Dark Sheep pays tribute to the classic 8-bit games of the early years of gaming, especially if you are a fan of the history of gaming and early gaming systems like the Commodore 64.

Sure, many gamers are familiar with gaming systems such as Sega Mega Systems or the NES, but before that, there were your Apple 2 and your Commodore 64 with interesting 8-bit graphics that were the best of that time period. Dark Sheep takes you back to those early days in tribute and throws in some mind-challenging puzzles with a delightfully evil twist.

Developed and published by Daisy Games. Dark Sheep presents players with dark humour along with a challenging arrangement of puzzles that will frustrate the fainthearted and enthrall the lovers of compelling problem-solving. You are tasked with herding sheep and maneuvering them to consume all the types of grass that are placed in front of them. While this isn’t overly exciting on its own, you’re collecting them for the eventual sacrifice to your dark lord.

The progressive levels bring more and more challenging obstacles; one of the most out-of-the-box levels was when I needed to cross into another area but an NPC was in my way. Thinking outside the box, I picked up an axe that was sitting on a log and proceed to murder the NPC, preventing them from stealing these sheep for sacrifice. This interesting aspect of the game appealed to me and changed the way I had been herding sheep in order to get to the next level, significantly changing the way I looked at further puzzles.

As you would expect the game can only be played with a keyboard and mouse, but with such a classic style, playing with a controller would ruin the immersion of the game. To make things feel even more immersive, the old-school 8-bit soundtrack was created using genuine 1989 technology, so it may bring back memories for some, and for others, an enjoyable frolic into a more simple style of music.

Overall Dark Sheep is an enjoyable romp into how far gaming has come from the old days of 8-bit gaming. With its interesting approach to a puzzle game along with the game’s story and setting, Dark Sheep makes summoning the dark lord that much more enjoyable.

Written by: Simon Hayward