6 Wildlife-Spotting Games To Release Your Inner Bird Watcher
Don't worry, you won't need a guide book to give these delightful games about identifying, appreciating, and photographing animals a go.
Posted 4 months ago
The first problem with David Attenborough documentaries is that they make us want to head out and see all the phenomenal creatures the world has to offer. The second problem is that we’re lacking the time, money, or indeed knowledge required to do so. Fortunately for work-weary wildlife lovers such as ourselves, video games offer a far more affordable compromise.
So stash that super shotgun and reach for the camera instead, because these wildlife-spotting games are all about appreciating the virtual animals around us. Including some more fantastical than Sir Attenborough could even dream of documenting.
Flock
©Hollow Ponds / Restart
Flock’s bean-shaped creature coterie can’t exactly be called avians, but the way you’ll go about spotting and identifying them will feel familiar to any real-life birders. Soaring on the back of a large bird companion, you’re tasked with filling out an in-game catalog of the various critters zipping and drifting through the nearby lands. Wing your way nearby and you can observe a given creature’s look, song, and behavior. Attention is key, because you’ll then need to assign them a family and species based on a few hints. Enjoyable solo or in online co-op, Flock is about as relaxed and meditative as games come.
What Brandy said in her review...
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"Flock is a wonderful game bursting with whimsy and delight...every element combines to form a charming experience that’s easy to become lost in for hours at a time, and one that absolutely earns our recommendation."
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
©Ustwo
If you’d prefer to train your sights on some less fantastical feathered creatures, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure awaits. Set on a vibrant Mediterranean island, this short tale follows a young girl as she establishes a community environmental protections group. Using her phone’s camera, she’s able to register the many creatures that share their idyllic home. Alba describes itself as a chillectathon – a description hard to debate as you enjoy spotting birds while the summer sun dips into a glimmering sea. Much like Flock, the story can be wrapped up in a matter of hours, but it’s such a lovely space to inhabit that you’ll likely hang around for far longer.
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure
Release Date: December 11, 2020
Digital Only
New Pokemon Snap
©Bandai Namco Studios / Restart
Wish you could immerse yourself in the world and wildlife of Pokemon without the constant battling? New Pokemon Snap is the in-game vacation you’re after. This Switch revival of a beloved N64 series sees you embarking on on-rails trips through environments including luscious jungles, sun-soaked beaches, snowy mountaintops, and deep-sea caverns. Your aim on each trip is to take rare and high-quality photographs of Pokemon. But once you get behind the camera, a puzzle game soon comes into focus. By tossing out fruit or other items, you can interact with Pokemon to encourage unique behaviors, reveal hidden creatures, and secure especially high-scoring snaps.
Planet Zoo
If managing mammals is more your style, Planet Zoo is a great way to try your digital hand at both park design and preservation. Piecing together and steadily expanding your own zoo is a delightfully mellow experience when compared to rowdy roller coasters. And here, crafting the perfect park isn’t just about pleasing visitors – you’ll also need to consider the personalities and needs of the beasts in your pens. Sure, you’re not technically wildlife spotting, but we feel Planet Zoo still captures that new-sighting excitement each time you watch a fresh creature prowl or paddle its grounds for the first time. And beyond the core game, there’s also a wealth of optional DLC extras to introduce further fauna from across the globe.
Pupperazzi
©Kitfox Games
We’re the kind of people who can’t help but point out and admire every good boy and girl we see when out and about. If you share that compulsion, Pupperazzi’s concept is sure to set your metaphorical tail wagging. This is a dog photography game. And that’s probably all you need to know if you’re its target audience. Across a handful of different locations, you’re sent out, camera in hand, to hit certain loose criteria for your canine captures. There’s not much complexity to the photography or progression, but a couple of hours spent photographing cute dogs is rarely something to growl about.
Pupperazzi
Release Date: January 20, 2023
Digital Only
Nuts
Squirrels are a secretive sort, always scurrying away to store stashes of food hither and thither. It begs the question of what they’re up to when out of sight. In Nuts, your goal is to find out. Setting up in a cramped camper van in the middle of the woods, you’ll be laying down camera traps to follow the movements of these furtive furry critters. By reviewing your footage each night, you can piece together their paths and uncover a far stranger mystery than the bucolic setting might imply. If you’re comfortable with its bold and contrasting color palette – and most importantly a fan of squirrels – Nuts gives great direction to a woodland wander.
