Before we start, I will allow you to take a look behind the curtain here: I may or may not have accidentally claimed this code for “The Day I Became a Bird” when trying to return it so another outlet could claim it. But like the great Bob Ross once said, “we don’t make mistakes, we have happy accidents.”

I am thrilled I got to experience “The Day I Became A Bird” not just because it’s the polar opposite of what I usually cover, but because the game itself is well-made, and brought me back to grade school in a cute, charming time machine.

I think there’s something here for adults and kids to really enjoy. The game does a great job of transporting the player to being Frank, the main character, whether they are one or not.The “gameplay” isn’t too taxing for younger kids and the music that accompanies you on every step of Frank’s journey wouldn’t be out of place in a kid’s show, either.

If you’re a fan of short, narrative-driven games, or just want to escape the bad things in the world and be a little kid for a few hours, “The Day I Became a Bird” is for you.

Story

“The Day I Became A Bird” is a slice-of-life, narrative-driven story game set around Frank, a young boy who discovers feelings for his classmate, Sylvia, a young girl obsessed with birds. As the player, you accompany Frank through four days of school as he tries to learn more about his new crush, as well as biking to school, running around the park, completing puzzles, making memories, and more.

Throughout the story, Frank tries to learn more about Sylvia and get her attention. He spends his days pining for her and his nights dreaming about her. Eventually, he learns that Sylvia loves birds and figures that, in order for her to notice him, he needs to become a bird. Frank then scavenges the park to create a bird costume out of sticks, cardboard, and leaves, then dresses up as a bird to try and get her to notice him.

Ultimately, the bird costume fails and falls apart, but he still gets Sylvia to notice him, leading to a cute segment at the end where two birds, allegorically Frank and Sylvia, fly off into the night sky together.

Gameplay

The gameplay progression is usually a loop of:

• A short, illustrated cutscene with a few lines of dialogue from Frank’s inner monologue
• A short gathering section, where players can control Frank to gather items to progress the story. Frank can also grab Golden Feathers, which do…something. Maybe. I haven’t figured it out yet.
• A puzzle section that pushes the story forward following the gathering section
• An endless runner section where players gather Golden Feathers and run through golden loops to finish the stage

There are also a pair of craft sections where the player must use the controller to trace the dotted lines and either draw a picture of a bird or cut out a bird costume. I have to say that these weren’t executed as well as the other minigames but are still important to the overall story, so they can stay.

Graphics and Audio

“The Day I Became A Bird” isn’t trying to be the next “Crysis” with its visuals, nor is it trying to be the next “Final Fantasy” with its soundtrack — and that’s a good thing. A game like this requires visuals and audio that act as conductors for the story they’re trying to tell, and the ones found here do just that.

The art style makes me think of the children’s books I’ve been reading my son for the past few years. The audio wouldn’t be out of place in a “Curious George” or a “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.” Everything is as it should be here. No complaints.

Can You Pet a Dog?

Yes and the game wastes no time allowing you to do so. Petting Frank’s dog was the first thing I did in the game besides walk around the table. Great stuff.

The Verdict 4/5

Buy it. It took me about 2-ish hours across two days to clear “The Day I Became a Bird” and I’m happy I took the opportunity to do it. It’s a fun story and I look forward to sharing it with my son when he gets a little bit older.

Let’s be honest — things kinda suck right now. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a break from the awful surrounding us and do something that gives us joy. “The Day I Became a Bird” isn’t going to occupy your time for 100 hours, but I can almost guarantee that it will be something that makes you smile for a day. Give it a shot, you won’t regret it.

“The Day I Became A Bird” is out now on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5. It is developed by Hyper Luminal Games and published by Numskull Games Ltd.