The debate of “what is a game?” pops up every now and then when a high concept creation emerges. Well, let me settle it for this one. Feather, by Samurai Punk, is not a game. Feather is, however, an enjoyably engaging serene experience.
The design of Feather is pretty wondrous: you casually explore an island as a bird with no goals, or challenges to overcome. It is simply a bird-simulation experience with a very humble and modest soundtrack meant to encourage a very zen-like environment.
When I first downloaded Feather, I was incredibly disappointed. My expectations were of something more engaging, more anything, really. After all, there was no shred of actual ‘gameplay’, let alone a visual cue to let me know that I was playing a video game. But once I got over my own preconceived notions of what I wanted Feather to be, I immediately fell in love with what Feather was trying to accomplish.
Instead of forcing myself to find a purpose in the game, I gave myself the opportunity to simply plug my headphones in, and simply mellow out. Feather didn’t demand that I play for hours at a time, or grind towards some arbitrary goal. It just let me be, and in doing so, gave me such clarity and peace of mind.
Feather helps make this happen with it’s fantastically ambient soundtrack – I’m a sucker for subdued piano pieces and this game churns it out. Getting sick of a particular piece? No problem, just fly through any gate to change it. Exploring the island and interacting with the water, clouds, and other items, invites additional chimes. Unfortunately, there only seems to be a few pieces, so the variety is a bit limited. The feel of Feather is further enhanced by the aesthetically pleasing cell-shading-like style. The color pallet isn’t aggressive nor flashy, but clearly an intended earth-tone style. I really liked this, especially someone who wears glasses and stares at screes often at work, because it gave me something new too look at. I am always annoyed when games throw very bright or full-on aggressively-white screen for the sake of it, especially when it strains the good-ol eyes.
With all this, Feather also offers simple, effective, and intuitive interactive mechanics. Within 20 seconds I was in the air, turning, speeding up, and slowing down. Happily, there are a slew of customization with the button layout, language, among others to tailor the experience for the player.
However, my biggest frustration was with the camera. If you’re totally fine having the camera behind the bird during your experience, then there’s no issue. The camera, at this angle, doesn’t spazz out nor presents any hiccups. The issue that kept occurring (or is simply intentional) is that once I change the camera angle, after a second, it snaps back to the starting behind-the-wings angle. Additionally, there’s a passive option for multiplayer, allowing other players to join each others’ world and relax among each others’ presence.
Regardless of the minor gripes, Feather is a great meditative experience ideal for players who just want to fly away….but don’t know where their soul is….(sorry, that Nelly Furtado reference crept in). I plan to continue this peaceful adventure to relax and get into a calming mindset and certainly recommend it for others who want to do the same.
Harry Loizides is a contributor for Duel Screens and also manages Middle of Nowhere Gaming. When he isn’t making cool math projects for his students, he’s busy catching Pokemon and (still) conquering ancient Greece in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Be sure to catch his adventures on Twitter and Instagram.
