wfmag.cc \ 59ReviewRated
ReviewFly free, as free as a crab!
hilosophy lesson time: Plato
had this idea called the Theory
of Forms. It’s impossible to describe
something, such as a cat or a
chair, with properties that are both
exclusive and universal to ‘a chair’. Four legs?
Nope, three-legged barstools exist, so that isn’t
universal. A platform for sitting? So are tables,
beds, and picnic blankets, so that isn’t exclusive.
Therefore, Plato argued, there must be a higher
‘form’ of chairhood that we cannot attain, and
all our attempts at creating one are just lesser
shadows of that ideal. Replace chairs with birds,
and that’s, more or less, what Fugl is about.
In Fugl, you don’t play as a single character.
Instead, you’re the concept of flight itself, and
take on myriad appearances as you explore
procedurally generated voxel landscapes.
Where you fly, and which animals you interact
with, will change you. Flit into trees, and you
might turn into a flying monkey-bird-nightmare;
heading into a cave could turn you into a bat.Dive into the water, and you could turn into
a fish. The closest thing Fugl has to a goal is to
find and collect all the different forms throughout
the map. Each new appearance is unlocked
for future use and populates the main menu
backgrounds, but there isn’t really any sort of
story, guidance, or justification for doing this.
You just do it because it’s there and can be done.
Instead, Fugl is a highly meditative game, and it’s
an interesting one, because it straddles the line
between two main types of game meditation.
First, there’s the obvious soothing aspect of flying
through beautiful environments and taking in
the world’s sights and sounds – akin to games
like Flower, Journey, and Proteus. This is doubly
engrossing in the optional VR mode.
But there’s also a thick layer of mechanical
meditation, more commonly associated with
stuff like Tetris and Puyo Puyo. Flying isn’t easy or
gentle; it’s fast, sometimes fiddly, and unspoken
challenges can occur spontaneously. Whizzing
through a cave network at high speed, or avoiding
all the trees in a forest, or skimming along the
edge of the water without falling in, or pulling
anything off without crashing headfirst into a cliff
face, is surprisingly tricky – and absorbing.
While the lack of a distinct goal may prompt
a sneer and the accusation of this being a
‘walking sim’, Fugl’s been on my mind ever since I
played it. It’s a mishmash of ideas that somehow
come together to create a beautiful, challenging,
allegorical, and downright bizarre game that’s
well worth checking out. Even if it’s just to
witness the eldritch abomination that is a bird-
shaped monkey.Fugl
P
VERDICT
It’s a small game that you
may be done with in less
than an hour, but that
experience is odd, vibrant,
and absolutely worthwhile.65 %
GENRE
Casual?
FORMAT
PC (tested) / Oculus
Rift (tested) / Mac /
iOS / Android
DEVELOPER
Team Fugl
PUBLISHER
Kotori Studios
PRICE
£6.99
RELEASE
Out nowInfo
ReviewRated
REVIEWED BY
Joe ParlockHIGHLIGHT
While the visuals and dizzying
sense of flight are the first things
that hit you, the sound design
adds a massive amount to Fugl.
Bursting with the sounds of nature,
it also manages to feel ever so
slightly off. It’s hazy, dreamlike, and
otherworldly – without it, I don’t
think Fugl’s experience would feel
anywhere near as cohesive. Flying crabs. Eat your
heart out, Attenborough. This lush environment is just
one of many different biomes,
including polar ice and canyons.