The Day I Became a Bird – A Heartwarming Tale of Young Love

“Think of yourselves as dung beetles. Yes! Dung beetles lug their balls of dung around… We all have our own ball of dung to lug around. We’re all dung beetles, in our own way.”  Ingrid Chabbert

Overview

The Day I Became a Bird is a charming interactive fiction game based on the children’s book of the same name by Ingrid Chabbert. It follows a young boy named Frank as he discovers newfound feelings for one of his classmates.

Narrative

The Day I Became a Bird follows a slightly awkward young boy, Frank, as he discovers feelings of affection towards a girl at his school called Sylvia. Unfortunately, she only has eyes for the birds, prompting Frank to try to find ways to connect with her. It is an endearing story of innocence and honesty, and the first fluttery feelings of a childhood crush.

The story is told through the gameplay itself, as well as through the game’s visuals, and occasional narrative-focused stills with small amounts of text. It is a heartwarming tale that is easy to follow, providing a nostalgic glance back at the simplicity and purity of a youthful romance.

Gameplay

The Day I Became a Bird consists of four short chapters, and the entire game can be completed within 1-2 hours. It uses simple controls and includes a small quest log to remind players of their current task. The main sections of each chapter involve playing as Frank and completing objectives such as petting the dog, finding a set number of a specific item, or sharpening a pencil. These sections have golden feathers throughout, and a certain number must be obtained in order to progress. Optional activities, such as playing on a roundabout, can also award feathers.

In addition to the main sections of gameplay, there are also cutting-out mini-games and jigsaw-type puzzles to complete. The jigsaws increase in difficulty throughout the game, but are never really challenging. There are also times when Frank appears in endless runner-esque levels, including when he is riding his bike to school. Completing these involves passing through a set number of hoops; there are also feathers that can be collected.

Styling

The Day I Became a Bird uses a delightful 3D art style for most of the game, overlaid with sketchy hand-drawn elements with delicate line work and favouring muted and pastel colours, giving it a very calm feel. Some parts, such as the narrative stills, are presented entirely in the hand-drawn style that is suitably reminiscent of children’s book illustrations. Cute animations, such as Frank doing a hopscotch, really emphasise his childlike curiosity and joy, endearing players further to the young protagonist.

The music is very gentle and not especially prominent, providing a relaxing but pleasantly emotive audio backdrop for the narrative and gameplay. Immersive and somewhat soothing sound effects, such as leaves rustling in a gentle breeze or birds cheerfully chirping, are a wonderful addition that really help bring Frank’s world to life.

The overall aesthetic is quite adorable, with a calm and hopeful ambience that perfectly suits both the narrative and gameplay elements.

Summary

The Day I Became a Bird is a wonderful little interactive fiction that will warm the hearts of its players. It offers beautifully twee art and sound design, adorable animations, a charming narrative, and fun, relaxing gameplay. I did experience a PC crash while playing and discovered my Ryzen 7 7700X CPU had reached 95°C, which, especially given it runs alongside an RTX 4070 and 64GB ram, should not have occurred and suggests possible optimisation issues. I was able to complete the game, monitoring various PC temperatures closely, and I very much enjoyed the experience, which was utterly delightful right from the start. Having said that, some may find the price tag a bit steep for the short play time provided, leaving me hesitant to recommend it with too much gusto.

Looking for more family-friendly games with the cute factor? You may also enjoy these reviews:
Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge – The Lost Dachshund – Asfalia: Fear – Garden Buddies

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