Sheepy: A Short Adventure

While I don’t actively seek out modern games with pixelated art styles, I am still willing to give them a chance if the art and gameplay styles appeal to me. One such game is Sheepy: A Short Adventure, which I came across in my Steam recommendations and decided to download since it was free. After going through the short experience for myself, I found myself wondering how a game of such quality could possibly have been free.

An abandoned plush toy named Sheepy has been mysteriously brought to life. On his journey, he comes across the remains of an abandoned mining operation from the Belgin corporation and its aftermath. Though a simple premise largely told through visuals, some audio recordings and notes can be found that expand upon the Belgin plotline, leaving enough to the imagination for the player to speculate on what happened during the operation.

Befitting its short length, the gameplay is also fairly simple. The core gameplay is that of a sidescrolling platformer, with some light puzzle solving required for progression. Over time, the platforming gets increasingly complex as you learn new abilities, which can lead to mild frustration at times in the final stretch of the game, but this is mitigated by some generous checkpoints. There are also a few boss fights along the way, but they are fairly easy to get past once you know the patterns. Additionally, some exploration is encouraged through a handful of collectible Vinyls.

 

A lot of the story is effectively told through visuals alone.

For what it is, the visuals have a phenomenal level of detail in both the environments and character models, backed by some spectacular animations. The developer didn’t have to put so much effort into a free offering, but they did, and the game is much better off for it. The voice acting is minimal but decent, confined to the audio logs the player can find, but they offer their own level of depth to the Belgin plot. The music and sound design are also of exceptional quality, with the former even feeling emotional in places.

Sheepy: A Short Adventure is a hidden gem of an indie game that I would highly recommend, especially since it can be found for the incredibly low price of free. With the game ending on a possible tease for a follow-up, I would be very interested to see what comes next form both the game and the developer in the future.