What would you do for love? Write a love letter? Make the object of your affection a red velvet cake? Or perhaps you would wait on an online queue for 36 hours to secure tickets for a BTS concert? They’re all very valid acts of affection for someone you’re already in a relationship with, or perhaps reasonable and not too off the charts for a beau you’re trying to woo. What about transitioning to a bird for someone you’ve never spoken to? That’s the premise of The Day I Became A Bird.
Before you type into Grok any prompts that might satisfy your curiosity, whether this is now a thing, this game from Hyper Luminal Games is certainly surreal, but it’s nothing adult-related. Far from it. I played this in one 72-minute sitting with my 8-year-old, and we both absolutely loved it and were giggling from start to finish. In short, it’s like a Charlie Brown coming-of-age thing, only excellent, and our hero (Frank) is a delightful nutter you can’t help but fall in love with. And it all starts with a face plant.
Frank rolls out of bed, flat on his face, and kickstarts his day by feeding his dog, Chief, a slice of toast. That’s not the most bizarre of introductions, however, his hallway is decorated with gold feathers – a collectable artefact that adorns every page of this interactive picture book. The art style in The Day I Became A Bird is magnificent and terribly inviting. Just as you’re admiring the soft, wholesome palettes, you notice a stereo pumping out some beats that you can interact with. In true Mr Bean style, Frank has a little boogie, then picks up his football and places it on his saddle. You can’t help but love this naive little scamp.
On the way to school, you mingle with the other kids and listen to all manner of dialogues that are absolute nonsense, but we’ve all been there. Talking about the latest episode of a show, roleplaying the latest fad, or creating conspiracies that the teacher has tentacles. It’s rather charming, but Frank isn’t interested in this. All he cares about is Sylvia, a loner of a girl that the other kids don’t get, who is utterly enamoured by the local bird population. Wanting to be part of this, Frank sets out to earn her affection and starts to make that transition into a bird. Alas, this isn’t a Terry Gilliam-inspired outing, as one can’t change their physical structure; however, Frank certainly has a screw loose.
What entails is a series of QTEs that include collecting those feathers, wiggling the joystick, pressing a button at the right time, and more. At the start of The Day I Became A Bird, you can simplify this to one-button presses. Foolishly, I opted for this, thinking it needed to be accessible to my little girl while we played on the Steam Deck. However, you’ll be missing out on a lot with this mode, and I must stress that you should avoid this unless you have no choice. These minigames are incredibly forgiving from a casual perspective. The only one we struggled with was a tracing task, and the two of us kept failing, yet with hilarious results. It was a proper belly laugh of an experience.
Poor Frank is in love, and he does some very peculiar things in this tale. Still, he’s so lovable, and it’s such a delight to experience. The illustrations are gorgeous, the QTE experiences are fun, and even the tile sliding puzzles between segments are a nice addition, too. The Day I Became A Bird isn’t remotely challenging, and as noted, can be finished in just over an hour, but it’s such a lovely experience, and when asking my daughter for feedback, she queried whether this would be a recommended title. I think her statement sums this one up.
Yes, because it was funny in most parts, and I enjoyed playing it. Frank was really funny that he decided to dress as a bird, and I thought he was very silly – especially at the start when he rolled out of his bed and landed on his face!
And that’s how you give a verdict: recommended!
