A round of Sheep Tag Online, mark by mark

• The clock
• The den
• The release
• The long middle
• The push before dark
• Night
• The end
• Longer and shorter rounds

The whole round on one clock

The clock at the top of the screen counts down twice: first to the release, then to the end. So when this page says 1:00, that is what you will see on the clock, not how long you have played.

Before the release: the den

For the first 40 seconds the wolves are shut in their den in a corner of the map, and nobody can be tagged. This is the only part of the round the sheep fully own.

• As a sheep: you start with 15 gold and earn 1 a second, so you have had 55 gold to spend by the release. Spend nearly all of it: gold still in your pocket when the den opens is a wall you didn't build. Keep a few back to upgrade the first wall the pack chews. What to build first has the opening.
• As a wolf: you start with 10 gold and earn 1 a second, so you have 50 at the release. That is exactly one level of Iron Claws, and you can buy it in the den. A wolf you play can walk the back of the den while it waits, but it can't leave or use an ability. Bot wolves wait on their spot.
• Against bots, the wolf's wait can skip. With Skip the den wait on in Settings (it starts on), the den time runs fast forward and you get a 3, 2, 1. The bot sheep still get their full build time. Online rooms always wait.

The release, and the first 15 seconds

The clock reads 7:20 and the den opens. Wolves run at 4 tiles a second to a sheep's 3.6, and a wolf that touches a sheep tags it. This stretch is the most dangerous of the round for a sheep with no fort yet, because the sheepdog isn't out.

• Sheep: be inside your walls when the clock hits 7:20, with your door closed or watched. Keep Leap for the wolf that finds you, not the first one you see.
• Wolves: go for the sheep that are still building out in the open. A finished fort will still be there in a minute. A sheep halfway through its first wall won't be.

At 7:05 the sheepdog comes out of the pen. It runs to the sheep in the most danger, and when a wolf gets close it barks: every wolf within 3.6 tiles is shoved back up to 2.6 tiles and slowed for a moment. It can bark once every 10 seconds, so a wolf that just got barked at has a free run until the next one.

The long middle

Most of the round is here, and it is where rounds are won slowly. Nothing announces it. What changes is gold.

• Sheep earn, wolves earn per tag. A sheep's 1 a second (plus any Windmills) keeps coming. A wolf earns 1 a second and a bounty for every tag: in the default round the tagger gets 15 and every other wolf 5. Gold and stats has every number.
• A tag costs the flock its farms. A tagged sheep loses every farm it built and waits in the pen in the middle of the map as a spirit until another sheep touches it. Spirits and rescue covers the run.
• Upgrade before you spread. A wall you made thicker in the middle is the wall that holds at night. Upgrade or build new? does the math.
• Wolves: shop between fights. Iron Claws, then a ward on the fort you keep losing track of. A Potion of Strength for the one Brick House in your way. Items and upgrades has a buy order.

The push before dark

Wolf bots don't wait for night. On Normal they go all in at 1:50 on the clock, 50 seconds before nightfall. On Hard it is 2:20. Going all in means they spend every coin, use every ability as soon as it is ready, leave the pen and hunt the softest sheep together.

If you are a sheep against bots, that is your real deadline, not night. Have your last upgrades done and your Leap ready by then. If you are a wolf with people on your team, do the same thing on purpose: a pack that hits one fort at once breaks it, and two wolves on two forts break neither.

Night, the last 60 seconds

At 1:00 the clock turns urgent and night falls. It deepens over 20 seconds and is fully dark at 0:40. In the dark:

• Wolves run up to 10% faster: a Wolf at 4.4 tiles a second, a Shepherd at 4.13.
• Wolves see 25% less far, and sheep see 20% less far.

My read: night favors the wolves on open ground and the sheep behind walls. A sheep that is walled in and stays put is hard to find in the dark. A sheep that runs across the map at night is a sheep that gets caught. The wolves' best move is a Howl at nightfall, which shows every sheep to the pack, and then a straight run at the weakest wall.

How a round ends

• The wolves win early the moment every sheep is a spirit in the pen. A round can end at any point after the release.
• The sheep win at 0:00 if a single sheep is still standing. It doesn't matter how many are in the pen.

Then the results: Play again, Watch replay to see the whole round again, and Share result. Against bots or in a quick match there is also Play again, swap sides, which puts you on the other team. In a room, the host can set sides to swap every round instead.

Longer and shorter rounds

In a custom game you pick the length (Auto, 5, 8, 12 or 20 minutes) and when the wolves come out (after 20, 40, 60 or 90 seconds). The night is always the last 60 seconds and the dog always joins 15 seconds after the release, whatever the length.

• A short round with an early release is a sprint: walls stay thin, and Leap and good legs decide it. Good for learning the wolves.
• A long round is an economy game. Windmills pay for themselves, forts become castles, and wolves need every level of Iron Claws.

Every way to set up a match: game modes.