Dev Log #1 — Introducing Toby
What is Toby?
Toby is a single-player herding game built in Unity, inspired by a real Border Collie named Toby. You play as Toby — a farm dog — and your job is exactly what a good sheepdog does: use your instincts, your speed, and your presence to gather scattered sheep and guide them through a gate.
It sounds simple. The sheep have other ideas.
The Gameplay
The core loop is herding. Each level scatters 40–60 sheep across an open landscape, and you — as Toby — have to round them up and push them through a gate to complete the level. The sheep don’t just stand there waiting. They use scientifically-grounded flock behavior: they form proximity-based sub-groups, elect temporary leaders, respond to Toby’s position with genuine panic and evasion, and can scatter, split, or stampede in the wrong direction if you approach too aggressively. Getting them moving together as a unified herd is the challenge.
The terrain isn’t flat either. Elevation, slopes, hills, and uneven ground all affect how Toby moves and how the flock responds. Sheep slow on inclines. Toby grips the ground naturally. The world pushes back.
The Story
Running underneath the gameplay is a chapter-driven narrative told through slideshow cinematics and warm narration. Toby arrives on the farm as a wide-eyed puppy who doesn’t know left from right. Over time — through seven chapters — he learns the land, earns Farmer Hale’s trust, survives a frightening storm, ventures beyond the farm fence in pursuit of lost sheep, and ultimately takes his place as the farm’s most trusted hand.
Chapters are unlocked as you play — triggered by completing levels, exploring the free-roam world, or reaching specific locations like Bracken Hill, the hillside caves, or the forest edge.
The World
Between herding levels, Toby can freely explore the farm and its surroundings: fields, a barn, rocky outcroppings, secluded caves, and dense woodland. The free-roam isn’t just scenery — hidden items, rare lost sheep, and story-triggering locations are scattered throughout it.