Just Crow Things stood out as one of the more enjoyable experiences I had demoing games at Summer Game Fest, and I’m pleased to say that the final product should definitely charm anybody looking for a short but sweet game as the summer winds down.
Developed and published by Unbound Creations, most recently known for Rain On Your Parade, Just Crow Things is built on similar principles–namely ruining the day for people. It’ll draw comparisons to the likes of other indie titles like Untitled Goose Game and Little Kitty, Big City, just because of the havoc players are bound to wreak when playing it, but it also has a simple campaign that’s simply a joy to breeze through.
It goes without saying you play as a crow. As this crow, you’ll be going through 12 sandbox-style levels accomplishing tasks to get to the next area. The first stage, aptly named Tutorial, does a great job explaining the basics of what you can do as the crow. In addition to slowly walking, you of course have the ability to fly by holding on the right shoulder button. To add more technique to flight, you can tap on the left shoulder button to have your crow do a gliding motion that’ll allow him to pick up more speed and travel more quickly.
In order to gain access to more levels, you need points, which are only awarded after finishing objectives. Some are as easy as befriending other animals by talking to them, and others take a bit more effort such as the time attack races where you have to use your flying skill to fly through blue-colored hoops. Some tasks will even have you using certain power-ups to give the crow new abilities, like the power to poop fire balls to light up torches.
Taking a crap is just as important in the game as it is in real life. Poop. Poop a lot.
Wait, poop fire balls? Yep, you’ll be doing a lot of pooping in this game, as it’s the main other thing you’ll be doing aside from flying, waddling, and talking to other animals. You’ll eventually meet this hedgehog who absolutely loves the chaos of you pooping on all the “hoomans” in the game that you can’t help but see all the different poops you can do. Fire was already mentioned, but glitter bombs are also possible based on the items you find. That said, poops in the game are limited, and you can see how many you have left based on the number of white splats you see at the top of the screen. To replenish your poop supply, you can wait, or you can eat food which you’ll find all over every level.
The crow aside, what also gives Just Crow Things a lot of its charm is in the variety of levels there are, along with the curveballs it throws you with the objectives you’ll have to finish clear each level. In addition to the aforementioned Tutorial, you’ll move on to the Quaint Town, and even bigger places like Ancient Egypt and the Big Apple. Each of these levels and their checklists to get through are pretty standard, but the game also has its share of special ones also. The Edgar Allan Crow level, for example, has you go into a haunted house to try to scare Edgar out of it. In the Fantasy level, you’re dropped in the middle of a conflict between dogs and cats, and you’ll be forced to pick a side. There’s even a level called “The Wing Waker” where you have to fly across the great sea in search of special trinkets to bring back to the king. The situations and parodies you’ll find yourself in are utterly hilarious, and all the levels are short so absolutely none of it overstays its welcome. You can also take a break from the action and pooping by dressing the crow up with the many costume items you’ll find and earn during play.
The only real knock I have on the game is that the load times are a lot longer than I’d prefer for a game of this size, much less when playing on a high powered PC or a platform like the Xbox Series X. While I’m at it, I’m sure this game would be even more enjoyable when pursuing all the achievements, so it makes the fact that it isn’t available on PlayStation a bit of a bummer right now.
Yep, they somehow put Ness in this game. And yep, my crow is wearing Toad’s hat.
Just Crow Things is a fun little title that masterfully marries the enjoyment people have with both cozy games and games that are more on the chaotic side. Despite the game being less than four hours, it’s really easy to see the amount of fun that was had when creating this game, and you can’t help but be excited for what Jakub Kasztalski and the rest of Unbound Creations have in store for gamers next.
Just Crow Things stood out as one of the more enjoyable experiences I had demoing games at Summer Game Fest, and I’m pleased to say that the final product should definitely charm anybody looking for a short but sweet game as the summer winds down.
Just Crow Things stood out as one of the more enjoyable experiences I had demoing games at Summer Game Fest, and I’m pleased to say that the final product should definitely charm anybody looking for a short but sweet game as the summer winds down.
Developed and published by Unbound Creations, most recently known for Rain On Your Parade, Just Crow Things is built on similar principles–namely ruining the day for people. It’ll draw comparisons to the likes of other indie titles like Untitled Goose Game and Little Kitty, Big City, just because of the havoc players are bound to wreak when playing it, but it also has a simple campaign that’s simply a joy to breeze through.
It goes without saying you play as a crow. As this crow, you’ll be going through 12 sandbox-style levels accomplishing tasks to get to the next area. The first stage, aptly named Tutorial, does a great job explaining the basics of what you can do as the crow. In addition to slowly walking, you of course have the ability to fly by holding on the right shoulder button. To add more technique to flight, you can tap on the left shoulder button to have your crow do a gliding motion that’ll allow him to pick up more speed and travel more quickly.
In order to gain access to more levels, you need points, which are only awarded after finishing objectives. Some are as easy as befriending other animals by talking to them, and others take a bit more effort such as the time attack races where you have to use your flying skill to fly through blue-colored hoops. Some tasks will even have you using certain power-ups to give the crow new abilities, like the power to poop fire balls to light up torches.
Taking a crap is just as important in the game as it is in real life. Poop. Poop a lot.
Wait, poop fire balls? Yep, you’ll be doing a lot of pooping in this game, as it’s the main other thing you’ll be doing aside from flying, waddling, and talking to other animals. You’ll eventually meet this hedgehog who absolutely loves the chaos of you pooping on all the “hoomans” in the game that you can’t help but see all the different poops you can do. Fire was already mentioned, but glitter bombs are also possible based on the items you find. That said, poops in the game are limited, and you can see how many you have left based on the number of white splats you see at the top of the screen. To replenish your poop supply, you can wait, or you can eat food which you’ll find all over every level.
The crow aside, what also gives Just Crow Things a lot of its charm is in the variety of levels there are, along with the curveballs it throws you with the objectives you’ll have to finish clear each level. In addition to the aforementioned Tutorial, you’ll move on to the Quaint Town, and even bigger places like Ancient Egypt and the Big Apple. Each of these levels and their checklists to get through are pretty standard, but the game also has its share of special ones also. The Edgar Allan Crow level, for example, has you go into a haunted house to try to scare Edgar out of it. In the Fantasy level, you’re dropped in the middle of a conflict between dogs and cats, and you’ll be forced to pick a side. There’s even a level called “The Wing Waker” where you have to fly across the great sea in search of special trinkets to bring back to the king. The situations and parodies you’ll find yourself in are utterly hilarious, and all the levels are short so absolutely none of it overstays its welcome. You can also take a break from the action and pooping by dressing the crow up with the many costume items you’ll find and earn during play.
The only real knock I have on the game is that the load times are a lot longer than I’d prefer for a game of this size, much less when playing on a high powered PC or a platform like the Xbox Series X. While I’m at it, I’m sure this game would be even more enjoyable when pursuing all the achievements, so it makes the fact that it isn’t available on PlayStation a bit of a bummer right now.
Yep, they somehow put Ness in this game. And yep, my crow is wearing Toad’s hat.
Just Crow Things is a fun little title that masterfully marries the enjoyment people have with both cozy games and games that are more on the chaotic side. Despite the game being less than four hours, it’s really easy to see the amount of fun that was had when creating this game, and you can’t help but be excited for what Jakub Kasztalski and the rest of Unbound Creations have in store for gamers next.
by Danreb Victorio
