Lil' Birdie

I have been sitting on a small game idea for a while, and I figured I would write it down before it floats away. It is called Lil' Birdie. Here is a bit of early concept art to set the mood.

You control a bird that jumps from one cloud to another. The mechanic is a slingshot, much like Angry Birds. You pull the bird down in the opposite direction of the jump, and the harder you pull, the farther it goes. Simple as that.

Little Birdie is lost. He can't remember when, where, or how. Too bad he can't fly either, because he is too fat to lift his own weight. (Bah!) But thanks to the fluffy spongy clouds, he can jump pretty well. So you take control of Birdie and hop through the clouds.

The journey won't be easy though. Mr. Fox is down on the ground, waiting for you to fall and be his dinner. So beware.

Each level in the game is a day. The level starts with the sun rising, getting brighter and warmer towards the middle, then setting at the end as the moon takes its place. I like the idea of every level having that little arc built into the lighting.

The objective of each level (or day) is to reach a birdhouse safely, where Birdie can rest and begin the next day's journey.

This is the part I have been having the most fun with. Each cloud has a little face on it to make it look friendly and appealing (the cloud faces are inspired by the flash game Cloud Breakout). Here are the cloud types I have in mind:

1. Static cloud – the standard fluffy spongy cloud.
2. Moving cloud – clouds that move horizontally, vertically, diagonally, or along a pre-defined path.
3. Black cloud – when you jump on it, it starts raining below. Just a gimmick. ;)
4. Lightning cloud – when you stand on it, you can control lightning! Use it to attack the enemies on the ground. When you hit one, it burns to ashes with its eyes popping out.
5. Cirrus cloud chariot – jumping onto this turns the level into a Jetpack Joyride style section where you tap the screen to go up and release to come down. The cloud keeps moving forward until the end of the level. Double tap to jump, and collect stars along the way.
6. Elongated fluffy cloud (Stratus) – a long thin cloud that starts disappearing once you jump on it. Keep moving forward to avoid falling.

Each unique adventure lasts a few days (somewhere between 4 and 10), and the total journey will be around 30 to 40 days. The plan is to travel through these areas:

1. The Village
2. Merry Meadows
3. Misty Forest
4. Stormy Sea
5. Tropical Island

That is the whole idea for now. It is still very early, just a concept document and some art, but writing it out like this makes it feel a little more real. More on Lil' Birdie soon, hopefully.