You stand at the gate. The dog works the flock. You don't move, you don't pathfind — you pick one of five commands and trust the dog to read the field. Real shepherds command their dogs over distance with a handful of short whistles: tiny bandwidth, precise meaning. The whistle is the signal.
Controls — four keys, five whistles
Key
Whistle
Dog
← / A
Come Bye
Orbit CW around flock
→ / D
Away
Orbit CCW around flock
↑ / W
Walk Up
Advance on the flock (pressure)
↓ / S
Stand
Stop, release pressure
↓ / S (while stopped)
That'll Do
Come home to shepherd
Whistles latch until replaced. HUD pills click too (touch fallback).
One year, four short levels — 🌸 spring, ☀ summer, 🍂 autumn, ❄ winter.
Scottish Borders.
No score, no timer, no Game Over — it ends quietly.
--- 48h Compo entry. Vanilla JS + Canvas. Hand-recorded whistles, barks and bleats plus a couple of Web Audio stingers. No frameworks, no external assets.
This is so cute! I also like that there is no failing, it makes it a very relaxing game! It's fun to play, and i liked that the dog automaticly locks on to the next group of sheep. I kept turning the dog in the wrong direction though haha. This is the best use of the theme i've seen so far!
That was surprisingly fun and relaxing at the same time. When I first saw the controls I thought I was never going to understand this, but it just clicked and worked almost right from the start. Well done make something really innovative for the compo!
Aww, I think this is my favorite submission of the jam so far! Such a good boy. Did you record your dog for this?? I really like the mechanic, it works very well, and it's a really great alignment with the theme. So good!
Very original idea, and well executed. The whistles got a bit repetitive so a few variant recordings of them would've been nice, like with the barks and baahs. Radial controls and flocking are both interesting things to play with, intuitive but lots of potential for interesting emergent gameplay.
Really great interpretation of the theme! The gameplay works well, and its honestly amazing that you made all of this from scratch, highest respect!
One thing you could try adding would be a high score for level times, which would greatly increase replay value. A sprint mode could also be fun, where repeating the same whistle command a second time makes the character move faster, allowing experienced players to go for speedruns.
Fantastic game! It was a real breath of fresh air. Everything from the gameplay mechanics and how well it fits the jam theme, right down to the sound effects and art style, is incredibly fun and interesting. I had an absolute blast and also learned a lot from playing it. Thank you for creating this game!
Very well executed, I had a lot of fun with this one. Chill signaling mechanics and a very obedient good boy. corralling the sheep worked well, and the dog controls were just enough. Fantastic game jam entry, well done!
What a clever concept! It took me a moment to get a handle on the controls, but once I had some practice I was surprised at how much control I had with such simple commands. I do wish there was some music in the game, but I know that can be hard to add with the restraints for a compo submission. Great job!
While I don't feel the tie to the theme was that strong, the game makes up for it with an innovating game idea. The graphics are simple, but nice, and fits really well with the cozy vibe. I kinda expected the Winter map to involve a surprise wolf attack or something like that, but because of the dark, but also because it seemed like it was "too easy" for a final level.
Cute, and fun mechanics! I love that there were some small sheep in spring, and all the fun sounds. The winter level could maybe have been a little bit more challenging.
Great game ! It's a really cool interpretation of the theme, and it's fun to play. The level design might be a but frustrating at times, but the graphics and the audio set a great mood.
Comments26
This is the best use of the theme i've seen so far!
I like the art and the signals mechanic.
Great whistling :D
Left you a rating ... really high on the audio
Yes, that's my real dog. We rang the doorbell to get him to bark ;-)
But i don't have a sheep, so those recordings are from all family members. Played at different pitches :-)
The game concept is great and haven't played this kind of game before.
Good job!
One thing you could try adding would be a high score for level times, which would greatly increase replay value. A sprint mode could also be fun, where repeating the same whistle command a second time makes the character move faster, allowing experienced players to go for speedruns.
But overall, a truly fantastic game!
The winter level could maybe have been a little bit more challenging.
Great entry! 👏
Good job !