The Running Sheep is a one-button platformer dressed up with a charmingly absurd premise - a sheep escapes the farm and runs through increasingly hazardous landscapes, with you tapping to time jumps that get harder by the minute.
Simple, immediate, and surprisingly tough once the obstacle pacing speeds up.
The control is just tap or space - the sheep runs automatically and you only choose when to jump.
But the timing window varies by obstacle (some require a quick hop, others a long held jump for height), and the obstacles arrive faster as you survive longer. The simplicity makes it instantly playable; the timing complexity makes it surprisingly hard to master.
The level design progresses through environments that feel like a sheep's anxious dream - first a simple meadow with fences, then a rocky pasture with chasms, then a forest with falling branches, then a city where buses become the new fences to jump.
Each environment introduces a new obstacle pattern before mixing it with previous types.
You score for distance traveled and bonus pickups (carrots, golden wool, daisy chains). Bonuses are usually positioned where they're slightly risky - in the gap before a jump, or just above a low ceiling.
Collecting them is optional but the score multiplier they trigger is significant.
The game runs in any modern browser via HTML5. No download, no install, no plugins. It plays well on Chromebooks, school computers, library PCs, and especially on phones - the single-button control is perfect for thumb input.
Tablets work great too, and the keyboard space-bar input is the most precise on desktop.
Press space (or tap the screen on mobile) to make the sheep jump. The longer you hold, the higher and farther the sheep jumps. Time your jumps to clear obstacles like fences, gaps, and falling objects. Collect bonus items along the way for extra points.
The game ends when you hit an obstacle.
Hold for Height - Long obstacles need long jumps; tap-and-release-instantly produces a short hop that won't clear taller fences. Don't Chase Every Pickup - The score from a missed pickup is much better than the zero you score by failing to land.
Watch the Audio Cues - The game's sound design telegraphs upcoming obstacles before they're visible; listening helps reaction time.
Learn the Pattern Lengths - Each environment has its own obstacle rhythm; the first 30 seconds of each one teaches you when to jump in that section.
Don't Panic at Speed Increases - The game speeds up gradually; the increase between levels is small enough to adapt to if you don't overreact.
