Color Sheep (out now, $0.99) is a cute little app from Trinket Studios. The aim is to change the color of a sheep named ‘Woolson’ by mixing the three primary colors (red, green, and blue) to match the colors of incoming wolves. As the story goes, the wolves are trying to eat the sheep so we must try and protect it. If you’re like me and don’t know anything about the color wheel, you may struggle to get to grips with Color Sheep.
The game pits you into a really helpful tutorial. It takes you through each color step-by-step, and makes the game much simpler than it could have been. Although there isn’t much to learn, knowing me, I would have been confused from the word ‘go’. And to top it all off, the tutorial is accessible at any time throughout the game.
Color Sheep requires you to quickly think on your feet. Different colored wolves approach you continuously rather than in waves, so you need to know your colour combinations and where the buttons are on-screen at all times. On the left side of your screen you have the three primary colors. On the right, there are two buttons — light and dark. As you probably guessed, tapping ‘light’ and ‘red’ simultaneously will turn Woolson light red. ‘Dark’ and ‘blue’ will turn him dark blue. Once you have found the color that matches the wolves, tap Woolson and he will fire some sort of giant laser from his mouth and vaporize the wolves. Because that’s what sheep do.
It’s all well and good during the first two levels, but once you start the third — it’s colorful hell. It’s a huge step up from previous level and forces you to recall three combinations that you may have just learnt. To mix colors, you hold down either light or dark, then swipe across the colors you wish to combine. It’s even easier thanks to the triangular position of the three colors — you can easily slide from one color to the next. One major flaw with the controls (at least in my eye) is the fact that you need to tap the sheep to fire the laser. This forces you to take your fingers away from the two sides (colors and light/dark). It would make life easier if Woolson would fire once your fingers are lifted off the screen.
The graphics and music are appropriate for such an upbeat game. The sound effects give it an arcade yet somewhat retro feel whilst the graphics make it casual and happy, even if there are huge wolves approaching a sheep. There isn’t anything to complain about here. The wolves are fittingly large so their colors are apparent and you know what color combination to make. I don’t expect anything special — Color Sheep appears as joyful as it sounds.
iFanzine Verdict: Color Sheep has a really interesting concept behind the colorful graphics and upbeat music. Whether it executes such an intriguing concept is another matter. It starts off calmly and gradually introduces you into the world of color. But once you hit the third level, you’re all on your own. Mix the right colors, choose the right shades, and do it all over again all in the space of a few short seconds. It requires far too much from the player much too soon. If you happen to be an artist or graphic designer or whatever and you know your colors off by heart, you should give Color Sheep a try. If you are like me and know zero things about the color wheel, I would recommend skipping the game all together.