Peter und Vlad has one of the strangest titles I have seen in the App Store so far. No ninjas, zombies, match 3, balls or anything of the stuff usually put into game titles. Instead you get the names of two confused farmers. The Sedov brothers are up to some serious sheep farming, and of course one of them is a mad scientist with a passion for large machinery. Vlad Sedov creates a weather machine to help Peter in his sheep herding. The machinery runs amok as it feeds on wool, and Peter has to herd the sheep into safety.
Peter und Vlad is a line drawing game, and you control Peter by touching him drawing a path. The path shows up as footsteps, and Peter walks quite briskly over the field. The task is to guide sheep into safety. The sheep are not that clever, and tend to dodge and wander away. If you herd a lot of sheep at the same time you get multipliers scoring big scores. A weather meter in the left corner shows you how much time you have until the weather machine arrives sucking all available sheep into the storm. You can press a panic button to make the sheep walk into the barn in a hypnotised state. This is really only to be used in real panic as you only get one use out of it.
Peter is a nut for mushrooms, and since he gets special powers from eating them I understand his desire. Mushrooms give powers such as double speed, double points and a bit of ravy dizziness. Once you have herded all sheep you get transported to a new level, and has to do it all again. Game over comes when too many sheep have been swallowed by the machine.
There is no real strategy needed in Peter und Vlad. Instead it relies on constant alterations of Peter’s path to get as many sheep into the barn at the same time. When you get game over you never ponder how to play better the next time. That is the main draw for games such as Harbour Master and Flight Control where at least I immediately think, when the game over sign shows up, that hey I am supposed to be better than that.
Peter und Vlad is a bright, colourful game that looks great and plays smoothly. The music becomes annoying really quickly, and the game fades out your own music. Sound effects are quite cool with some really ominous storm sounds.
To add gamelife the game has both local and global scores through the Agon service. There are no achievements or unlockables. To add some extra draw I really think some unlockables such as clothes for Peter should be included.A zen mode lets you herd at your own pace, but I can’t see any point in that at all.
Peter und Vlad sounds like a fun game, but sadly it isn’t. Sheep herding is not exciting, and since the sheep moves slower than Peter you have to constantly change the path to get them to move ahead instead of around you. Line drawing games thread a narrow path between being a menial chore, and addictive tasks of fun. Peter und Vlad takes great strides on the wrong side of that path, and too soon I found myself thinking that I hate sheep. Thankfully I just have to wait a short time to have them vacuumed into the air.
Final Rating
Updated rating due to price drop, and reviewer taking another look. 2->3.
