It can be like cutting teeth trying to see a game for the youngest of crowds during a vendor event. When D3 offered to show me Shaun the Sheep I was a bit startled. Partly because I had no clue who Shaun is - my kids have gotten older! But also because as I played the game I realized it's for the wee little kiddies and they showed it to me, on purpose!
Assuming you're as ignorant as I - Shaun the Sheep is a series of shorts that run on Disney. The characters themselves have been around for a while - since 1995 on Wallace and Grommit - and have appeared off and on since until receiving their own show in 2007. (It's not noted anywhere but I swear they were in Flushed Away.)
The basic premise of the show as well as the game is that Shaun is a very special sheep. He can talk and communicate just like we humans; but the other sheep are just well, sheep. There's a dog named Bitzer who both helps and hinders Shaun, depending upon the situation. And, like all sentient sheep, Shaun must keep the Farmer from ever discovering his secret.
Of course, the hapless Farmer heads off leaving the pasture gate open and what do the sheep do? They wander off. Shaun heads out to find the sheep before bad things happen to them (because bad things always happen to wandering sheep).
The gameplay is simple, not shallow, just simple. Using an overhead map it is obvious where the missing sheep are, one need only go find them and send them home. Along the way there are old tin (do they still make cans of tin?) cans to remove from the farmyard and pigs to avoid! The pigs are one of a few puzzle solving scenarios, nothing taxing for an adult but just difficult to give a child new to the DS a challenge.
Within the game are several micro games: Flock & Roll - remove the bad music note!; Baaath Time - The sheep need a bath!; and a collection of slide puzzles.
There is little reading required for the title; most queues are visual or aural. Nearly all gameplay requires the stylus so little hands won't need the dexterity of hitting the D-pad, 4 buttons and 2 shoulder pads. It's well-produced, keeps in style with the IP (as I have now learned) and is quite frankly, fun. I wish the title had been available with the DS launch (and third party titles were up to this quality). My then 6-year old would have been happy to have played with Shaun and all his sheep.
I'm a mother of two boys, ages 7 and 10 and live in the chaos that ensues. I've a permanent disability that keeps me homebound, so books, kids, games and books are my constant companions. Oh, and books, too. *grins*
My children both play games so I often play them first, getting to know exactly how something may effect my sensitive and easily stimulated older child vs. my stoic and imperturbable younger.
I like games for games; for the pure enjoyment of them and believe that no game is wholly bad, though some are real stinkers.
I also have the dexterity of a camel in mittens so find playing FPSs difficult (and I also don't like the gore) and RTSs at times can stump me. I just can't seem to move quickly enough to keep up with them. Some of my favorite games are arcade games and I'll spend 3-5 years on the same 5-6 levels because I just never get any better. But, I have fun.
You have not heard of Shaun the Sheep??? Tsk! Tsk!