There are a lot of things happening this week, so I needed a light game to give me the gaming fix I needed without the absolute dedication that games occasionally require. Anyway, I like spelling games. I even bought a board game titled Paperback because I like spelling (and deck builders). It reinforces that I am, in fact, smart, know big words, and that I am good at games. This week’s game combines all of that with my more recent favorite animal, birds.

This week is the Birdigo Review.

Birdigo is a deck-building roguelike from John August, Corey Martin, and GameTeam6. The game was released at the end of July 2025 for the PC and retails for $10.

A huge shoutout to the developer and publisher for the key! I appreciate it so much.

Birds have to migrate, and, funny enough, the only way to migrate is by using a deck of cards with letters of the alphabet on them. Birdigo is very up front with what the player has to do: Make it to the end of a migration path.

That’s it.

There will be obstacles along the way, and the only way to overcome them is with the skill of a good deck builder and speller.

The gameplay loop is simple to understand: Spell words, get points, and abuse the multiplier as much as possible. The migration path is clear, with a set amount of spaces to complete and a set number of points to win the section. Along the way, there will be branching paths to permanent upgrades to help your birds along the way, like more words or discards in each section.

Jump into a section to have the birds rest, and you draw a hand of lettered cards: vowels and consonants included but never guaranteed. Points needed to complete the level are at the top right, and on the bottom are how many words you have to achieve those points and the remaining discards.

Scoring points is relative to word length. Flaps are just regular points, and Power is reserved for the multiplier. Spell a 3-letter word, then the initial Flaps are 3, and the Power otherwise is still 1. There are different tiers of cards, like speckled, gold, and platinum, that apply more flaps to give the player an edge in the early rounds (which are really needed). The more you spell throughout the session, the more multiplier you will get, respectively. Enjoy 4-letter words? Then keep spelling them!

The currency, or seeds, are reserved for when you complete a level in fewer words than the target. Shops are located with a little shop icon on the migration path, and the quirky bird that runs the store has a lot to offer. Feathers are passive ability cards like +Power for playing a word of certain length, increased Flaps for using N, E, W, or S to start a word, and a boost for each card gained, gold, or whatever. There are also music notes to purchase that give the player a one-time boost, like converting a card to a random vowel, converting a card to a specific rarity, or just refilling discards/words.

It’s a simple plan of attack and Birdigo wants you to break it, I think.

I like the discoverable factor in deck builders like Balatro because it makes you feel like you outsmarted the game, but the game wants you to think outside the box and exploit those combos. It was in a matter of minutes that I pieced together noticeable combos to get a significant load of points. Now, my vocabulary is not that great, but it was enough to get me through a migration path or two. As you progress down a path, the game becomes more difficult, so being able to maximize the points is key to winning. There were moments during the first migratory path that I was exceeding the mandated points simply by spelling the word S-E-E. It was fantastic.

Blocky birbs are the best birbs. The birds in Birdigo are adorable, and I love that they hang out while I play the game. I like the blocky textures and the clean environments. Environments are clean and colorful, nothing much to look at but some trees and water, and it’s fine, I’m there to spell words and get big points. I don’t really know bird species, but I definitely saw a blue jay hanging out in the background while I was spelling words. I’ve noticed the farther you go in the migratory path, the more birds will show up, and there was a time, I swear, a dozen birds were dancing in the background, pushing me to spell words and get crazy combos.

Nice elevator-like music plays in the background as I racked my brain trying to understand that I can’t spell a word that has no vowels. Some quirky sounds are present here and there, but the sound design reverberates the casualness of the overall game.

I have 7 hours in this bird-themed spelling game, and I really, really, really enjoy it. The overall gameplay loop is more than enough to keep me coming back for more, even though it is a little difficult. I like the birds dancing in the background as I spell words a 4th grader could spell, I like the ability to rack up massive points by spelling the word JOBS, I like that a seagull runs the shop, and I love how accessible the game is for those who do not play video games. The only thing I don’t like is that picking cards can be a little finicky sometimes, resulting in lost words or misspellings.

It’s also kind of a really good Steam Deck game.

7/10