Flock review: Fine feathered friends

Those who have followed the indie gaming scene for the last decade may have fond memories of Richard Hogg's Hohokum, a playful game about flying around, often aimlessly, and discovering colorful new worlds. Flock, Hogg's latest effort in conjunction with I Am Dead studio Hollow Ponds, carries much of Hohokum's playful spirit. With some light objectives and the option to journey with others, Flock feels like a relaxing flight through the skies.

Who's that... bird... thing?

Flock's story is a simple one. Players fly to an expansive chain of islands in the sky atop their hover-sheep. This is where they meet Aunt Jane, a zoology professor looking to document the local avian species. Creatures on these islands are weird and funny-looking, so it's understandable why she'd be curious to document them. The main goal is to venture across the open world and fill the Creature Guide with every species in the game, similar to what a bird watcher would do as a hobby. However, discovery is just part of the Flock experience.

Aunt Jane's whistles are quickly stolen by some mischievous thieves known as Burgling Bewls. These whistles are what allow players to charm the various species going about their routines in the uplands. Charming any of the creatures is what draws them to your titular flock. There aren't any bonuses, gameplay boosts, or anything like that attached to having different species in your flock. It's all about visual flair and aesthetics. This isn't an idea to be overthought. Having a froggie-looking flying bird thing with a giant chin flying beside you is just plain fun.

Bird calls

Flock's controls take a moment to get used to because its premise would suggest freedom of flight. That's not entirely the case. Movement in Flock is less "flying" and feels more like "gliding" and "hovering." The game always has players lined up over the ground with no option to guide their hover-sheep up or down. This wasn't too restricting, but there were some instances where my natural gaming instincts wanted to guide me down towards an open nook and I wasn't able to, leaving me no way to explore that area.

Adjusting to Flock's controls extends to the creature-charming portion of the game. It took me a moment to realize that I was supposed to be lining up two pairs of vertical lines based on my distance from the creature I was trying to charm. There were a lot of misses before I figured this out because the game's instructions weren't very clear. Once I learned the ins and outs of charming, I had no trouble the rest of the way, but learning Flock's mechanics can be a struggle.

After settling those first few issues, Flock became a pleasant experience. While the game does have objectives, they come secondary to simply making your own fun, similar to Hohokum before it. The cartoonish visuals of both the landscapes and the creatures make exploration a treat. Players don't even need to go very far to bask in the game's beauty, as there's a function that allows them to simply perch atop a safe roost and absorb their surroundings.

The last thing to note is that progression in Flock partly comes through finding tufts of grass where the Burgling Bewls have hidden Aunt Jane's whistles. While those grass tufts will often contain the whistles needed to charm the island creatures, players can also find unlockable cosmetics that can be purchased through wool that comes from shearing your companion sheep. I thought this was a neat feature, but was a little disappointed to see the overall small number of in-shop cosmetics, as well as the limited character creation options. Given that Flock is a multiplayer title that allows for players to share a relaxing flight, I'd love to have more ways to make my character stand out.

Spread your wings

Flock knows how to make the most out of the mundane. It takes a simple idea like bird watching and takes it to its most imaginative conclusion. It takes those birds and gives them cartoonishly whimsical designs while also giving them complex enough behaviors that charming them into your flock isn't a walk in the park. It's a delightful low-stakes affair, one that feels rewarding once you get a rare creature into your ranks.

Those looking for a low-pressure, artistic adventure about documenting birds should join this Flock. Bring a friend, because the skies await.

This review is based on a Steam code provided by the publisher. Flock will be available on Tuesday, July 16 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S for $19.99 USD. The game is rated the E.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?