Flock Review: Flying High and Clear

Flock, by developer Hollow Ponds and Richard Hogg, is a tricky game to describe. Start with a genre of meditative exploration, sprinkle in some monster-catching mechanics, and then add a dash of puzzles. Pair this with a cross of sensational ambient score and beautiful art style and you start to form the basis of Flock. But this combination of bits is only a small portion of the game, which in the end, left me feeling relaxed and fortunate that I experienced this world.

Fly in the Face of Adventure

Flock is a single-player (but also multiplayer co-op) game where players explore a mountaintop that has been shrouded by a strange cloud of fog. As you visit your Aunt Jane, who is also a professor of zoology, you’re encouraged to explore the visible area and herd around the vast variety of cute flying creatures. Atop an adorable bird (that you’re able to customize at the start of the game), you start identifying, tracking, and taming these strange creatures. 

At first I was just filling out my creatures guide by observing those visible in the immediate area, finding what family group they’re in, then using those observations to decide their species. After a few identifications, I began to feel more fluid in the world and how to continue my explorations. In addition to the traversal of the area, I was able to recruit some creatures into my flock - a group of beings of my choosing just casually following me and my bird. I quickly began calling these flying creatures my crew that I had exploring the area with me. Since there are a dozen different groups of creatures, I wasn’t able to recruit every single one I saw at the start of the game. Instead, I needed to find certain key items that allow me to recruit and tame them into joining my flock. 

Fly the Coop

For the most part, your flock is for aesthetic purposes - enjoying the world around you through a common experience. Knowing this, I was more inclined to recruit the creatures that I enjoyed instead of simply finding them for any granular meta-game reason in an attempt to maximize any sort of gameplay feature. There’s also sheep-like creatures that you can find around the environment. These sheep can graze on various grassy mounds, find useful items, and may even need to be sheared. With all this wool and items accumulated, you’re then able to exchange them for newer cosmetics to further customize your character.

With these exploration bouts, you also find various zoologist students that are there to also learn about all these flying creatures. Though they do not provide much lore or deep meaning to their encounters, the students offer some helpful tips to play the game, explore their areas, and present a few challenges for those who’ve mastered the art of Flock. These students also help propel the general story along, allowing players to continue exploring the world while also finding strange mysterious smears and scales. Even though the story isn’t the main focus of Flock, I found myself wishing that there was more to the world than just cursory comments and a tangential tethering of the characters.

Chirping Away

However, what Flock lacks in story, it shines with its traversal and ambiance. Since you play atop of a bird, I was extremely concerned that the movement in 3D space would be clunky and that I would be constantly crashing into the world (I’m not the best with flying mounts in games). To my absolute pleasure, Hollow Ponds removed the 3D movement from players and simply allowed them to move in a 2D direction. Meaning, I was able to go forward, backward, left, right all the while my flying companion adjusted its height throughout the world. At first I was cautious that this would cause a bunch of hiccups and I’d be stuck in the geometry of the world. But after a minute with the controls, I was easily flying through the areas, feeling the momentum of the wind, and getting lost in the ethereal movement. This feeling continued throughout the game and had me sometimes just zipping through the world to get the rush of the tailwind.

What Flock also creatively masters is the audio of the game. In addition to the stellar ambient music that flows in and out of the experience, there is a particular focus on the sounds of the world. Each family of creatures have their own calls and cries, allowing players to hone in on a nearby creature and how to best respond to those auditory cues. There’s also various noises that allow you to further explore those story-driven mysterious scales and smears. This was a particularly enjoyable feature to explore a few times, but I was left conflicted. Since there are dozens of creatures in the game, I almost felt overwhelmed by the variety and subtle differences in audio cues. Luckily, there is a feature in the settings that allows for a visual representation as to where the creature sounds are coming from, massively supporting the game to ensure a more positive experience.

Breakdown

Game: Flock

Developer: Hollow Ponds & Richard Hogg

Publisher: Annapurna Interactive

Availability: PC (Steam), Xbox, PlayStation

Reviewed on PC (SteamDeck) 

Pros:

+ Traversal is intuitive and fun

+ Exploration and creature finding is rewarding

+ Ambient score to enhance the *vibe*

Cons:

- Story exists to propel the rest of the game

- Creature noises can become overwhelming to navigate

Final Thoughts

Flock is an enjoyable, meditative adventure that is the perfect dose of chill vibes. The five hour experience flew by and left me in the clouds next to the other fun creatures from this world. The ambience is always something I look forward to in a vibrant game, and I can’t wait for others to get lost and then find their ways through this spectacle.

Reviewed by Harry Loizides