Sheep in Space

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title: "Sheep in Space" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1984-video-games", "commodore-64-games", "commodore-64-only-games", "horizontally-scrolling-shooters", "multiplayer-and-single-player-video-games", "multiplayer-hotseat-games", "video-games-developed-in-the-united-kingdom", "video-games-about-sheep"] description: "1984 video game" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep_in_Space" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1984 video game ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox VG"]

Field	Value
title	Sheep in Space
image	[[File:SheepInSpace Title.jpg
caption	Title screen
developer	Llamasoft
publisher
programmer	Jeff Minter
released
genre	Scrolling shooter
modes	Single-player, multiplayer
platforms	Commodore 64
::

|title = Sheep in Space |image = [[File:SheepInSpace Title.jpg|frameless|Sheep in Space]] |caption = Title screen |developer = Llamasoft |publisher = |programmer = Jeff Minter |released = |genre = Scrolling shooter |modes = Single-player, multiplayer |platforms = Commodore 64

Sheep in Space is a video game written by Jeff Minter for the Commodore 64 and published in 1984 by Llamasoft. It is a horizontally scrolling shooter which borrows gameplay from Defender re-themed to involve sheep. The title screen features an arrangement of Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze" by pianist James Lisney.

Gameplay

The player controls a small flying sheep and has the task of defending the planet by shooting down aliens, and preventing them from charging up their "planet buster" gun.

Like Llamasoft's 1984 release Ancipital, the game makes use of multiple gravitational fields - there is a landscape across the bottom of the screen as per a normal shoot 'em up, but also an inverted one across the top. If the player is in the centre of the screen, the projectiles the sheep fires fly straight. Getting closer to the land at the top or the bottom of the screen will cause the projectiles to curve up or down respectively, allowing the shooting of aliens close to the surface. Proximity to the upper and lower surfaces also affects movement speed which becomes slower when near either surface.

The player can land the sheep on areas of grass on either the top or bottom of the screen, in order to reduce its hunger. A stomach meter shows the player's current state of hunger - overfeeding or allowing the sheep to starve will result in the loss of a life. Feeding also replenishes the sheep's shields.

Destroying all of the aliens advances the player to the next level, which has different topography and is slightly more difficult. There are 48 levels in total.

Influenced games and clones

Just as Sheep in Space was influenced by Defender, it in turn inspired the Sensible Software title Insects in Space.

References

References

1. "Sheep in Space Release Information for Commodore 64 - GameFAQs".
2. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
3. "The Goatbuster".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::