Sheepy: A Short Adventure is a platforming game with pixel art aesthetics made by first-time indie developer and electronic music artist Mr. SuicideSheep. Read on to learn everything we know, our review of its gameplay and story, and so much more.
Everything We Know About Sheepy: A Short Adventure
Sheepy: A Short Adventure Story Plot
The story of Sheepy: A Short Adventure (Sheepy) isn’t explicitly told and is completely devoid of traditional narration or dialogue. Instead, you pick up bits and pieces of lore from the environment as you platform your way through the ruins of an old underground industrial complex.
Spoiler warning for those who want to experience this game's mystery themselves. I'll be going over what lore I can piece together from the game's various lorepoints.
From the pieces I can gather, the ruined area you’re exploring used to be a research/processing outpost of some sort that ran afoul with the unearthed ruins of an ancient civilization. Dark energy was let loose, possibly killing everyone on site who wasn’t able to escape. Now you delve deeper into the crystalline darkness, seeking answers or adventure, and finding both in spades.
Sheepy: A Short Adventure Gameplay
Sheepy’s gameplay consists of simple platforming mechanics including jumps, double jumps, dashes, and air dashes. Traversing this dimly-lit world of ruined facades and rickety platforms requires precision and skill, although the player does have unlimited lives and checkpoints to work with.
In addition to standard platforming staples like moving platforms and out-of-reach ledges, you can grab handholds jutting out of sheer rock faces to scale seemingly impossible heights. Other small environmental tools like spacial anomalies that propel you forward and elevators to reach other areas are also present, although their prominence varies depending on which chapter you’re currently in.
Speaking of chapters, the game is divided into several narrative segments and biomes called Chapters, each with its own title and area. Progressing from one chapter to the next prevents the player from returning to previous chapters, so make sure you grab every easter egg before proceeding.
The double jump, dash, and air dash skills are unlocked as you progress deeper into the ruins, usually guarded by a simple boss fight against a character named Patchy. Although the player character doesn’t have the means to attack, careful platforming and skillful dodging do the trick during the multiple encounters you have against this boss.
The game’s run time is short, clocking in at 60-90 minutes depending on the player’s platforming skill. Although the game does have a definite ending, secret levers scattered around the game’s third chapter could potentially unlock a secret ending or easter egg.
Sheepy: A Short Adventure Release Date
Sheepy: A Short Adventure was released for PC on February 6, 2024. The game is now available to download on Steam and Itch.io.
Sheepy: A Short Adventure Review
This Has No Right to be Free to Play
Let’s face it, pixel art puzzle platformers are dime-a-dozen on Steam. Nary a page on the free-to-play games tab will be devoid of these BaBa is You wannabees because, well, they’re easy to make and hard to get wrong. Platforming is 80% level design after all (don’t quote me on that). There are a few diamonds in the rough if you’re willing to dig deep enough but, by and large, these games mostly exist as practice runs for aspiring game devs.
I’m sure you’re wondering why I brought these games up in a review about Sheepy: A Short Adventure so let me enlighten you. I am trying to make sense of this game. That’s not to say that it’s confusing in execution or plot — quite the contrary, actually — I’m just saying that this game doesn’t make any sense by itself. It’s a remarkably beautiful and skillfully crafted game with all the fanfare of a bigger studio’s title…yet it was made by a first-time indie dev/EDM artist and their crew. Every pixel and vibration was calibrated to deliver the vision the game’s devs had for the players…yet it’s absolutely free with an official digital OST to boot. Maybe it’s the years of soulless AAA titles getting to me, but I feel like this game has no right to be free to play.
My melodramatic rant aside, Sheepy: A Short Adventure is a great example of keeping things short and sweet. It has a very modest runtime of 60 minutes, yet it kept me on the edge of my seat for the entire ride. I wasn’t expecting that from a platformer because my go-to genres include roguelikes and open-world action games but you can color me surprised because I am.
This game’s platforming is simple and effective, keeping its mechanics tight and compensating for the lack of variety by making its level design more intriguing and fun. You’re never going to do anything more complex than jumping and dashing — or some derivative thereof — and that’s okay because you won’t have to with how the devs structured the entire thing. To highlight a particular example, we have the game’s final major set piece in its last chapter. I don’t know what it’s called, but I’ll call it the Stargate (for obvious reasons).
Here, you lose the abilities you’ve accumulated throughout the game one by one as you light up the pyres and ignite the Stargate. Each pyre is hard to reach and requires some serious precision platforming to reach, but it’s designed in such a way that as you lose each ability, the next pyre is still inexplicably within your grasp, albeit you’re working with one less crutch. By the time you reach the last pyre, all you have is your standard jump and you’ll notice pretty quickly that you can’t reach it without your abilities. Of course, the game’s clever design won’t leave you hanging, but I won’t spoil the solution because it’s linked to the game’s story.
Speaking of the game’s story, let’s talk about how much it conveys with so few words spoken. Sheepy’s story isn’t grand and sprawling like an RPG, nor is it written down for one to read like a visual novel. Every story beat, major event, and character moment is expressed through the carefully crafted pixel art environment you’re double-jumping through.
Lorepoints and voice recordings are scattered around the map for you to discover (among other things); environments morph and change between chapters as more of the story becomes clear; all these factors work in unison to deliver what I consider to be one of the best pixel art-based platformers I’ve ever seen, second only to Hyperlight drifter.
In terms of music and audio, this game stays in its lane and depicts the moods and themes of the game’s aesthetics well. Simply put, it’s complementary to everything else the game’s trying to convey and I love that about it. As a fan of Mr.SuicideSheep myself, I can’t help but fawn over this game’s sound design, which is every bit as bass-boosted and gritty as you’d expect from a game set underground.
This game has it all and asks for nothing in return. I’d say it’s worth your money but you’re not forking over a cent for this masterpiece. Sheepy: A Short Adventure is worth leagues more than its advertising and you’d be missing out if you let it pass you by.
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Sheepy: A Short Adventure Product Information
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| Title | SHEEPY: A SHORT ADVENTURE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 6, 2024 |
| Developer | MrSuicideSheep |
| Publisher | MrSuicideSheep |
| Supported Platforms | PC (Steam, Itch.io) |
| Genre | Adventure, Casual, Indie |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | N/A |
| Official Website | Sheepy: A Short Adventure Website |
