine efficiency. Its commander, Sergeant Barker, runs the place with military precision. Every sheep is accounted for. Every gate is locked. Every blade of grass is inspected for suspicious activity.

At least, that’s the theory.

Because lurking just beyond the hedgerows is Reynard, a fox whose reputation is whispered in every henhouse and muttered in every barn. He’s charming, nimble, and has the moral compass of a sat‑nav that screams ‘make a U‑turn’ at every life choice. And he’s discovered that sheep — plump, fluffy, and catastrophically gullible — sell very well at market.

Reynard has a lorry, a plan, and absolutely no respect for Sergeant Barker’s authority. Under cover of dusk (or sometimes broad daylight, because he’s bold like that), he darts into the fields, scoops up as many sheep as he can carry, and hurls them into the back of his battered lorry. The sheep, being famously dim, assume this is some sort of spa day and rarely complain.

Sergeant Barker, however, is not amused. He patrols the fields with the grumpy dedication of someone who hasn’t had a proper day off since lambing season, ready to chase, bark, and generally ruin Reynard’s day. One wrong move and the fox will find himself tackled, scolded and very likely battered to within an inch of his life.

But if Reynard can outwit the sheepdog, fill his lorry, and roar off down the lane before the whistle blows, he could make himself a very tidy profit and inch ever closer to the glamorous, fox‑about‑town lifestyle he’s convinced he deserves.

It’s a battle of wits: one fox. One sheepdog. Dozens of thoroughly bewildered sheep.

There's so much violence in the world of herding!

“A cunning caper of woolly theft and canine vengeance. I laughed, I herded, I got bonked over the head.”

Shepherd's Digest