Welcome, Dear Reader, to the first entry in my new mini-series about roguelike word games.
Over the last few months, I’ve been trying out a bunch of different games in this space, and more recently, my interest in the genre has come into sharp focus thanks to the near-simultaneous releases of Word Play and the game that we’re here to reflect on today: Birdigo.
So, grab a brew, buckle up, and put on your safety goggles as I take you on a tour of the world’s deadliest word games. Starting with the eternal question…
What is Birdigo?
A collaborative project between writer John August (Corpse Bride, Charlie’s Angels) and developer Corey Martin (Bonfire Peaks, Pipe Push Paradise), Birdigo is a new roguelike word game about migrating birds and stacking up huge multipliers.
Birds and wordy roguelikes are not typical lovebirds, but I think this new collaboration is actually a breath of fresh air in a genre that can all too often feel like you’re playing on a remixed Scrabble board.
The theme is really sweet, as you’re trying to score points that equate to flapping wings that will take you between destinations on your journey. Each round requires a higher score, and so you must use multipliers and bonuses to scale your output, otherwise, you will run out of turns and your goose is… cooked.
And no I’m not sorry. In fact, it’s only going to get worse.
The words beneath your wings
Things start off pretty simple, and at first, you have ample turns to make the words you need in order to progress. Longer words give you more “power” and help you get further; however, you can have additional multipliers, depicted here as feathers, that change how your score is calculated.
It’s a little bit like Balatro in the sense that you’re trying to boost both sides of the equation. You can also equip cards like you would jokers, strengthening the results of whatever you play during any given turn.
Instead of a deck of cards, Birdigo gives you a tileset. To be fair, they look a lot like Scrabble tiles, but they can be levelled up – speckeled, gold, platinum, etc – and your words start looking more exciting as you develop your collection. If anything, I felt like this aspect of the game could have been explored even further, and the current system plays it quite safe.
Your play-style will change depending on the multipliers you have access to during that run. There are shops that come up from time to time, but they’re not much help if you don’t have any seeds, the game’s currency of choice. There are some interesting ways to develop a build, but at times, also I found myself feeling like my options were rather limited.
Golden goose or a big fat turkey?
After several evenings spent playing through Birdigo’s various mini-campaigns (in-game, they’re framed as migrations), I have to say that I’m very fond of the bird theme, and the word play underneath it is quite engaging, too.
I think most word nerds will find the fun, yet extended play reveals a system that sometimes plays it safe. Too often, I was rewarded for taking the path of least resistance instead of being pushed to think creatively. Because different tiles all have the same intrinsic value, it often doesn’t pay to play more interesting or unusual words.
I don’t want to end this on a fowl note, because I still enjoyed my time with Birdigo. Furthermore, in a genre that can often lack personality, I think it should rightly be of interest to anyone out there looking for a thematically strong word game.
Birdigo is out now on PC (Win), and I played the game via access kindly provided by the game’s developers and their PR buds.
