Home Sheep Home, you’re no Angry Birds – at least not when it comes to value. You may be a handsome, amusing diversion for the iPhone and iPod touch, but there’s just not enough of your sheepish, physics-based puzzle solving to go around.
Home Sheep Home, based on Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep and an online Flash game of the same name, recently graduated to iOS game status. The goal, if you’re not one of the millions who have already played the game online, is to guide a trio of sheep from the left side of the screen to its right.
Those three sheep – Shaun, Timmy and Shirley – each sport a different size, shape and weight. Using them to knock down bridges, cross obstacles or leap over platforms of various heights requires some thoughtful puzzle-solving. Who’s the best sheep to push a plank across a gap? The hefty Shirley. Who’s best at burrowing through a tiny tunnel? The wee Timmy.
Choosing which sheep to use when and accurately control him or her with touchscreen controls is where the enjoyment of Home Sheep Home comes in.
Sadly, this iOS game is too short-lived to recommend. Even at the standard bite-sized asking price of 99 cents, Home Sheep Home offers little more than 30 minutes worth of gameplay over the course of its meagre 15 levels. Sure, some puzzles may briefly confound you for a few minutes or more, but many can be quickly solved in 60 seconds or less.
Home Sheep Home is handsome and sharply produced. I can recommend it for its adorable art style and inventive physics-based gameplay. But know that you’re getting the thinnest of games for your dollar, iPhone users.
Perhaps you’d simply be better served playing the free version online and finding your barnyard thrills elsewhere.
Home Sheep Home [iTunes]
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