Game Reviews

Sheeping Around review - "A card battling wolf in sheep's clothing"

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iOS
| Sheeping Around
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Sheeping Around review - "A card battling wolf in sheep's clothing"
|
iOS
| Sheeping Around

Take a quick glance at Sheeping Around's screenshots, and you're unlikely to be enthused by the prospect of playing it. I certainly wasn't.

But as the app icon and the slightly rude title suggest, this game's a bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Woolly headed

Sheeping Around is a 1v1 card battler where you must either take on the role of faithful sheep dog or a hungry fox.

Your goal might be completely the different depending on the role you choose - either to protect or eat two of three grazing sheep - but the moves at your disposal mirror one another exactly.

Those moves come from a personalised deck of cards, which must be dealt and played in classic turn-based fashion.

The idea is to place cards worth four lure/graze points (depending on your role) on any one of the sheep cards, at which point you can play a steal/whistle card to claim your prize. The first player to do this with two sheep wins.

Cunning like a fox

It's a very simple premise, which both makes the game instantly appealing and damages its long term appeal.

On the plus side, the game instantly hooks you in with its range of special use cards, which you'll gradually amass and add to your deck. There are cards that knock some of those lure/graze points off the opposing total, cards that shield a sheep from opposing interference for a couple of turns and so on.

You also get bonus cards that can be played before an action card, which might grant you an extra turn or additional cards from the deck.

With these options at your disposal, Sheeping Around becomes a focused yet tactical game of prioritisation. Early games are tense, competitive, and really quite exciting.

One track mind

Add in well balanced deck-customisation and a no-nonsense matchmaking system, and you have the makings of a really good two-playing card battler.

On the negative side, I'm not sure there's the kind of tactical scope or variety to keep you playing for weeks and months to come. Your tactical options soon start to feel a little limited, and it all starts to feel a little one-note after a while.

It's also a shame there's no single player campaign to work through.

Sheeping Around is a tactical card game that's a lot sharper and more aggressive than its meek exterior might suggest. It doesn't quite have the stamina to eat up all your free time for the foreseeable future, but you shouldn't feel sheepish about giving it a whirl.

Sheeping Around review - "A card battling wolf in sheep's clothing"

A surprisingly tense, exciting and fun card battler that doesn't quite have the tactical depth for the long haul
Score
Jon Mundy
Jon Mundy
Jon is a consummate expert in adventure, action, and sports games. Which is just as well, as in real life he's timid, lazy, and unfit. It's amazing how these things even themselves out.