Although video games with feline or canine companions are more common, there are now many games where birds are getting their turn in the spotlight. There have been a few novelty games in the past featuring birds, like Flappy Bird and Angry Birds.
With their aerial surveillance skills, agility, and general cuteness, birds are worthy of being protagonists in their own stories. Be it hunting with a falcon friend in Falcon Age or hosting a flock of bird villagers on a player-owned Animal Crossing island, the games on this list take our feathered friends to new heights.
9 Animal Crossing
From ducks to penguins, the Animal Crossing franchise has featured many avian villagers, totaling 95 altogether. Blathers, the Museum Curator is a fan-favorite owl. Gulliver, a reference to Gulliver’s Travels, is everyone’s love-to-hate pest seagull who regularly washes up on player islands.
Players can curate their village on Animal Crossing: New Horizons to solely feature 10 of their favorite bird-themed villagers. Egg-cellant!
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is available exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
8 SkateBird
This game is comparable to Tony Hawk, but with actual hawks. And other birds, even cockatoos! In SkateBird, play as a bird on a skateboard, performing tricks. Each different zone has bird-NPCs with quests, usually involving showing off your skateboarding skills in some way or another and racking up combo points.
Be an owl performing an ollie, wearing a propellor hat. Flip the bird as much as you want in SkateBird! The physics and controls in this game are quite hawk-ward, though.
SkateBird is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series.
7 Feather
Feather is a relaxing flight-simulator game where players control different species of birds, left flying around in the wide-open world. There are no threats or quests of any kind, and players are left to their own devices to fly around as they please.
The passive multiplayer in Feather allows players to join a flock and soar through the skies. Content-wise, though, this game is light as a feather. However, it is still good for players who just want to empty their brains and become a bird for the day.
Feather is available on Mac, PC, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
6 Hatoful Boyfriend
Flock through the halls at St. PigeoNation’s Institute and find bird love as the sole human student at the world’s greatest pigeon high school! An absurd concept for a visual-novel game, but Hatoful Boyfriend executes this masterfully.
Chat to birds of every feather in this avian love-story dating simulator, with bird puns galore!
Hatoful Boyfriend is available on PC, PS4, Android, and iOS.
5 Goose Goose Duck
Ever wanted Among Us but with geese? Goose Goose Duck is exactly that. It is a game of social deduction, where players must work together to complete their tasks. Find the duck-imposters and win the game!
There can be up to 16 players in a lobby, with an optional proximity chat. Goose Goose Duck features many cosmetics to customize your goose, including pets, shirts, and hats! Who doesn’t want to see a goose wearing a top hat? You’ll have a hoot playing this game!
Goose Goose Duck is available on PC and Android.
4 The Pathless
Drawing inspiration from games like Abzu and Journey, The Pathless follows the adventure of an adventurer and their eagle companion. They journey through vast forest landscapes together, solving puzzles. It is an open-world exploration game, with the sole aim being to free beast spirits and stop the Godslayer, voiced by Troy Baker.
The Pathless has smooth and fluid combat with auto targeting, allowing for archery combos with the Hunter and aerial abilities from her eagle. Players are even able to pet (!) their eagle friend, which is just so wholesome.
The Pathless is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and iOS.
3 A Short Hike
If therapy came in the form of a game, it would be A Short Hike. It is a charming game about scaling a mountain as a small bird named Claire to get cell phone reception.
Hike, soar, and explore the mountain landscape of Hawk Peak Provincial Park in different ways; there is no linear path! There is a stamina progression system involving collecting silver and gold feathers to unlock the glide ability
Along the way, players can interact with cute and punny NPCs with their own side quests, ranging from locating lost belongings to gathering items. A Short Hike is a wholesome and calming game with a peaceful soundtrack and pixel-art style aesthetic. Perfect for lovers of Animal Crossing.
A Short Hike is available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC, and Xbox One.
2 Falcon Age
Bond with a cute baby falcon in Falcon Age and raise her until she grows into an adult bird of prey. Play as Ara in her fight to reclaim the lost art of falcon hunting in a dystopian world full of automated colonizer robots.
The falcon can be given commands, perform tricks, and can even wear different hats, giving her combat bonuses. She can be sent out into combat but, luckily, cannot die – she will come back injured instead and be healed with crafted snacks. Ara can even fist bump and shake hands with her bird buddy. How cute! Falcon Age is also VR-friendly with motion-sensor technology – if players hold out their arm in real life, the bird will land.
Falcon Age is available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC.
1 Untitled Goose Game
Play as a goose on the loose in an unsuspecting village on an ordinary day. Wreak havoc around the town, from dumping items in ponds to sending villagers on a (literal) wild goose chase in Untitled Goose Game. In this sandbox stealth game, there are plenty of things to do, even with a dedicated honk button.
There has even been a new addition of co-op multiplayer, playing the game as two horrible geese, honking twice as loud, and just generally ruining everyone’s day together! Awaken your inner goose and cause cathartic carnage in Untitled Goose Game!
Untitled Goose Game is available on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC, and Xbox One.