The Lost Sheep
Leave the ninety-nine. Find the one. A path puzzle in the hills at dusk. The ninety-nine are safe in the fold; one wandered. Tap where the shepherd should walk; cliffs, thorns and the river stand in the way, and the sheep is hidden until you are close. Three lanterns tell you which way the bleat came from. Find the one, lift it onto your shoulders, and carry it home. Eight hillsides.
- Players
- Solo
- Kind
- Walk the story, New
- Built on
- Luke 15:4
- Cost
- Free, inside Living Bread
How to play
- Go after the one. The shepherd stands at the bottom of a hillside grid; the fold, marked ninety-nine, waits at the top.
- Tap any open cell and the shepherd walks the shortest path there. Cliffs, thorns and water cannot be crossed.
- The sheep is hidden until you are within two cells. Raise a lantern, three per hillside, to hear which way the bleat came from and how far.
- Reach the sheep and it is lifted onto your shoulders. Now the way home is the puzzle.
- Carry it to the fold. Rejoice, then climb the next hillside; there are eight, each harder than the last.
A session, start to finish
The first hillside is gentle: a few cliffs, one thorn patch, the fold at the top. Tap a cell and the shepherd walks; get close and a small shape appears where the sheep was hiding. Lift it, and the way home becomes the puzzle. Eight hillsides later, the river and the cliffs are everywhere, the lanterns matter, and the last carry home is the longest walk in the game. Rejoice, then play the near hill again with a child.
The Scripture it stands on
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Luke 15:4, King James Version
What it forms in you
The heart of the seeking Shepherd: that the one is worth the search, that the way back is often harder than the way out, and that heaven rejoices more over the one than the ninety-nine.
Who it is for
Anyone who feels lost, anyone praying for someone who is, children who love a maze, and small groups studying Luke 15.
A reflection
He does not send for the one; He goes Himself and comes home carrying it. You were that one once. Who is the one on your hillside now?
Questions people ask
How do the lanterns work?
Each lantern tells you the direction of the bleat and the distance as the crow flies. You have three per hillside.
Can the shepherd get stuck?
No. If no path leads to a cell the game says so, and you choose another way.
How many levels are there?
Eight hand-made hillsides, from the near hill to the last hillside.
Play it in Living Bread
The Lost Sheep lives inside the app with every other game, your progress, and the family to play it with. Open in Living Bread App Store Google Play
