'Fruits of a Feather' is a small Pay What You Want unconventional exploration game where you play as a bird

Fruits of a Feather is a short mini-game which has been out there for a while, created by the same studio responsible for Screencheat. The general concept of the title and the core of the gameplay intend to provide a relaxing experience as a main priority, so you should expect a pretty unconventional and minimalistic game: basically, your character is a bird which inhabits a solitary island, and your single objective is to collect the 192 fruits scattered throughout the location. It's as simple as that, and your only concern will be simply not to overlook any fruit and to take your time to fly patiently across the level, while you listen the relaxing soundtrack (which can be changed by flying through some vortexes situated in different parts of the island).

There isn't any other character or life form in the whole place, and metaphorically speaking, your only companions will be the sun and the moon, since the title addresses the different moments of the day. Naturally, your fruit picking endeavours become more complicated at night because of the decreased vision, but apart from that there is nothing to worry about, because there isn't any kind of threat to your character's life; even accidentally hitting against the soil or a tree won't hurt it, and you will simply try to avoid these collisions because it's annoying and disorienting, that's all. For all these reasons, the game is perfectly suitable for kids, because of the simplicity of the gameplay and the fact that there isn't a single instance of violence.

Regarding the controls, you practically will be using the mouse during your whole exploration, but there are a couple of other possible actions for which you will be instructed immediately after starting your journey. The movement itself is very smooth and you have the option to customize the sensitivity, so you shouldn't have a lot of trouble while learning how to control your avian character, so don't get discouraged if you can't pick some fruits in your first try and have to fly back for them. But honestly, though, I would've preferred that the average speed was faster; even considering that there is actually a way to make the bird fly like a thunder, the way to 'activate' this mode is very slow and requires a lot of space, which could be inconvenient if your intention is to make sure that you aren't leaving any fruit behind.

In addition to this, although the graphics are simple but effective, if you happen to accidentally hit the ground or a rock, at least in my case I always experienced some glitches regarding the clipping: specifically, seeing what's behind a solid structure as if it was hollow inside, to be more clear. I'm not sure if this represents an universal issue though, because I didn't use the optimal visual configuration, so there might be a chance that you don't experience these problems.

Also, on another subject, the game can become a bit boring or frustrating when you have only 5 or 4 fruits left, and you can be wandering the whole island during a lot of time in search of the final instances; some kind of visual or auditive indicator of the location of these last fruits would've been greatly welcomed. Personally, I spent like 40 minutes looking for the 192nd fruit, and I have to say the ending was totally underwhelming (it included only a couple of credits but you can still keep playing and exploring the island, even when there isn't anything more to search). Though there is a hidden option to restart the fruit count to zero, but to reset it you will need to find a secret spot somewhere at the island; you don't have to finish the game to be able to enter this hidden location, and I strongly recommend you to look for it, because it turned out to be a really pleasant surprise.

To sum it up, would I recommend this game? Yes, but stating very clearly that it isn't for everyone. Basically, remember very well the premise: you will be spending your whole time collecting fruit and exploring the map, without any other challenge and at a very slow pace. If you are an anxious person or if you're craving for a deep and complex story or gameplay, then you'll likely be disappointed. This is a matter of preference, and in no way it's the game's fault, because it succeeds in what it pretends to be. I have to acknowledge that one part of me would've liked to see several additional features implemented, like a competitive mode where the one who collects more fruit wins, or otherwise the one who collects them in the least amount of time, but like I said, I would be forcing my expectations upon a title which aims to be a different and relaxing experience in comparison with other games. So keep these considerations in mind if you decide to spend some time with it and I'm sure you will get some fun from it...

itch.io page: Fruits of a Feather

About the game (Official)
Fly around an island collecting fruit in this relaxing, dream-like exploration game.

Played best with gamepad, but also supports mouse and keyboard controls. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.