Feather is a serene game about exploration and immersion in a beautiful landscape. Become a bird, fly around and lose yourself in zen-like flow whilst listening to the soothing ambient soundtrack.
At first it seems basic. And simple. You’re literally just a bird gliding and flying around a small island. The world map isn’t that large, and you have unlimited lives. With no bosses or prey, you simply fly about in a wonderfully beautiful paradise, and that’s the extent of the game.
Or is it?
The more I play it the more I realize two things:
1. It’s quite refreshing to play a game that isn’t high stakes. That isn’t competitive or chalk-full of outlandishly hard puzzles and tasks that lead to more stress than fun, game abandonment and/or gamer thumb.
2. There is more to this game than meets the eye, and with each new revelation a dosage of excitement for cracking the code:
- There are several free-standing circular objects with energy auras on the island and you can try all kinds of fancy ways of going through them. There are other circular holes in some of the mountains that act as portals. Not sure what the object is of these as it doesn’t appear to do anything other than give you the satisfaction of making it through them without dying.
- You can go through trees (watch out for the deadly branches!)
- You can go through clouds! And when you do, the visuals are as satisfying as ASMR or popping bubble wrap!!!
- Depending on how you fly, you can use dive bombing as a way to increase momentum. Learning this will help you swoop in and out of small rocky overhangs and the previously mentioned circular objects.
- Occasionally when you dive into the ocean or river you will come out with a fish in your beak and you eat it. NICE attention to detail.
- At first it seemed you were perpetually in a zen-like forever-fly mode. But I was able to land and seat the bird on a variety of walls and corners!
I can’t wait to see what other secrets await.
