"Let's ewe this!"
Three sheep. One epic journey. From the centre of the Earth, to the depths of space. In search of one thing:
The Farm.
—The trailer
Home Sheep Home is a series of Puzzle Platformer games developed by Mobile Pie. They are based on the popular Aardman Animations cartoon, Shaun the Sheep. The premise of each game is simple: Shaun, Timmy, and Shirley have somehow gotten lost, and need to make their way back to the farm. In each level, you control the three sheep and use their unique abilities to solve puzzles and make it to the end of the level.
The first game, made in 2010 and simply titled Home Sheep Home, was a free flash game that was available on the Shaun the Sheep website, and consisted of 15 levels. The sequel, Home Sheep Home 2: A Little Epic, was released on Steam, Mac and iOS in 2011, with 45 regular levels and a huge amount of bonus features. In 2019, to coincide with the release of Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon, Home Sheep Home 2 was remastered into Home Sheep Home: Farmageddon Party Edition, which was also ported to Nintendo Switch and Xbox One. In addition to adding the 15 levels from the original Home Sheep Home, it also added a multiplayer battle mode.
This game provides examples of:
- Achievement System: There are a total of 56 achievements in Home Sheep Home 2 (exclusive to PC as of Farmageddon). They can be earned by completing levels, earning stars, finding collectibles, and solving levels in non-conventional ways.
- Art Evolution: Whereas the original Home Sheep Home used a messy, washed-out art style for its backgrounds, the sequel uses lush, detailed watercolor-painted backdrops. It's especially noticeable with the remastered versions of the original levels from Farmageddon, which updated the backgrounds to match the rest of the game—compare the original
to the remaster. - Bottomless Pits: Present as a hazard in some levels, and pretty much the only thing that poses an actual danger to the sheep.
- Brick Joke: The setup of "Lost in London" is that the Farmer is taking a road trip to London, with the sheep tagging along. After the sheep escape the van, the Farmer never appears again until the final level, where he's gotten in trouble for illegal parking.
- Britain Is Only London: The "Lost in London" episode has the sheep travelling to London, with levels based around famous London landmarks.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: The only Shaun the Sheep characters to make an appearance are Shaun, Shirley, Timmy, and the Farmer, with Farmageddon adding Lu-la as the host of the party mode. Bitzer, the pigs, and the other mainstays from the show are nowhere to be found.
- Clockworks Area: Two of the "Lost in London" levels (plus one of the bonus levels) take place at Big Ben. "The Pit and the Pend-u-lamb" (and its bonus level counterpart, "The Pend-ewe-lamb") are set inside the clock, while "Bleat the Clock" is set on the clock's face.
- Competitive Balance: Each of the three sheep have their own unique abilities that must be used to solve puzzles. Shaun is the most agile sheep (with the fastest run and highest jump), Shirley is the heaviest (allowing her to push heavy objects), and Timmy is the smallest (allowing him to fit through small tunnels).
- Construction Zone Calamity: "Raising the Baaa" and "Lowering the Baaa" both require the sheep to ride girders on cranes in order to progress.
- Cosmetic Award: Beating the developers' times on the levels is incredibly difficult, often requiring speedrunner-level precision, and your only reward for completing them is a yellow-and-gold star marking on the level. Thankfully, they are not strictly required for 100% Completion—you only need to get one for the "Bolt Sheep Bolt" achievement, and it can be done on any level.
- Cranium Ride: Utilized in "The Law of the Lamb", where you must ride on the heads of the British Royal Guards (complete with their hats compressing when you stand on them).
- Creative Closing Credits: The credits are a fully playable level, known as "Credit Where Credit's Due". It's set in the barn and has a film projector, which plays the credits when buttons throughout the level are pressed. It also contains a cake, which unlocks
developer commentary when collected. - Digging to China: After "Shear Drop", the sheep fall all the way through the planet, ending up in Australia.
- Divided for Publication: Home Sheep Home 2 is a weird case that combines this trope with a game demo. During the days of Flash, each of the game's three episodes (Lost Underground, Lost in London, and Lost in Space) were available for free as online flash games. The pay-for version had all three episodes in one package, plus additional features like the bonus levels. Since Flash has been discontinued, the retail version of the game is now the only way to play it.
- Excuse Plot: Although the locations vary, the formula is always the same—the sheep are lost, and you need to get them back home.
- Explosive Propulsion: Found throughout the Underground levels are TNT packs. When placed on a fuse, they can be detonated to launch sheep to higher places.
- Force-Field Door: Used to block off certain areas in the Space levels, usually requiring the sheep to find a button to turn them off. Touching them causes the sheep to be electrocuted, but otherwise does no harm to them.
- I Fell for Hours: "Shear Drop" takes place in freefall, with the goal being to collect parachutes so you can safely descend. However, you'll never reach the end of the tunnel no matter how long you wait, though the parachutes you need will fall offscreen if you dawdle. Justified, as you're literally falling through the center of the Earth.
- Gameplay Grading: Combined with Time Trial. Every level keeps track of how fast you were able to complete it, then rewards you with up to three stars depending on your time. There's also the optional developers' times, marked by yellow and red stars, which don't contribute to completion.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: There are no cutscenes in the game (outside of a congratulatory image after completing each episode)—each episode's Excuse Plot is told entirely through the gameplay. The first level of each episode usually sets up how the sheep get swept away on their adventure, and the final level requires you to devise a way to get them back to the farm.
- Gotta Catch Them All: Every level in the second game has a number of collectibles to grab. The most common ones are socks (which are required to unlock future levels), but there are also cupcakes that unlock cheat modes and game controllers that unlock bonus levels. Getting all of them is required for 100% Completion.
- Gravity Screw: The final three levels of "Lost in Space" both use Super Mario Galaxy-style physics, with the sheep being able to run all the way around planets.
- Hint System: The original Home Sheep Home had hints written on the background of the level, more and more of which would appear as you restarted. The sequel ditches this in favor of a hint button, which can be pressed to pull up hints at any time.
- Hood Hopping: The early levels of "Lost in London", which involve taking the trip to the city, require the sheep to hop across moving vehicles. Falling onto the street will result in a Game Over, and one of the levels features speed cameras that can knock the sheep off if not avoided.
- Human Ladder: The sheep have the ability to stand on top of each other. Many levels require them to do this in order to reach higher places.
- Hurricane of Puns: Almost every single level has a sheep-based pun in the title.
- Land Down Under: At the end of "Lost Underground", the sheep fall all the way through the Earth and end up in Australia, depicted as a desert where everything is upside down. The sheep have to sneak onto a plane in order to get back home.
- Mobile Shrubbery: The end of "Lost Underground" sees you sneaking the sheep onto a cargo plane by hiding them inside cardboard boxes.
- The Monolith: Featured as an Easter Egg in one of the Space levels, unsurprisingly.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: The only thing that can kill the sheep are Bottomless Pits. Otherwise, you can blow them up, electrocute them, and drop heavy objects on them, and they'll come out unscathed.
- Plunger Detonator: Used to blow up TNT in the underground levels.
- Raiders of the Lost Parody: "Raiders of the Lost Baaaa'rk", of course. When you press the button to open the door, a giant boulder starts to roll in, and you have to race all the sheep to the exit before it blocks the path. The level's secret area even has a skeletal Indiana Jones holding the idol, doubling the reference.
- Remixed Level: A lot of the bonus levels are harder versions of regular levels, with one or more elements removed to change the approach the player needs to take. Some of these were earlier versions of the main levels that got changed because they were too hard.
- Secret Room: Many levels in the sequel feature secret rooms hidden behind parts of the foreground, which contain extra collectibles and sometimes Easter Eggs.
- Shout-Out: Some of the secret areas contain references to other properties. These include a skeletal Indiana Jones, Minecraft blocks, sprites from Manic Miner, The Scream, Margaret Thatcher's wig, the TARDIS, the drone from Silent Running, a Monolith, the HAL 9000, and Wallace frozen in carbonite.
- Space Zone: "Lost in Space", of course. It should be noted that most of the levels are set inside an alien mothership—only the final two levels actually take place in space.
- Super Not-Drowning Skills: While Shaun and Timmy can both swim on the surface of water, Shirley sinks like a stone. Despite this, she won't ever drown.
- Teleportation: Most of the puzzles in the Space levels center around teleporters (which swap the locations of two objects) and portals (if something goes in one portal, it goes out the other portal).
- Timed Mission: Some of the levels require you to complete them in short order, otherwise it will become Unwinnable and you'll have to restart. These levels include "The Flock is Ticking" (which has a large tire that will roll down and block your path if you don't clear the level in time), "Raiders of the Lost Baaaa'rk" (where a massive boulder rolls in when you press the button to open the door), and "Shear Drop" (where the parachutes you need will fall offscreen if you take too long).
- Underground Level: Naturally, the majority of "Lost Underground" takes place in an underground cavern.
- Under the Sea: Some levels in "Lost Underground" contain pools of water. Shaun and Timmy can both swim, while Shirley sinks to the bottom. Naturally, most of these levels require you to make a path for Shirley to cross.
- Your Princess Is in Another Castle!: "So Shear and Yet So Baaa", the thirteenth level of "Lost Underground", makes you think you'll finally get the sheep out of the cavern by riding a well bucket up to the surface (even the hint button makes note of this). Instead, when you get all three sheep into the bucket, the rope snaps from the weight, sending you to "Shear Drop".
