A Bird Story

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood." ― Tom Robbins
Summary
A Bird Story is a disarming, wordless, wholesome, and very short game about a boy and a bird he finds. It succeeds in its limited runtime in achieving what other games dream of with 10 multiples of that. This is a game made with love, and it shows. Highly recommended.
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Stats
Time played so far: 3+ hours
Achievements unlocked: 1 / 1
Gameplay
You play as a nameless boy in a nameless city.

The controls are as simplistic as can be: They boil down to the cursor keys for movement and the space bar for action.
You move around and interact with your environment at few specific predefined points. These are shown with visual, and sometimes audio, cues to save you time.
Relive your innocent childhood!
Forget everything and anything except the wonder of the little things and find happiness in the purity of that.
Go on an adventure or several with your feathery friend!
Graphics and audio
Pixel graphics in their most basic form and they're still adorable!
The music is so disarming and light. It takes you on an audio journey, telling you the tale of this young boy and his new feathery friend with perfectly timed music notes and rhythms.

A healthy selection of tracks fitting for each scene.
Pros
Wholesome incarnate. I mean it. You need to play it to understand.
The sound design is made so well, it breathes more life into the game for you. When you move to a new part within the same level, within the same floor even, but one which has a different set of characters in the background, the ambient sound effects change. For example, you hear the children at school playing in the yard, so move a little further to the right out out of there and into the small forested area, and now you hear the quiet, only pierced by the happy, non-stop chirping of birds! Oh and the light-hearted music never skips a beat, literally! .
Masterful use of visual and audio cues. It's amazing how much a talented dev can achieve with so little. A Bird Story is a shining example of this.
Immersive from start to finish
Pleasant surprise within!
A scene comes out of nowhere and totally changes the mood...in a good way!
Visually, the game isn't linear by any means and that's part of its genius.
A checkpoint system is employed to save your progress automatically.
Cons
No Steam overlay enabled whatsoever.
So if you usually make use of any of the options it offers, you're out of luck while playing this cute game.
No screenshots can be taken, at least not the regular and easy way.
This point follows the former but its unavailability is quite important that it deserves a separate mention.
The game showcases the ESC button as usable but it almost never worked for me during cutscenes or even during normal gameplay. I'm unsure if I did something wrong or it simply doesn't work. It did work at the very end of the story - i.e. after the post-credits scene - when the game prompted me to hit ESC to exit.
Achievements
Total: 1
The single achievement is unlocked within the course of your playthrough when you complete the story.
I take my time playing my games, so you can most probably finish the game faster than my run of 3 hours.
+1 Perfect Game
Conclusion
Recommended!
Best time to buy is any time. The game is very affordable and I'd say a must-have for any gamer who enjoys heartwarming titles.

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Pro tip
Play A Bird Story right before Finding Paradise. Enjoy the double treat.

A beautiful game and lovely story. The music is just wonderful.
My bird and I:
- Watched TV
- Ate ice cream
- Jumped in puddles
- Experienced a breezy journey
- Saw the sights
- Subverted the authorities
- Learned about life
Sometimes fleeting friendships are some of the best we've ever had. A lot of expression and emotion packed into this detailed pixel story. With little to no dialogue, a funny and melancholic tales unfolds, a boy and a bird, with solid work from Freebird Games.
Great prequel to Finding Paradise! Thank you for that!

A Bird Story is an interlude between To The Mood and Finding Paradise.
The story follows a young boy and his adventures alongside a bird he rescues in the forest. It’s a simple tale about loneliness and friendship.
A Bird Story is like a breathtaking sunset: short, beautiful, and leaving you wanting more.
This game is the perfect example of how a game doesn't have to be 100 hours long to tell a good story.
Pros:
-Pixel art and music
-Short story but meaningful
Cons:
- linear
My review score:
Story -9
Gameplay-6
Graphics -6
Music -10
Overall -7.75

I never stood up very tall.
I think my voice was fairly small.
But there were times I'd wanna to shout.
Though my thoughts weren't sorted out.
So I'd stumble and I'd fall.
I learned to fly because of you.
So if you left，I could go too.
And everything you saw in me.
That's what I wanted to be.
Did I make it after all?
All the grass on the other side.
Is it only greener in my mind？
I'd still want it the same.
Because trading my yesterday.
Is to wish my life away.
We have to learn to let things go.
But let the wonder never fade.
Though we've turned 10,000 pages.
Flying high or stuck below.
I've searched for meaning amidst doubt.
I've finally figured that part out.
And all the stories inside me.
Feels like I'm bursting at the seams.
And you're here after all.
All the grass on the other side.
Is it only greener in my mind？
I'd still want it the same.
Because trading my yesterday.
is to wish my life away.
------------------------- From the Finding Paradise Soundtrack <Wish My Life Away>
dunno why , but i feel like it fits A Bird Story.
i wish the story could be longer

just a short emotional story about a boy and his best bird friend

First of all...WOW...just simply...WOW.
Not a single word shown, yet a thousand spoken. A story about friendship, trust and love.
Short one, yes, but large one in every aspect.
The atmosphere is almost unique, the music was right on the mark, retro looks, some Easter eggs that tribute some other games like Zelda, Super Mario.
I can go on, but I'll stop and leave rest of you to fully enjoy it for yourselves and experience something beautiful in this strange and somewhat dark times.
I really enjoyed playing this simple yet pretty deep game.
Thank you Freebird Games for making this masterpiece...Saikeirei

interesting short story (about 1 hour long) the story is told without conversation, just with gestures and symbols. accompanied by great music.