Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures Review

By , on April 21, 2010


Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures
Download on the AppStore
4 out of 5

PROS

  • Unique line-drawing gameplay.
  • Amusing 2D stylization.
  • Clean, informative interface.

CONS

  • AI can get wedged against fences or corners easily.
  • Only a handful of levels per difficulty.

VERDICT

No matter your age, Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures is a cute and fun line-drawing game that challenges you to master the art of animal herding.


  • Full Review
  • App Store Info

The agricultural system of New Zealand is important to its country, providing most of its major exports to the world. Images such as a shepherd rounding up his sheep with the help of a sheepdog are iconic to NZ's pastoral landscape, so it's little wonder that local developers 'Flightless' have based their latest App Store game around this rural chore.

Top Dog: Farmyard Adventures puts you in the place of a shepherd calling out directions to his faithful sheepdog in order to round up the various farmyard animals that roam the land. You can control your dog by drawing a path for him to run around in, allowing him to herd up and hopefully corral all the animals that are scattered around in to their various pens. Each animal behaves uniquely and when grouped together they will behave as a flock, making it easier to move them along.

Top Dog uses a simple stylized top down view that makes it easy to keep track of where you're going. Each of the game's areas are significant in size and can have you chasing that last elusive duck for quite some time if you're not clever about your positioning. There isn't a lot of variety to the gameplay, but harder levels will require advanced maneuvering to separate flocks of differently colored sheep.

Such a simple, yet fun game is perfect for the younger audience Flightless have focused on, but each level can be truly challenging to complete at a gold-medal speed. A great game for casual and younger gamers.

Screenshots

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