Mothergamer Plays Herdling

 When I saw the trailer for Herdling I was already in love with how cute the creatures were and the artwork. I knew I was going to try it out for myself. I did make a point to check the accessibility settings and I saw one that greatly pleased me and I highly recommend it. You can turn on immortality for the creatures known as Calicorns so they don't die. They can still get injured, but this prevents animal death which I was grateful for.  From the start, the artwork for Herdling is beautiful looking like a picturesque story book come to life. The game starts by introducing us to a young child who is homeless sleeping under a bridge in a nameless city. The city itself looks practically abandoned and foreboding with the only light source being dumpsters lit on fire and there are empty cars everywhere. We don't get to know what happened in this world because that's not what the story is about. In a few moments the child runs into a creature that looks like a combination of yak and goat with its face stuck in a bucket. 

This is where Herdling truly begins. The child can pick up a nearby stick and get the bucket off and we discover the creature is called a Calicorn. There is then a prompt to not only tame the Calicorn, but we can name it as well. I was fascinated by how adorable the Calicorn was and was delighted that we could also pet it. Then there is a minor tutorial showing that the child must guide the Calicorn with the stick towards the exit out of the city. It took me a minute to figure out how to move the glowing white marker in the direction of where I wanted the Calicorn to go. Once I figured it out, it wasn't terribly difficult and I guided it and discovered two more Calicorns that I tamed with the help of the first Calicorn and named them and then continued guiding them out of the city. 

Taming my first Calicorn. 

There is a very lovely and interesting moment where as we got closer to the exit, there was a painting on a building wall that the Calicorns stopped and looked at. It was a painting of Calicorns in the mountains. Suddenly, the painting glowed a brilliant gold and the fur on the Calicorns glowed the same brilliant hue. I realized because there's no voice acting, the story is told through the actions and art so this was the Calicorns telling the child that this is where they need to go, the mountains were home. It's such a lovely detail and showing that there's a touch of magic to the Calicorns themselves. 

Finally, we made it out of the city and onto a vista of a plains with farms in the background and a train going by. The sunlight was dazzling and the sky lighter and the Calicorns fur also seemed to brighten as if saying that yes, outside of the city in the open with grasses and trees is better. I agreed and ran with my Calicorns discovering you can make them stampede to run faster and their fur changed to the most beautiful primary colors, like a lovely rainbow. Sometimes the Calicorns would get sticks in their fur and I would have to clean them out and then I would pet them all. There's a nice subtle touch that shows when the Calicorns are happy that they're cared for that involves their horns glowing for a moment in those same bright colors. 

Taking a break with the Calicorns.

There are environmental puzzles as you go on your journey such as having to push open a gate to make a ramp for the Calicorns to climb up. You don't have to do this alone however, as many of the puzzles are designed to get the Calicorns to help you. One gate was huge and as I pushed, all the Calicorns lined up beside me and helped to push it open so we could go up the ramp and camp for the night. There's so many cute games throughout Herdling with the child and the Calicorns. You have to find sticks of firewood when you're at a camp site and some of the Calicorns will point them out to you. At some of them, there's a colorful yarn ball and you can throw it and a few of the Calicorns will play Fetch with you. I really enjoyed this and just cuddling with all of them. If a Calicorn is hurt, there are little bushes with bright blue berries on them. You can feed these to the Calicorns to heal them and the berries also build up the stampede gauge as well as strengthening your bond with them. You can also hang cute and colorful ornaments on their horns. I loved all these little details that added to the storytelling.

Petting a little Calicorn on a boat ride.

Crumbling cliffs or narrow paths were not the only dangers my Calicorns faced. Sometimes we would run into some pretty scary predators and the only thing I could do was get them to stampede so we could run quickly to a canopy of trees to hide or through a cave tunnel to escape. Luckily, there were always blue berries nearby so I could heal any of the Calicorns who were injured. There were moments at the campfire where a spirit that looked like a Calicorn would appear in what seemed like dreams, guiding the Calicorns up the mountain. Other times the spirit would appear in front of us on a path and I would find a Calicorn that was hurt nearby. I would help them, tame, name, and the other Calicorns in our herd would joyfully greet them. I started to realize that this spirit was of a Calicorn that had died and it was trying to help and guide them on their journey home to the mountains. It's such a nice and bittersweet element to the story itself.

The spirit in a dream. 

I loved traveling through the different vistas with the Calicorns. Going from the plains to a verdant forest and then through a dangerous, yet beautiful snowy mountain pass was interesting. There are of course puzzles throughout each area that the Calicorns can help with, but I was glad that the puzzles weren't overly complicated and not frustrating. Many were very much open a gate here, figure out where a key stone is for a door, or hiding behind boulders to brace against strong mountain winds. 

I was able to find all 12 Calicorns and as the group gets bigger it definitely adds a layer of challenge with having to keep them all together. I would have to stop often just to do a head count and make sure none were missing. These were also moments I could stop and clean the sticks out of their fur, give them a little rest break, and pet all of them. Any time one of them fell or got hurt, I would be very worried about them and rush around looking for the blue berries to heal them. It was so easy to become attached to the Calicorns because of their cuteness and their varying personalities. One of my favorite ones, their personality was affectionate and every time we stopped to camp they always wanted to play Fetch and have lots of cuddles. 

The music in the game is fantastic matching the mood and vibe of each area perfectly. With each new area the bond between the child and the Calicorns grew to the point by the time we were nearing the end of our journey there was a deep love and trust between them and the story shows this in how much they look out for one another and help each other. Herdling shows that bond in such a wonderfully thoughtful way highlighted through the artwork and music creating a perfectly told story. The game itself is not terribly long, I finished it in seven hours and I loved every moment of it. Herdling is truly an indie gem that is worth checking out because of how well all these elements blend together and I know I will be playing through it again because that's how great the game is.  

Gathered together around a campfire.

*Herdling is available now on the following platforms: Steam, Epic Games Store, Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch

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