Pigeons are polarising creatures, with some haters calling them the “rats of the sky”, while the rest of us are heartily endeared to our feathery friends for their silly little nests, their bobbing heads, and their many amazing colour variations. They have been experiencing something of a cultural revival, cast as icons of cities like New York and London, the symbol of the London Museum, the inspiration for fashion shows, handbags, statues, and marketing campaigns.
Some interesting analysis on this shift might have to do with how we view class and culture, but today we are just here to play – ‘Pigeon: A Love Story'.
The premise is simple: you are a pigeon flying across London, cooing at other pigeons in search of your soulmate. That's it. There are hundreds of thousands of autonomous pigeon NPCs, all flying about in a city-wide simulation, one of whom is apparently destined for you.
Best played by not thinking too hard
My advice is to just play and see where the wind takes you – metaphorically speaking.
For me, I first started off by flying around and getting my bearings, spotting a few landmarks that I know and frequent, Tower Bridge, Covent Garden, and discovering a few where I thought to myself “I really need to go there…”, like the Tate Britain and the Science Museum.
Then I relaxed into the game a bit more, switched on auto-coo, and enjoyed the meditative soundtrack for some slow-gaming time.
After doing that for a while, I got methodical, trying to cover unmapped areas of the city for a statistically better shot at love. Then I gave up on that, turned on passive mode, and let the game become a screensaver.
During all of this time, I've cooed at 50,000 pigeons, and I am still searching for the one.
What it is
This is not necessarily a game where you are gunning for the finish, but more of a game that you inhabit and enjoy. This super-casual, sandbox style game is not for everyone. Trawling through my own Steam and Switch libraries, I found few games to compare it to, but I approached it, going in simply to relax, in the same way that I did games like ‘Tiny Glade' and ‘Dorf Romantik'. I'd compare it most to ‘Tiny Glade', a sandbox that feels almost like a diorama, capturing one idea beautifully, in a neat, cosy, and casual package.
One could argue for additional features — more detailed graphics, achievements, or interactions — but this game exists in its own simplicity, not trying to be more than what it is.
Final verdict
‘Pigeon: A Love Story' sets out to give you a reason to slow down, look at a beautiful city, and perhaps feel something about a bird. It succeeds in doing this. Whether that's worth your time depends entirely on whether you are the kind of person who finds that appealing.
I appreciate that the game achieves its premise effectively, but at the same time this is a game that I would only recommend very selectively to serious pigeon-lovers or real casual game enthusiasts.
The demo is free. Give it ten minutes. You'll either get it immediately, or you won't, and if you do, fifty thousand coos will go by in no time, with more cities to come in the full release later this year. Oh, and do let me know if you find your soulmate, because my flight around London is starting to feel quite lonely.
Developer: Wristworks & Tiny Dragon Games Genre: Relaxation / Simulation / Casual Platform: PC (Steam)
