Sheep — count to sleep

Sheep turns the oldest trick for falling asleep into a toy. Under a sleepy moon, round fluffy sheep trot across a meadow and leap over a little wooden fence, one by one. Every leap plays the next note of a lullaby, so the more sheep you count, the more of the song you hear. Once over the fence they curl up in the grass and doze, little z's rising from their heads, and the oldest ones slowly float up into the sky and drift away as clouds.

How to play

Just watch and count, the flock comes by itself. Tap a sheep and it bounces up with a little flip. Tap the grass or the sky and a new sheep pops out of a puff of wool. Grab a sheep, carry it with its legs kicking, and throw it: it floats, bounces on its wool and, if you aim over the fence, it counts. Swipe across the flock and every sheep under your finger hops in turn, like a wave of notes. Change the sky (night, dusk, dream, snow), the wool (white, cream, pastel, a few black sheep), slow the pace right down until the sheep float over the fence like in a dream, add a second or third fence, pick the tune (a medley of ten lullabies and gentle tunes that moves on to the next song when one ends: Brahms' Lullaby, Au Clair de la Lune, Greensleeves, Twinkle Twinkle, Silent Night, Ode to Joy, Amazing Grace, Für Elise, Pachelbel's Canon, Kumbaya, starting with a different one each time; or one song, or bells), call a whole herd or save the picture.

Why it's satisfying

Nothing to aim at and nothing to miss: the sheep jump on their own, every leap lands with a soft squash and a wobble, and the counting becomes music. Throwing a fluffy sheep across the sky is silly and very calming at the same time. Nothing to win, nothing to lose, just one more sheep.

About

Sheep is part of Alcy, forty-six free contemplative micro-games in your browser. For more slow evenings: Breath, Fireflies, Snow.