Indie Week || 12

Watching birds and a creepy vibe was enough to appeal to me. I did not expect the rollercoaster the game put me through.

Humankind is erased. An untameable fire gushed through the whole world and eats up everything in between. Forests, cities, animals and people.
Through a miracle we persevere. In fear of the flames we fled to a high mountain, and were spared. A couple of birds are our only companions. Hoping for any survivors would be a mad delusion. Humanity is dead, and we are satisfied spending our last days in peace.

On a seemingly normal day, we grab our binoculars and watch the birds. The wind rushes through the trees, the birds chirp, but suddenly a shrill sound interrupts. A distorted sound comes from our radio. We only carried it to keep the time and temperature in check. How can someone call us? Is there actually another survivor?

The man introduces himself is Caio. A military officer, who travels with his brigade to ensure humanity prevails. He is rude, demands us to check a tower for him without any questions. They will soon be here, invade the forest to rebuild society.
However, that is not the only weird event this day. Out trustworthy companion Freaky, a bird that has been affectionate to us from the beginning, starts talking. „Master! We need to stop them!“. Thus, our adventure begins.

The game mainly consist of exploration. You traverse through different areas, to find the other birds to request their aid. Some birds are friendly, some birds need more convincing. First you need to strip naked and attach feathers to your whole body. It does not stop there. You might have to turn into a bird-man-hybrid, to convince the sceptical and apathetic birds. No human did them anything good and the world is coming to an end anyway. Why would they help you?

Let me tell you, I did not expect the game to escalate as much as it did. What started as a quest to search for birds and stop a madman, turned into a creepy and gory adventure. Our observations lead us through dark caves and forest. We stand still, yet there is the sound of crushing sticks. Are these footsteps? What is that big shadow we spot on the other side of the lake?
The birds talk. Some insult me, some tell me stories. Others throw suggestive remarks around. We find bones throughout the place. Human bones. There are mysterious notes around. Some talk about the rising temperatures, some about playing tic-tac-toe with a bird and drawing penises around the paper. Others investigate the strange events.

The game took me 4.5 hours to play through it three times and get all endings. I rarely replay games for different endings, but the mystery here for so compelling. Every new note, every additional story from the birds, every conversation with Ciao, they all add up different clues and ideas. As heartbreaking as the „bad ending“ was, as useful was the information.

My head was spinning with theories and emotions. The love for the birds, the protection of my trusty companion, the threatening yet human sides of Caio. Are you watching the birds or is someone watching you? Only the birds will know.