Like a lot of Brooklynites in their mid-thirties, I’ve become something of an amateur birder in recent years. My favorite thing to do on a nice weekend day is to pop over to a park or cemetery and spend a few hours photographing the local bird population. Mockingbirds, warblers, geese — you name it. It’s a peaceful activity that I often do on my own, but it’s something I also enjoy doing with a pal. Birdwatching becomes a collaborative scavenger hunt in that context, where you both work to spot critters and point them out to each other.
It’s the perfect premise for a co-op video game, and that’s exactly the opportunity Flock Around seizes on so elegantly. Developed by Secret Plan Games, the new $5 multiplayer gem translates the experience of birdwatching with your friends into a chill photography game. With tons of cute birds to snap photos of and a soothing natural soundscape, Flock Around acts as a perfect digital gateway into the relaxing world of birdwatching, both as a solo activity and a social one.
Flock Around tosses you, a colorful tofu block armed with only a camera and binoculars, into a small open-world separated into biomes. There’s no story or specific quests to chase; you’re simply left to wander around a photography sandbox inhabited by a diverse array of birds. Your job is simply to observe them through your binoculars, snap photos of them in various poses, and fill up your guidebook. The ultimate endgame is to get a three-star photo of every bird in each of its four poses (front, side, back, and flying), unlocking new areas once you get a certain number of stars.
It’s a simple concept that works because photography makes for a great video game system. Pokémon Snap proved that back in 1999, taking the basic language of a first-person shooter and applying it to nature photography. The same principles are true in Flock Around, even in a less fantastical setting where each real-life bird is represented as a 2D toon. It’s just as satisfying here to snap a great photo of a bird, thanks to some crisp audio feedback from your camera. A light progression system only enhances that, since you can spend the money you earn from great photos to upgrade your zoom and photo capacity, as well as unlocking tools that identify birds when you aim your lens at them.
Taking a photo is easy, but you need to become a patient observer if you want to get the best shots. First, it’s a matter of finding birds by paying close attention to your surroundings. Do you see something small moving around a tree through your binoculars? Or do you hear a call somewhere off to your left? Follow those signals and you’ll be rewarded with the sight of a purple finch or an American coot. Then, it’s a careful dance to frame your subject just right. You want to get as close as you can without scaring the bird off, and you’ll need some quick reaction time if you want to catch one mid-flight. Learning how to take a cautious approach, snapping a bunch of photos in quick succession, and managing your zoom to prepare for a takeoff are all critical to getting the perfect shot of a hard-to-catch bird.
All of this is true for real bird photography, and I admire how committed Flock Around is to adapting the experience accurately. When I’m out in the park, I have to do the same things in-game. I know that small birds are usually going to scram much faster than big ones if I get too close, for instance. It’s easy to get a clear shot of a beefy Canada goose, but I know that an Anna’s hummingbird will require extra finesse as I track its erratic movements and snap a stream of fast photos when the time is right. I’ve snagged plenty of shots that I’ve been proud enough to save and export to Steam, which Flock Around allows you to do with the press of a button. (The fact that you can even find fast-moving “shiny” versions of every bird adds another compelling observation and reflex challenge to chase.)
All of this works as a relaxing single-player experience, but it also translates perfectly to a multiplayer hangout game. You can play Flock Around with up to 10 people, exploring the map together and showing off the outfits you can buy with your hard-earned money. When you play like that, you get to experience the delight of going birdwatching with a group of friends. You get to walk and shoot together, using proximity chat to alert your buds to a bird you’ve just spotted. During a session with my girlfriend, we split up to wander the world on our own, but would call out to one another when we discovered something rare.
That collaboration is what I love about social birdwatching. I’ve had plenty of experiences in the field where I’ve crossed paths with another amateur photographer who excitedly tells me about the woodpecker they just snapped and points me in the right direction. Those are the kind of kind-hearted interactions with my neighbors that make me feel closer to my community. Flock Around captures that in a real treat of a game. If you give it a try and find yourself smitten by it, that’s a good sign that you should be out in the field with us.
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