Flock review

Not all games need to raise your blood pressure or drain your mental batteries, and one developer that did this so well was Thatgamecompany. I’ll never forget the first time I played Journey, still one of my most cherished gaming memories. Hollow Ponds and Richard Hogg have created their own brand of tranquillity with Flock, offering players a chance to indulge in the joy of flight and freedom within a beautiful and peaceful world. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but we all need to escape into a place that allows you to be happy.

You’re an explorer and a collector of creatures, someone who takes flight on the back of a bird and soars across stunning landscapes searching for new species and admiring the beauty all around you. After meeting up with your Aunt June, you start to learn about the various species and how to add them to your flock, all while learning about the different variations and how they live in their own natural habitat. Once you add the first few and learn the fundamentals of gathering and charming, freedom becomes your ally as the world around you opens up.

Flying across the clouds or through peaceful forests, over lush fields or tall mountains, watching the glorious sun set in the background. There’s no threat of being attacked. No chance of being swallowed up by monsters or shot out the sky. Flock is about immersing yourself in a living and breathing world, where these cute creatures are going about living their lives in their own habitat, allowing you to observe them all and research how they move about and exist. There’s a limit to the amount of creatures you can add to your flock, but you’re always free to bring back those that followed you around in the early stages.

When you do find a new species or variation, you fly close and interact with them by observing how they live. Once you’ve watched them for a little while, you can charm them by flying into the perfect position and pressing a button to sing to them. Some take one attempt while others take more, but once you’ve built that connection with them, they’ll be a part of your flock. To be able to charm new species, you’ll have to find the whistles that the Burgling Bewls have stolen and hidden in grassy mounds scattered across the world.

Along with all the colourful and wonderful creatures you’ll encounter, there’s a floating sheep that’s able to eat the greenery on these hills and expose these naughty critters. When you’ve found them, you’ll be able to yank them out and recover the whistles. Not only do you find Granny’s whistles, the grass you’ve hoovered up makes your sheep nice and woolly. You can then sheer your sheep and use the wool to make new clothes for your character. It’s a neat little feature that gives you something else to do, but honesty, the sense of discovery and wonder never gets old.

While journeying across these beautiful environments is cathartic on your own, the multiplayer aspect is going to provide a wonderful place for friends to chill out in but also help each other find new species together. It’s a social space that encourages exploration, and having a multiplayer element makes it so much more special when finding these creatures together. There’s a definite place for Flock in your collection, especially if you need to escape for a few hours and bask in something wonderful. It might not hold everyone’s attention, but there’s something so pure about this game that you can’t help but smile, nursing a warm and fuzzy feeling in your tummy that few games manage to deliver.