Parents' Guide to

Shaun the Sheep

By Harold Goldberg, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

Cute character stars in too-short game.

Game Nintendo DS 2008
Shaun the Sheep Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

See all
age 4+

Based on 1 parent review

Julie B.
Julie B. Parent
March 15, 2015
age 4+

My kids love Shaun!

My 4 and 6 year old are hooked on this series! I've looked hard to find content that is non-violent (my 4 yo is very sensitive to that) but also well done. The Shaun series is something that both my husband and I actually laugh at when we watch with our kids. It's 100% inoffensive, so I would recommend it wholeheartedly.
See all 1 parent review

What’s It About?

Animator Nick Park, creator of the beloved clay animation characters Wallace & Gromit, has a new project: Shaun the Sheep a short-form animated series that appears on the Disney Channel. This curious young sheep now has his own video game as well. SHAUN THE SHEEP gets the Nintendo DS treatment with a slight but humorous adventure game that centers upon the bug-eyed mammal's somewhat daunting task of rounding up sheep that have run away from the farm.

Gameplay is quite simple. You move Shaun through various farm locations via the DS stylus and touch objects on the screen in an effort to find the sheep. Sometimes, you'll be asked to blow into the DS microphone to make something happen. Bits of simple-to-read text occasionally pop up to tell you how to examine objects or how to, say, get Shaun to jump on a trampoline. Sometimes, you'll have to search the farm for a key or a toy to unlock a new area in the game. You'll also have to find chicks and return them to their mama hen for various rewards which, humorously, fall from a nearby tree, including even the occasional sheep.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (1):

It's all very cute and intermittently funny. It's a fine concept, except the game's too darn short and repetitive. Plus, you have to retrace your steps so much, that the game becomes boring. The addition of mini games doesn't help much because they aren't very imaginative. With the Whack-A-Mole style game, you must blow into the microphone to get the moles to jump out of their holes before you tap them with the stylus. There's a music game that asks you, with your stylus, to flick away the bad notes on a guitar fret board that are yellow in color. There's a very standard soccer game, too.

Although the graphics are generally above average and the humor is occasionally rich, Shaun doesn't shine brightly enough. The Shaun the Sheep character is well thought out in the TV program. The poor guy deserves much better than this. And so do consumers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what they would do if they lived on a farm and all the sheep got loose. How would you try to shepherd them back and put them in their pens? Would you like to meet Shaun in real life? Is the game better than the TV series? Why or why not?

Game Details

  • Platform: Nintendo DS
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Release date: September 23, 2008
  • Genre: Action/Adventure
  • ESRB rating: E for Comic Mischief
  • Last updated: November 4, 2015

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate