How to play Sheep Shift

Sheep Shift is a sliding puzzle with a flock. You never move one sheep at a time: one swipe tilts the whole field, and every sheep slides in that direction until something stops it. Your job is to herd them all into the pen in as few swipes as you can.

The rules

1. Swipe up, down, left or right. Arrow keys work too.
2. Every sheep slides at once and keeps going until it hits the fence, a rock, a hedge or another sheep.
3. A sheep that slides onto the pen is penned and leaves the field.
4. Pen every sheep to clear the field.
5. A swipe in which no sheep can move does nothing and costs nothing.

What is on the field

• Holes at the cliff edge. A sheep that slides into one is lost and the field fails.
• Mud stops a sheep on the spot, even in the middle of a long slide.
• Hedge gaps have an arrow. Sheep can only pass through in that direction.
• Black sheep go into the pen last. The pen shows a padlock while any white sheep is still out.

The wolf

Some fields have a wolf. After every swipe it walks toward the nearest sheep. If it reaches one, the field fails. Ending a swipe right beside the wolf is the classic mistake, and the board glows red when it is close.

Swipes, par and the Golden Fleece

Every field has a par: the fewest swipes it can be cleared in, worked out by our solver. On the daily you get par plus two swipes before the sun goes down. Clear a field at par and its tile turns gold. Clear it over par and it turns green. Clear all five daily fields at par and you win the Golden Fleece.

There is no undo. Retry starts the field again, as often as you like, and the number of retries shows on your result. If a field beats you, you can give it up and move on: its tile turns red, and the day still counts.

Daily fields and the level ladder

Five new fields arrive every day, the same for everyone, from an easy warm-up to a hard finale. Finishing the day keeps your streak going. The level ladder has many more fields with no slack at all: the budget is exactly par.

Questions

Can every field be solved?

Yes. Every field is played through by a solver before it is published, and it can always be cleared at par.

What does a hint do?

A hint shows the best next swipe from where you are, drawn as a trail on the board. You get one free hint a day. A field cleared with a hint cannot turn gold.

Is there a timer?

No. Take as long as you like over each swipe. Only the number of swipes counts.

Is Sheep Shift free?

Yes. The web game is free, needs no account and saves your progress in your browser.

Ready to herd? Play today's fields, or read the Sheep Shift tips. Sheep Shift is made by One Thumb Games.