Why do I keep losing sheep to fences?

The sheep riding highest in the flock are the ones sheared off, and a bigger flock rides deeper. Obstacles that were harmless early in a run start costing you once the group grows.

Is wolf territory worth entering?

It pays double coin, but a den or an oncoming wolf can empty a flock quickly. Dip in with a flock you can afford to thin, and leave before the next den.

How many sheep reach the end with you - not how many you collected along the way.

Play Herd Rush: free flock runner game

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Herd a flock of sheep home before the wolves thin it out.

Sweep a growing flock of sheep down a winding farm trail, past hay bales and low fences that shear the tall ones off the top. Cross into wolf territory for double coin, but a den (or a wolf loping the wrong way up the lane) can empty your flock fast.

Free to play, no download, no sign-up. Hosted with ❤ by GamerX.

How to play Herd Rush

You sweep a flock of sheep down a winding farm trail, steering with drag or the arrow keys. The flock grows as you collect more, and that growth is the whole problem: hay bales and low fences shear off the sheep riding highest in the group, so a big flock loses members to obstacles that a small one would pass under. There is wolf territory alongside the main trail paying double coin, and it is exactly as dangerous as it sounds - a den, or a single wolf loping up the lane the wrong way, can empty a flock in seconds. The level is scored on how many sheep you bring home, so the run is a running argument between greed and preservation.

Tips

A big flock is a tall flock. Low fences that were harmless early in the run will start costing you sheep once the group is deep.
Enter wolf territory with a flock you can afford to lose some of, and leave before the next den.
Steer the front of the flock. The back follows, and trying to place the whole group at once means placing none of it.
Count what you keep, not what you collect. A run that gathers sixty and arrives with twelve loses to one that gathers thirty and arrives with twenty-eight.

About Herd Rush

Herd Rush is a flock runner where the flock is simulated as a group with real following behaviour rather than as a number attached to the player, which is why the shearing mechanic works: sheep genuinely ride at different heights within the mass, so an obstacle takes the ones on top. That gives the game an unusual shape for the genre - the penalty for being large is structural rather than a rule, and it scales smoothly instead of arriving as a sudden fail state. The double-coin wolf lane is the standard risk bargain, made sharper here because losses are gradual: you rarely notice the exact moment a run went wrong, only that the flock behind you is thinner than it was.

What you need

Graphics: WebGL, which every browser from the last decade has switched on already
Controls: Keyboard or touchscreen
On a phone: Yes
Install: Nothing. It runs in this tab.

Questions

Why do I keep losing sheep to fences?: The sheep riding highest in the flock are the ones sheared off, and a bigger flock rides deeper. Obstacles that were harmless early in a run start costing you once the group grows.
Is wolf territory worth entering?: It pays double coin, but a den or an oncoming wolf can empty a flock quickly. Dip in with a flock you can afford to thin, and leave before the next den.
What is the score?: How many sheep reach the end with you - not how many you collected along the way.