Why make a game about bird watching?

As a youngster I used to drag my family out, whenever an opportunity arose, to go bird watching. I was one of the youngest birders in the hides and often impressed my fellow birders with how much I knew, and how many birds I could identify. Ok, I’m just gloating now, I apologise.

My point is, growing up I loved bird watching and loved playing computer games. Games and particularly game developing for me now is permeated with nostalgia and for my first big project I wanted something that would hit some personal nostalgia. Creating Birb Spotting is creating the game I would most likely have created as a 10 year old, if only I knew how.

I understand that not everyone enjoys bird watching, or sees the point at all. Growing up, I didn’t know one other child that enjoyed bird watching, or even knew it was an actual “thing”. However, I hope to craft into the game some of the magic of real bird watching to be enjoyed by players regardless of having a background in it.

Naturally, this magic is all about not knowing what will turn up, or when, or for how long before you can refocus your binoculars. It’s about achieving that completed list, and maybe with an element of healthy competition with peers/rivals. These are features which I hope to get right in the initial stages of development and set Birb Spotting up to be a fun, if rather niche, game.

Thanks for coming along and taking the time to read, your support is very much appreciated. More devlogs to follow, focusing on my trials and successes with Birb Spotting.

-Dan, Webow.

Keep up-to-date with the game’s progress on Twitter @webowgames and Instagram (webowgames) also, Thanks.