I had some free time to play a short game, which allowed me to dive into my backlog and play a game that I was super hyped for, but had never played. I enjoy birds and birding, so it was a natural fit for me to play this week’s game.

This week is my Flock review.

Flock is a multiplayer adventure game from Hollow Ponds and Annapurna Interactive. The game was released on all modern consoles and the PC in July 2024. The game retails for $20.

Flock is not about much other than enjoying the world that you inhabit. You play as a bird rider who is helping their Aunt Jane with the thieving little bewls that stole her whistles, and you need to get them back. Jane is also a zoologist and requires you to study the local animals around the land, in addition to searching for the whistles.

Then, you are off on your cozy adventure.

Flock does not require much from the gameplay department either. Flying is as simple as holding the direction on the thumbstick, flying/gliding is tied to a trigger, and initiating the charming minigame is as easy as pressing the A button.

Though exploration is tied to the story, there is a lot to explore in Flock. This world is vast with varied biomes and little nooks and crannies to explore in hopes of finding the cute flying guys that inhabit the area.

There are long guys, lazy guys, mythical guys, guys that have a literal horn as a call, guys that camouflage as rocks, flat guys, round guys, fast guys, and colorful guys.

Finding Bewls is as easy as finding a lump of grass that resembles a meadow and throwing sheep to eat the grass, exposing them so that your bird friend can snatch them out of their hole. Getting a whistle allows your bird to mimic the calling, so that you can use it out in the wild.

Charming minigames boil down to pressing the A button at the right time. In a dance-like fashion, the player will be looking at parentheses around the creature, and the aim is to line them up to fill the “charm” meter. Do it wrong, and it gets spooked; do it correctly, and the charmed creature is slotted into your flock.

Flock shines because it is such a beautiful-looking video game. Everything is so quirky-looking; the creatures all resemble hot dogs with wings. The areas are all varied, with some that really stand out, such as the giant mushrooms in the forest and the bowls where street art depicting flying creatures can be seen. The creatures are all really goofy (with some being based on real animals, such as whales), but that makes them beautiful in their own right. There are a multitude of creatures to collect, all of which are uniquely colored and sized.

Along with the goofy looks, Flock has some of the goofiest animal calls. I love that my bird friend can mimic the various calls of whistles. It is a joy to listen to the beckoning when it is just a swan’s scream or a jumble of high-pitched notes. Flying around the world has never been so fun when your bird can call, and a random creature will always chirp back.

Flock is a fundamentally cozy video game that is amplified with friends. The overall theme of Creature Collector, mixed with cozy vibes, makes for a fun experience. I rolled credits in about 4 hours, which was partly due to my trying to fill out the creature encyclopedia. The story doesn’t offer much, but the game looks great, and it’s a fun world to be in. I also enjoy birding.

6/10