Herdling Review (PC) – Don’t Follow The Herd

I think it’s not since Stray that I’ve just so instantly fallen for the charm and atmosphere of a peaceful animal-centred game. Herdling may be about shepherding a small herd of fictious creatures called Calicorns across a great journey to the mountains, rather than the journey of a cat across a cyberpunk city, but the atmosphere, the detail, the heartwarming moments and the heartwrenching ones too, are all exceptionally close to that game’s style.

If you enjoyed Stray, or simply feel that epic call to the wild or to protect this little helpless herd of creatures when you see them on the trailer, Herdling is going to scratch you right behind the ear. It’s got a lot of that silent poignancy and environmental storytelling of games by thatgamecompany. So dust off your shepherding stick, remember right means left and left means right, and let’s get into it.

Away To Me, Calicorn

Before we embark, I should say that I played Herdling with a small child, my son, who’s four. Playing any game with a four-year-old who is learning the formats and controls is almost always a joy, but playing one with this level of intuitive design, animal subject matter, and all ages acceptance was a real treat.

Herdling also begins with a small boy, more like ten than four, who we assume is homeless as he’s sleeping rough in a quiet rundown city, waking up and investigating a noise. It’s a large hairy yak-like creature getting tangled up in fences and with a bucket stuck on its head. As you pull the bucket free, you gain the Calicorn’s trust, and your journey begins. Because this creature shouldn’t be in the city, he should be in the mountains. It’s time to pick up a stick and start herding.

And so your journey begins. You quickly find another Calicorn, and then another, and your little one becomes a tiny herd. And you find your way out of the city, and into the plains, and then the roads, and then the woods, and all the time searching for that route to get your herd back to the mountain.

Along the way it became clear the world isn’t in great shape, possibly it’s post-apocalyptic in some sense – lots of crashed cars and abandoned shacks etc – but its not very overt. You’ll never find an audio log or even a letter. The boy is a survivor, and he has nothing in the city. Maybe shepherding fills his life with a little meaning, just the same as for me playing it, it filled my life with meaning for a few hours.

Like Herding Calicorns

Herdling utilises only a few basic controls. You are shepherding, so you go left to usher your herd right, and you go right to urge your herd left. You click to flick your stick at them to coax this movement. Each click is sort of like a reset, which is nice and intuitive even if it’s not very realistic, and the Calicorns are pretty intelligent and don’t just career into walls etc. You can also store up a kind of charge from different coloured flowers along the way, and then use that to boost, and your herd will stampede for a 5-10 second burst.

Very useful for getting through rough terrain, over slippy ice, or to outrun dangers. Most of the ‘puzzles’ in the game are traversal-based based as you might expect, such as slowing the herd to get round sharp objects or to creep past these scary carnivorous hawk things that like to snatch Calicorns on the wing. Some are little mazes, or need the boy to open doors with a Calicorn’s help. Many involve just working out how to get round an obstacle with your herd, while trying to save a new Calicorn and bring it into the herd.

Herd Mentality

So I really want to talk about the Calicorns themselves. Each Calicorn is a random insert from what must be a roster of possible variations of size, fur colour, face structure, and horn shapes. When you adopt one into your herd, you get a random name generator as well. All this means that my son and I’s herd was completely different from anyone else’s herd, and that gives it a very easily won weight.

These yak things are mine, my son and I named them, agreeing on every name, and then we were responsible for them. Each time we weren’t good enough and one got hurt and blood appeared on its fur, we felt that as a parent or maybe just as a shepherd would feel about their flock. We would go out of our way to find the fruits needed to heal any injured Calicorn. We once saved one falling off a cliff, and were very pleased with ourselves – my son cheered. We even had a favourite little Calicorn who got dirty at every single opportunity.

They aren’t massively intelligent or all that expressive, there is no script etc. But giving a Calicorn that you’ve brought for miles and miles a small horn ring you found, and then seeing its little red eyes light up, and a little swooning head bobble of appreciation, made it all worth it. By the end of the journey we had decorated them all with harnesses and hornrings aplenty.

Speaking of script for a moment, there is little in the way of sound in Herdling. There are no voices at all beyond a little bark or yip from the boy, grunts from the Calicorns, and various environmental nature noises. There is, however, a lovely soundtrack full of tension and then euphoria, full of drums and tribal instruments, full of soaring orchestral crescendo when you take your herd sprinting down a hillside into a majestic valley. I loved the score.

Seen And Not Herd

Its scriptless design means that you can make of Herdling anything you want, and if you have the imagination of a child, that’s all the better. We were creating our own stories, guessing constantly at who the ghost was who led you on, whether each of our Herdlings were okay, what would become of everyone when they reached their home, and many other questions besides. Why did our little rascal Herdling always get covered in twigs and branches when none of the others did? Why were these horrible hawk birds always after us? I’m not sure Herdling answers any questions really, but it was never trying to.

It’s a wonderful game with a delightful central mechanic, guiding a herd of very cute yaks on a four-hour journey. Shepherding is a rare enough mechanic in gaming, and with the added bonus of really personable fictional creatures, I was completely sold. Making it universally appealing, open to all ages, and intuitive in design meant it was a memorable game to play with my son as well. We guided those Calicorns back home together, and it’s probably a formative experience he’ll now remember for a very long time.

Herdling is available now on PC via Steam (review platform), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X.

Developer: Okomotive
Publisher: Panic Inc.

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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