About this game

A paddock is seen from straight above, with a yard at each end and 11 sheep grazing in the middle. Each player has a sheepdog: a red kelpie for Red and a black one for Blue. After a 3, 2, 1 count both dogs are off at once. Six sheep in your yard wins the round.

To steer, put a thumb down at your own end of the screen and drag. A ring shows round your thumb. Drag a little way and the dog walks that way, drag out to the ring and it runs, and when you lift your thumb it lies down.

The sheep move away from a dog and they like to stay together. Walk up behind the mob and it moves off in one group, so you can steer it through your gate. Run straight at it and the sheep panic and scatter. Both dogs are working the same mob, so a good push can be turned round by the other dog a moment later. A sheep counts for whichever yard it ends up in, whoever sent it there.

The dashed ring round each dog shows how close it can get before the sheep notice. The ring is small when the dog lies down and grows as it speeds up. The ram is big and slow to shift, the lamb bolts first, and the one black sheep is easy to keep an eye on.

Each gate has a dashed half circle in front of it that the other dog can't enter. Sheep that get that far follow the others into the yard.

There are four paddocks, and each is the same from both ends:

• Home Paddock: open ground. Every match starts here.
• The Gums: four gum trees that split the mob as it goes past.
• The Dam: a round dam in the middle. Dogs can swim across, slowly. Sheep go round.
• The Race: a fence across the middle with a gap at each end.

A round has 90 seconds. If nobody has six sheep by then, the yard with more wins. If the yards are level, play goes on and the next sheep into either yard wins the round.

Two players lay the phone flat between them. Red plays from one end and Blue from the other, and Blue's sign and messages are turned round to face Blue. On your own, you play Red against the computer. On easy its dog is slow and often lies down. On hard it runs wide round the mob and comes after the sheep you have nearly got home.

Good for

• Two children sharing one phone or tablet
• Wet play, when the class can't go outside
• A quick game between two finishers at the end of a lesson