Developed and published by Daisy Games, Dark Sheep is the second puzzle game that I have played by the studio. Dark Sheep takes along the lines of horror with its block (or sheep) pushing mechanics inspired by the iconic Sokoban as you must capture and prepare sheep for a bloody ritual. This is our review of Dark Sheep in which we feed some sheep to make them fat for The Lord’s sacrifice.
In Dark Sheep, you play as a new cult member who must feed and gather enough sheep for your dark lord to complete a bloody ritual. Your goal in each level is to make sure that your sheep eat all of the grass and then you take them to a cage. The level is designed in a way that each sheep only has one confirmed path that they must take which includes both eating and reaching the cave. Once a sheep has eaten a grass, no other sheep can go over that path. It turns black and you have to move the other sheep on the green paths to make sure that they are fed and healthy.
This poses a challenge because you must follow the exact paths that the puzzle has otherwise you will get stuck, and you will have to rewind your moves. Starting levels give you a good idea of how you can approach and then the later levels really test your thinking skills as you try to kidnap all of the sheep. Once you have completed a level, you can move to the next level and see information including the Par score and how many moves you took to complete that particular level. The game plays out in a linear fashion where you unlock new levels after completing the previous one.
The gameplay of Dark Sheep is heavily-inspired by Sokoban which means that it requires perfection and precision. If you want to nail those move targets, you cannot make any mistakes and every move you make should be perfect. However, for the casual gamer, Daisy Games has added an unlimited ‘Undo’ feature to the game that ensures that you can recap and retry as much as you want to nail those targets. Still, if you are stuck on a level, you can simply skip it and move to the next level without any sort of penalty. The developer has really made the title accessible for players of all skill levels. Each level is hand-made and looks really cool.
The base game offers 40 levels for you to complete. The starting levels are fairly simple however as you progress in the game, the levels start to become progressively difficult. It is still a straightforward puzzle game but for solving some of the later levels, you will really need to put your brain to work. I love how Daisy Games has taken the Sokoban concept and turned the puzzle game into a dark and gritty spookfest with dark environments and a cult narrative. The ending of the game is the main twist where all of the captured sheep play a vital role, and your final decision plays a vital role in the ending of the game.
Dark Sheep is a fun puzzle with creepy visuals and an eerie environment. If you are a puzzle game fan and want something simple yet complex enough to kill time and give your brain a good tease, I will suggest that you give Dark Sheep a shot. It has plenty of levels and you can replay them all to meet those Par scores which is really a challenge for the final set of levels. With 20 levels added to the title post-launch with the Aftermath update, and the upcoming Master Chapter paid DLC with 30 additional levels, Dark Sheep is sure to become a solid addition to any puzzle game lover’s library.
Final Verdict:
Dark Sheep is an intricate yet simple puzzle game that keeps your mind engaged from the simpler puzzles to the complex ones. It has a basic concept however it plays around it really well at the end with a twist that no one sees coming. With the recent release of the free campaign DLC, Daisy Games is making sure that everyone who purchases the game gets even more out of the title. If you love puzzle games and more specifically Sokoban-inspired puzzle games, you will love solving the dark and gritty puzzles in Dark Sheep. A must-have for all puzzle lovers.
Final Score: 8.5/10
