Slime Herd

About Slime Herd

Slime Herd is a top-down action puzzle about a mother slime and the trail of babies that follow her. Walk over a baby and it joins your tail; from then on it follows your exact path, one behind the other, wherever you go. Reaching the exit is easy. Reaching it with the babies is the game.

Because babies are also tools. Hold the throw button to charge and release to fling the last one in the direction you face. A baby thrown into water becomes a stepping stone that anyone can cross, forever. A baby that lands on a plate sits there and holds every door open — and you can walk back over it later to pick it up again, which closes the door. A baby thrown near a monster gets eaten, and the monster stops for five seconds to enjoy it.

Monsters patrol along a row or a column and will end the level if they touch the mother. Water cannot be crossed without a bridge. Doors need a weight on the plate. Every level is a small budget problem: which babies become bridges, which one holds the door, which one distracts the monster, and how many are left when you cross the line.

Sixteen levels, each with a three-star goal — the maximum number of babies the level allows you to save. Every goal was verified by a scripted player that had to reach it, so the target is a design fact, not a guess. Two stars for one fewer; one star for arriving at all.

How to play Slime Herd

Move with the arrows, WASD, or the on-screen pad. Babies you touch join your tail.

Hold Space (or the throw button) to charge, release to throw the last baby in the direction you face. A tap goes one tile; a full charge goes four.

Bridge water, weigh down plates, and feed monsters — then walk the survivors to the star.

Touch a monster and the level restarts. R restarts on purpose.

How to play Slime Herd, from first level to last

1. Choose a level from the grid on the home screen. They open one at a time, each unlocking once the previous level has a star.
2. Check the bar above the board: it counts the babies in your tail, the babies lost so far, and the "save ≥" number you need at the exit for three stars.
3. Walk the mother over every baby you can reach. Movement is smooth rather than tile by tile, and holding two directions at once moves her diagonally.
4. Face where you want a baby to go, then hold Space, X or the 🎯 throw button. A dashed yellow line with a dot shows how far it will fly; release to throw the last baby in the line.
5. Use your throws to bridge water, hold plates and distract monsters. Short messages confirm what happened — "plate held — doors open", or that a monster is busy for five seconds.
6. Step onto the star. The level ends the instant the mother touches it, and the end screen lists babies saved, babies lost, the goal and your points, with buttons for the next level or another go for more stars.

Slime Herd tips and strategy

• Gather everyone before you touch the star. Only babies in the tail count as saved. A loose baby sitting a few tiles from the exit is lost the moment the mother arrives.
• Only a baby can hold a plate. The mother standing on a plate does nothing at all. Doors open only while every plate in the level has a baby sitting on it.
• Water and doors turn monsters round. Patrols reverse at walls, water and door tiles, open or shut. A river or a doorway therefore marks the edge of a monster's beat, which tells you where it can never reach.
• Do not park babies beside a patrol lane. Monsters eat any loose baby they pass close to, not just ones thrown at them, and a baby holding a plate is loose too. If a plate sits near a lane, expect to lose the holder.
• Throws fly over everything but walls. A thrown baby sails over water, doors and monsters, so you can lob one across a river onto a plate on the far bank without crossing first.
• Read the countdown. A feeding monster swells slightly and shows "nom" with a seconds countdown beneath it. When the number runs out it carries on along its row or column.
• Tap for close work. The charge fills in a little over half a second, and a quick tap drops a baby only just ahead of you — exactly right for the first water tile in front of your feet.

The sixteen levels and how they are scored

The levels are named for the idea each one teaches: Follow me, One for the river, Hold the door, Dinner bell, Two rivers, Wide water, Bridge then door, Corridor patrol, Round the lake, Toll plate, Feed two, Cross and hold, Vertical patrol, Island hop, Zigzag and The long walk. Monsters patrol either a row or a column: Vertical patrol is where the column walkers first appear, and The long walk puts one of each in the same room.

Points come from stars and survivors together: 10 per star, 4 for every baby you bring home and a 15-point bonus the first time you clear a level. That means a careful rerun of an easy level still pays, and your running total of babies saved is kept on the home screen.

The badges reward particular kinds of play: First herd, Shepherd for finishing level 8, Mother of all for all sixteen, Nobody left behind for three-starring any level after the sixth, Stepping stones for three bridges in a single level, Distraction for feeding a monster and still reaching the exit, 30 stars, and Fifty saved.