Wool & Whistle – Cosy Collie

You have one very good dog and a hillside full of opinions.

Wool & Whistle is a cosy herding puzzle about a collie called Bess. Tap anywhere and she runs there. Sheep don't like a dog near them, so they move away — which means the whole game is the oldest trick on the hill: get behind them, and walk them where you want them. Up the field, through the gates, into the pen, before the whistle goes.

A ROUND IS A DAY Every day is a short, timed round on the hill. Pen the target number of sheep and you've done a day's work. Pen several in quick succession for a streak. Push too hard and a sheep breaks for the open moor and is gone — a stray, and there goes your streak.

WALLS AND GATES From Day 3 there are dry-stone walls across the field with gates in them. Tap a gate to swing it open, then route the flock through. Open the wrong one and you'll be chasing them back down the hill.

SEVEN BREEDS Swaledale and Herdwick are out from the first day. Suffolk, Jacob, Blackface, Cheviot and the broad, pink-nosed Texel join over the first fortnight, each worth a bit more and each moving a bit differently. One sheep in twenty-five has a blue fleece and is worth double. They all go in the Flock Book.

A BETTER DOG Coins buy a Keen Collie who runs faster, a Wide Whistle the sheep hear from further off, a Wider Gate, a Sheep Bell that keeps the flock together, a Hay Bale you can drop once a round to lure them in, and — once you've earned it — a Second Dog you post with a long press to hold a line.

THE SEASONS TURN April and May bring lambs: pen a ewe and her lamb trots in after her. Summer is shearing, so every sheep pays a quarter more. In December the snow comes down, sheep go white on white, and you listen for Bess's bell to find them.

HILLS THAT NEVER RUN OUT After Day 30 you can move the flock on, starting again on Day 1 with a permanent bonus. Every hill plays differently from its Day 3: scree on Fell Side, a burn with one footbridge in The Glen, bog on High Moor, a cliff edge at Sea Cliff, each with its own breed. After Sea Cliff the hills keep coming, and you can go back to any you've left for a visit.

YOUR FARMYARD The menu is your farmyard. Fit it out with fifty-odd pieces: the farmhouse door, the gate, a trough, a bench, the washing line, Bess's kennel, the wall, the hay store, a weather vane and a sign. Bess has a peg of coats, collars and hats. Every sheep you've ever penned counts towards your rank, from Lamb-herd to Legend of the Fells.

SOMETHING EVERY DAY One small job a day on the shepherd's tally stick, a notch for each, a bonus for seven. An awkward stray turns up every week (an old tup who won't be told, the neighbour's goat, a pet lamb who follows Bess): pen it for something nobody can buy. The wool merchant's cheque comes to the letterbox every couple of hours.

CHRISTMAS ON THE FELL In late November a hay cart stands in the field and a hay barn fills on the menu. In December there's an advent calendar with something for Bess behind four doors and the Christmas Shetland behind door 24.

MADE TO BE COSY • Chunky, hand-drawn sticker art • A whistle you'll want to hear again • Your music keeps playing underneath • One thumb, portrait, no fiddly gestures • Plays offline. Endless days

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