Games You Might Have Missed: Tiny Bird Garden

Tiny Bird Garden is a free-to-play mobile game by Super Retro Duck that came out just this week on 11/15! It’s available to play on both Android and iOS.

The main point of the game is simple: customize your garden so tiny birds will visit. There are two different ways to ensure that this will happen. One, be sure you keep your bird feeder full. If there’s no seed, the birds won’t come by. There are multiple different kinds of seed that have different uses, so it’s up to you to decide what you want to use. The second way to get birds to your garden is to buy toys and place them so your visitors will have a place to hang out and have fun. These toys are usually perches or places for the birds to hide, and have varied fun designs.

Once the birds come to your garden, you can dress them up with all kinds of cute accessories from the “hats” section of the store, and give them gifts from the “treats” section. Giving gifts makes the birds happy and keeps them coming back. The bird journal logs which birds you’ve seen and gives details on their personalities. There are over 50 birds currently, each with a unique aesthetic and personality, which give the game a Pokemon-esque collect them all vibe.

These aspects are where the free-to-play dynamics come into play. To buy anything in the game, you have to use feathers. There are regular feathers that buy most things, and shiny feathers that can be used to get luxury items. Every time a bird visits your garden, they’ll leave feathers for you, but if you want more you can use real currency to buy more.

Tiny Bird Garden does a really good job of not being too aggressive about asking for money. I’ve played a lot over the last 2 days and have yet to see a window pop up asking if I want to purchase something. Ads don’t pop up in-game either; they’re limited to when you open the menu and aren’t always present. There are no power ups or time windows that keep you from accessing content. Even the shiny feathers are pretty easy to get as birds will just naturally leave them for you. The drop rate on them does seem to be a bit lower than the regular feathers, but I’ve amassed a good amount without spending any money so far.

While I haven’t spent any money so far, I probably will because I want to support one of the developers, Daisy Ein. Though I don’t know them personally, they’re one of the most positive people I’ve seen on Twitter and it’s wonderful. This attitude transferred beautifully to the game.

Everything about Tiny Bird Garden is rooted in optimism. The birds all say sweet things and leave kind messages with the feathers they leave for you. Even their bios include how many of them want to be the best they can be, or how they’re trying to be good parents or friends. Mechanically, TBG leans into cuteness; you buy outfits to make the birds even cuter, you give them gifts so they’ll be happy and emote. When you tap them, they jump up in joy adorably. Even the music is soothing and catchy. With so many things going wrong every day, having this little spot of joy at my fingertips has been a perfect way to distract myself.

If you’re looking for a game when you’ve got a few extra minutes on your hands and you need a shot of happiness to get you through your day, Tiny Bird Garden is a great pick. Everything about it from the music, to the art, to their non-aggressive price model keeps stress at bay and brings on the cute.

All images courtesy of Super Retro Duck’s Tiny Bird Garden