A little birdie told me that one of our favorite developers, Bart Bonte, has recently celebrated ten years of blogging and crafting puzzles. He's released Song For a Bird to celebrate, during which you help form sentences describing the small purple bird that happily flits around between different perching spots on a tree. This game combines point-and-click, puzzle, and typography in the form of giving cryptic hints forming a word or phrase that you need to spell out using different "leaves" on the tree, each associated with a letter. As you click each leaf, it flips over and the writing on it withers away, meaning that each can be used but once, slightly simplifying your task.
Song For a Bird is a creative interpretation of typographically encouraging you to see patterns and construct words in carefully revealed sentences to (perhaps?) show the whimsical thoughts of a feathered friend. I enjoyed this novel approach and some of the puzzles did make me think a little while before the moment of realization dawned on me. The charming, wistful soundtrack adds a nice touch as one solves the puzzles. I do wish it was longer, with perhaps a few more levels and intricacies, but then again, perhaps a good game is one that leaves us longing for more.
To play, you will use the mouse exclusively, as any keyboard input is ignored. You click on the different leaves, each with a letter written on them, to spell out the word that you think is the answer. A leave with a yellow and black x appears after you start "typing" with your mouse, in case you click the wrong leaf by mistake or discover your answer was incorrect, allowing you to clear any input. There's also a staggered hint system available from the bottom-left of the screen, giving some tips if you do get stuck somewhere. But that's enough of me talking - time for you to spread your wings and give it a try.
Not as tough as most Bonte games. I actually found it got easier towards the end.
But a lot of fun, as usual.
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