The Day I Became a Bird is based on the book of the same name by Ingrid Chabbert and illustrated by Raúl Nieto Guridi. Developed by Hyper Luminal Games (the same team behind Pine Hearts) and published by Numskull Games, it’s is a tale of first loves, self-discovery, and spreading your wings.
You play as Frank, a young boy, who began the day as many young boys do. Greeting their dog, getting on their bike, and riding to school. Along the way, Frank comes across his classmate, Sylvia, and falls in love.
If you’ve been around the Cafe for a bit, you’re probably aware that I have a son. Because of that, I immediately took to Frank. He’s earnest in his affection for Sylvia, but she only has eyes for the various birds in the world; she draws them, observes them, and even makes them part of her wardrobe.
So how will you get her attention? By being a bird, of course.
The story comprises simple mini-games, finding items, collecting feathers, and solving increasingly intricate jigsaw puzzles. The mini-games are simple enough, with a few exceptions. I felt the cutting cardboard game you had to do while you were crafting your costume could have been a little easier. In that one, you had to keep your scissors between two red lines, but sometimes it was difficult to maneuver around curves or other harsher angles.
The visuals in the game paid great tribute to Guridi’s style in the book without just being a one-for-one copy. The use of color was fantastic, and the music a perfect compliment to the story being told.
While it’s a beautiful game and the story made me smile, I have trouble throwing my full enthusiasm behind the game for the price, though. It’s $19.99 USD, and while there is a small bit of replay value (gathering more gold feathers), it’s still something I only spent maybe 90 minutes in.
The Day I Became a Bird is available now for PC, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation.