With thanks in advance to the wonderful Christian Donlan who put me onto 30 Birds in the first place, please allow me to emphatically repeat the headline of this piece one more time before we begin in earnest: please, you need to play 30 Birds immediately, and I implore you to find the half an hour it will take you to finish its Steam Next Fest demo as soon as you’re physically able.
30 BirdsDeveloper: Ram Ram Games, Business Goose StudiosPublisher: Arte FranceRelease: Q4 2024Download the demo on: Steam
Phew. Right. Well, if your eyeballs haven’t been drawn to its sumptuous artwork already, 30 Birds is an absolutely gorgeous game set in a world made up entirely of dreamy paper lanterns, blending characterful 2D artwork with mesmerising 3D play spaces that rotate and bend like pop-up paper dioramas. Screenshots don’t really do it justice, but if you have a peak at the trailer below, you’ll see exactly what I mean. It’s just can’t get enough of it, and I am utterly in love with everything about it.
You play as Zig, a young detective who’s on her way to Lantern City to witness the awakening of the bird goddess Simurgh. Simurgh is the one responsible for creating this bustling dreamscape, conjuring up the town squares, shops and bathhouses and weaving them right into the fabric of the night sky, we’re told. She’s also been asleep these past 50 years, but now it’s time for her to return and bless the world with the visions she’s been building while getting a bit of shut eye. Of course, things don’t go quite according to plan, for as soon as Simurgh cracks her beady eye open, she’s sucked into a portal and disappears, with nothing but the mark of the mysterious ‘Scientist’ left behind.
30 Birds | Jeux vidéo | Bande Annonce | ARTE Watch on YouTube
Lucky for Lantern City, Zig’s on the case, and she immediately sets about trying to find out who took Simurgh and how this so-called ‘Scientist’ managed to capture a goddess, following a trial of clues and tips from her informant buddy to begin her investigation. With all your tasks, quests and inventory items logged in your handy phone, the demo for 30 Birds has you exploring all the different sides of Lantern City and chatting with its fantastical cast of creatures and ne’er-do-wells to find out what happened.