Sheepscape has reached the point I have been building toward since I started five months ago: a version you can play from the first sheep to the day you buy your second farm. It has the whole year in it: lambing, shearing, a market and a winter that will take sheep off you if you're not paying attention.
The last part is why I am opening a playtest rather than plugging at it some more.
I've been balancing the numbers, but that's me playing it as a solo dev who's been head down in it from the start. I cannot tell you how it feels to watch a ewe you bought in the Spring come out of December badly, or whether the game gave you a fair chance to stop it. That is the question this playtest exists to answer and it is not one I can answer on my own.
What is in it
Two farms, three breeds, a sheepdog to buy 🐶 and then rely on. A full year of seasons on the farm and a shearing mini-game I have rebuilt more times than I would care to admit 😆.
What is not
The art is not finished, some is placeholder and some is first pass. There's going to be bugs 🐛. Winter isn't as tuned as I would like it. Tell me if it is cruel, or maybe it could be harder? ❄️
How to join
Hit Request Access on the store page and it will let you straight in, you don't need to wait on me. The build is available on Windows and Mac.
The playtest runs for about three weeks. I am aiming to close it just as the demo goes live, so what you tell me between now and then is what shapes the version everyone else plays.
Controls
- SPACE puts the camera back on your farmer (or dog if selected).
- WASD, a right click drag, or nudging the mouse to a screen edge to look around; the scroll wheel zooms.
- 1 / 2 to select your farmer or dog (if purchased).
- ESC close a panel / open the pause menu.
- Everything else is pretty much left click.
There's a Controls tab in the Settings, reachable from the title screen and the pause menu.
Feedback
After you have played there is a short form here: Feedback Survey. It takes about five minutes and hearing back from you means a lot 🙏. There is a link to it inside the game too, on the title screen and when you finish.
Thank you so much for supporting Sheepscape 🐑❤️