Shepherd's Dog
Shares rank 28 of 48 browser games by recommenders
Smooth, fun browser game with good sheep movement that works on mobile; critics say a rotate-phone prompt covers the instructions and the game is very simple.
Smooth, fun browser game with good sheep movement that works on mobile; critics say a rotate-phone prompt covers the instructions and the game is very simple.
18 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 10
- criticize it
- 8
- approval share
- 56%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 10 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun to play
“Enjoyed playing it, here's the direct link to play as otherwise you have to click from the article”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “it's still fun and it does appear to measure how good AI is in creating these kind of games”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “after playing this game, I started respecting shepherding dogs' skills even more.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” - Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model”
Smooth controls and sheep movement
“The controls and movement are smooth, the animations aren't jittery, the ui makes sense, there's a clear progression in difficulty.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “The sheep movement is excellent.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Rotate-phone prompt blocks instructions
“Immediately after opening, some notification about rotating my phone is obscuring the instructions and I cannot read them.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “The tooltip about rotating stays in the middle of the screen. Unplayable.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” Very simple, easy to build
“This is a very simple game even a CS student could build for an assignment.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “a trivial game that a teenager could’ve built as a part-time project”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “OP is just pushing slop, the 80% part anyone gets for free.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” Hostile UX and erratic controls
“Cool idea tho, could be a fun game if if the UX wasnt so hostile.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “Controls are disastrous (I’m either barking all the time or a bark makes my sprite ignore my movements)”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” Clickbait title, low effort
“The only reason this is on HN frontpage is the stupid clickbait title.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model” “OP is just pushing slop, the 80% part anyone gets for free.”
Comment from 13 Jun 2026 in “Shepherd's Dog: A Game by the Most Dangerous AI Model”
Other browser games people recommend
The four most recommended other browser games, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TinyWind | 61 | 19 | 76% | 1 | — | — |
| Starfling | 59 | 17 | 78% | 1 | — | — |
| Starcraft: Ashfall | 46 | 12 | 79% | 1 | — | — |
| Half-Life 2 in a Browser | 42 | 11 | 79% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Shepherd's DogThis page | 10 | 8 | 56% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“this seems the credible successor to Activision's stampede from the late 1970s”
“This doesn't happen in the Fable version.”
“the sheep all get stuck in the corners and edges”
“This is a very simple game even a CS student could build for an assignment.”
“the bringing together of various pieces in a form that works well on modern mobile browsers is still impressive”
“after playing this game, I started respecting shepherding dogs' skills even more.”
“Pretty great game, am having some fun”
“The only reason this is on HN frontpage is the stupid clickbait title.”
“a trivial game that a teenager could’ve built as a part-time project”
“Controls are disastrous (I’m either barking all the time or a bark makes my sprite ignore my movements)”
“Cool idea tho, could be a fun game if if the UX wasnt so hostile.”
“OP is just pushing slop, the 80% part anyone gets for free.”
“The sheep movement is excellent.”
“The tooltip about rotating stays in the middle of the screen. Unplayable.”
“these silly devs should make this stuff work on everything”
“it's still fun and it does appear to measure how good AI is in creating these kind of games”
“The controls and movement are smooth, the animations aren't jittery, the ui makes sense, there's a clear progression in difficulty.”
“Immediately after opening, some notification about rotating my phone is obscuring the instructions and I cannot read them.”
“Enjoyed playing it, here's the direct link to play as otherwise you have to click from the article”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.