History Main / HerdingMission

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': During the game's prologue, there's an optional sidequest where Link can take three pigs back to their corral next to Rosa's house. The woman will reward Link with 20 Rupees for each pig he manages to bring back.

* ''VideoGame/{{REKKR}}'': Each episode has a SecretLevel that can be unlocked by, in a certain standard level, luring a friendly dog to its house to open a secret exit. In the first episode, the path is very short and simple, and serves more as a showcase of the idea (which, for a ''Doom'' mod, is quite novel); however, in the remaining episodes, the paths are longer and it's recommended to dispatch all enemies and take the levels to a state of near completion so the luring part can be done without distractions. The episodes' respective levels which features dogs to escort in order to unlock the associated secret levels are: [=E1M3=], [=E2M5=], [=E3M6=] and [=E4M2=] (it's not a coincidence that these levels match the ones with secret exits in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', since ''REKKR'' was programmed with its engine).

* ''Videogame/WorldOfWarcraft'' introduced in the ''Legion'' expansion quests where you have to herd [=NPCs=] to an area by frightening them with your presence. These quests can be frustrating if you have lag, because you may find yourself running past the creature when it seems to be ahead and herding it in the opposite direction.

Herding Missions are a type of {{Fetch Quest}} in video games where the objective is to locate a group of animals and corral them into a pen or other contained area, either all in one group or one-by-one. The quest is always given by the caretaker of the animals, generally a farmer or shepherd figure.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'': The first mission of the UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan campaign involves a number of different steppe tribes asking favors of Temüjin's band of warriors in exchange for pledges of service. One of these tribes asks Temüjin to gather [[TwentyBearAsses 20 sheep]] into a flock for them. It could be a real pain to complete (as some sheep had managed to get themselves into hard-to-reach areas, and the sheep could be killed both by hostile tribesmen and by wild wolves), but not as much of a pain as some of the other quests in that mission (since the sheep were easy to find).

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': Averted in the very first Undead mission: Your goal is to find all the acolytes hiding as villagers, but not only are they a different color than normal villagers, they teleport away once you reach them.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIVLegendsOfTheTitan'': There's a sidequest of this type taking place the MiniDungeon Golden Deer Keep. The player's character party is asked to lure a F.O.E., the eponymous Golden Deer, into a special jail installed by some guards from Tharsis at the entrance. The Golden Deer spends its time galloping around a pit bordered by small fences, but as soon as it sees the party it'll begin chasing them. The biggest caveat here is that the Deer is fast enough to gallop ''two tiles'' per turn while the party can only move one, so it's recommended to first explore the area in full to draw it in the map and devise a route to draw the monster's attention without getting caught. The reason is because, if the Deer catches the party, a battle will begin and the party will the need to attempt to flee from it, as defeating the monster will kill it and force the party to wait until it revives. Once the Deer is lured into the entrance where the jail is, it'll get trapped there and the mission will be a success.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'': The first Gym Leader, Milo, challenges the player to wrangle some Wooloo into pens, hampered slightly by obstacles and low-level Pokémon blocking your path. Completing Milo's challenge lets you fight him for real.

* ''Videogame/BlackAndWhite'': One quest on the first Island requires you to locate 10 sheep that have wandered away from their shepherd and return them to him. Downplayed in that your character is a god, so the act of carrying them to the shepherd is rather trivial, and the real difficulty is in locating them all.

[[folder:MMORPGs]]

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey IV'': There's a sidequest of this type taking place the MiniDungeon Golden Deer Keep. The player's character party is asked to lure a F.O.E., the eponymous Golden Deer, into a special jail installed by some guards from Tharsis at the entrance. The Golden Deer spends its time galloping around a pit bordered by small fences, but as soon as it sees the party it'll begin chasing them. The biggest caveat here is that the Deer is fast enough to gallop ''two tiles'' per turn while the party can only move one, so it's recommended to first explore the area in full to draw it in the map and devise a route to draw the monster's attention without getting caught. The reason is because, if the Deer catches the party, a battle will begin and the party will the need to attempt to flee from it, as defeating the monster will kill it and force the party to wait until it revives. Once the Deer is lured into the entrance where the jail is, it'll get trapped there and the mission will be a success.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smosheep.png]]]]

* ''VideoGame/MarioParty6'': The minigame Boonanza has two dueling characters lure several small Pink Boos into designated grassy corrals. Though the corrals remain open, the Pink Boss taken there won't escape, so the job isn't as complicated as it sounds. After 20 seconds, or if no Pink Boos remain in the central area, whoever has the most in their corral wins. If both players have the same amount, the minigame ends in a tie.
* ''VideoGame/MarioParty7'': Landing on a certain Event Space in Windmillville gives you the task to herd a group of sheep from their corral to the stable at the left. If the player manages to herd all of them in 10 seconds, they'll win a lot of coins.

** ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2'': In the mission "The Sheep and The Goats", John Marston and Arthur Morgan rustle a flock of sheep from Emerald Ranch and must herd them to the animal market in Valentine without letting the sheep injure themselves or wander away from the flock.

See also: EscortMission, FetchQuest

* ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2'': In the mission "The Sheep and The Goats", John Marston and Arthur Morgan rustle a flock of sheep from Emerald Ranch and must herd them to the animal market in Valentine without letting the sheep injure themselves or wander away from the flock.

* ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'': The "Zephyr" stage features an NPC Land Blubber named "Bo Peep", whose "Cowleks" (small cow-like creatures) have gone missing. He asks Spyro to find them and return them to their pen and will reward Spyro with two orbs once he is finished.

* ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'': The "Zephyr" stage features an NPC [[BlobMonster Land Blubber]] named "Bo Peep", whose "Cowleks" (small cow-like creatures) have gone missing. She asks Spyro to find them and return them to their pen and will reward him with two orbs once he is finished.

* ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2'': in the mission "The Sheep and The Goats", John Marston and Arthur Morgan rustle a flock of sheep from Emerald Ranch and must herd them to the animal market in Valentine without letting the sheep injure themselves or wander away from the flock.

* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth2'' has a level where a Maasai tribe is moving its herds to different grazing grounds. The cows follow the workers, so the main danger is not them wandering around but armed conflict (at TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture levels of technology) with another tribe.

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'': The first mission of the UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan campaign involves a number of different steppe tribes asking favors of Temüjin's band of warriors in exchange for pledges of service. One of these tribes asks Temüjin to gather a flock of sheep that they owned but had been dispersed. It was famous as a tremendous pain to complete, as some sheep had managed to get themselves into hard-to-reach areas, and the sheep could be killed both by hostile tribesmen and by wild wolves.

* ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'': The "Zephyr" stage features an NPC [[BlobMonster Land Blubber]] named "Bo Peep", whose "Cowleks" (small cow-like creatures) have gone missing. She asks Spyro to find them and return them to their pen, and will reward him with two orbs once he is finished.