Birdigo (John August, Corey Martin) is my casual/cozy word game that I am currently playing. It’s a word game that is a combination of Scrabble and Balatro (Local Thunk). You are a bird and you have to score words to make the filgght to each stop on a route. There are different conditions for each route, and you have to finish one to unlock the next.
There are feathers that modify something for the whole run. Like, you get ten flaps per each X you play. Flaps are points. There is also a power stat, and you multiple the two. I never know exactly how many points I’ll be getting per hand, which makes things very interesting.
This game very much has that “Just one more run” feel to it. Not quite as much as Balatro did, but that’s a good thing. I got so lost in that game; it really felt like an addiction that I just couldn’t quit. I lost actual days to the challenges, and at one point, I was so focused on finishing the Orange Stakes on the Plasma Deck, I had lost all the joy of playing the game. It’s supposedly the easiest deck, but it was the hardest one for me. I just could not get the hang of it, and there was a point where I was actively hating the game. That’s when I walked away from the game.
This is one of my issues (and probably partly because of me being neuroatypical): When I get into something, I get obsessed with it. It’s all I can think of, and I cannot let it go. It can be a good thing, such as with my martial arts. It allows me to focus on, say, the Double Fan Form until I taught the whole thing to myself. It took a year, yes, but I kept at it through the tough times. I don’t know why I didn’t quit–well, yes I do. It’s sheer stubbornness, really. I’m not competitive with other people, but I’m very competitive with myself.
I challenge myself to be the best, however, and sometimes, I’m too hard on myself. That’s because I’m Asian; that’s how we do. It’s also because I had parents who didn’t say much of anything nice about me or to me. Yes, that was partly an Asian thing, but it was also dysfunction. One thing I say to people is just because something is cultural, it doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. What I mean by that is that every culture has its negative aspects, and I used to bristle when people tried to hold up Asians as the model minority because it’s just another way of not seeing us as individuals.
How the hell did I get here from where I was? I’m not sure, but whatever.
Back to the game! Oh, I see how I got there.
Anyway.
A run is easy-breezy and doesn’t take very long. I can do several in a row without it being taxing. Like Balatro, you have to figure out the best strategy for the particular route. Also, there is very little instruction, This is one of my gripes about indie games in general. As I’ve said, I don’t need to have my hand held–I play FromSoft games, after all), but there should be some basic rules explained.
Also, for whatever weird reason, if my caplock is on, then I can’t typee in this game. The first time it happened, I thought i had broken the game somehow. That’s another thing with indie games–I can’t tell if something is broken or I’m doing something wrong. And, I’m also more lenient with indie devs for all the reasons I’ve mentioned before.
Right now, I’m working on the plat. I wish I weren’t, but…I am. I hate that I’m like this, but I can’t help it. Whenever I get close to the plat, I suddenly start caring. A lot. Like I said, I’m competitive with myself. And I’m obsessive. I have three achievements, and I’m already dreading the grind. I’ve done a bit of it, and, yeah.
If I were smart (which I’m not), I would quit now. Get away while I’m ahead and while I still have joy for the game in my heart. I know myself, though. I’m not going to do that.
But! I have started playing Creature Kitchen (The Rat Zone) for real, and that might take over my obsession. I have found that the best way for me to get over a game is to play a different one. You know, like the saying, “The best way to get over a lover is to get under another one.” That’s how it is with games for me. It has to be in the same genre, too. Well, not genre as defined by the indulstry, but genre as what it means to me. So both Creature Kitchen and Birdigo would be cozy/casual/comfort games to me.
Just like I would consider Dark Souls III to be in the same genre as…I was going to Lies of P (Studio8/NEOWIZ) (because we were talking about it in the Discord), but those are the same genre. Basically, I play one ‘hardcore’ game and one casual/cozy game at the same time (not literally the same time, but in the same time period). I may try a few (or several) demos at the same time, but it’s usually five or ten minutes per demo.
Back to Birdigo. For the most part, it’s pretty chill and easygoing. But, when I fail to make the goal by one point, I can pretty salty. I really wish there was an easy way to see how many points I’m getting per hand before I cash out. There might actually be one, but I can’t find it. Which, again, is one of my lowkey grumblings about indie games.
Of the three achievements I have left, one is to win each round with one word; one is to finish the last route; and the third one is to win seven daily migrations. I think the second an the third ones are doable. I thin kthe first one…is going to be really rough. I got so close once, and then got totally screwed by the RNG. And I mean completely.
Here are my few gripes. One, if there’s a perk for a letter, it should include the times you use the wilde card (asterisk). For example, if I get +10 flaps for a word ending in “ing”, then I should get it for “*ng”. The second one is that Y should not count as a vowel. It’s cheating, really, when it’s the only vowel in a hand of seven or eight. And, lastly, the RNG needs to be tweaked.
I understand how RNG works. I understand true probabilities. I maintain that they are not fun in video games. Or rather, they can oftentimes get in the way of having fun. I’m not saying the devs should make the game cheat…but I’m not saying they shouldn’t, either.
I’m firmly on the side of stacked RNG or anything that makes it more fun for tthe playe.r I will say I did have fun for most of the game, and it’s a good way to keep my word skills honed. I give it a thumbs up and heartily recommend it for those who like Wordle and Scramble.