If you have not played the cozy strategy game Dorfromantik, first of all, stop reading this and go do that. Now that you’ve returned from that incredible experience, you should have a good idea of the quality to expect from German developer Toukana Interactive with their new game Star Birds. Even after just a few hours of gameplay, I feel comfortable calling Star Birds a perfect entry to automation management games for newcomers and an excellent low-stress time for veterans.
As an avid lover of automation games, but also as someone who becomes quickly overwhelmed and confused by a poor UI, I haven’t had quite as much fun as others with the major hits of the genre like Satisfactory and Factorio. Star Birds brings you all the challenge of these hardcore games wrapped in a cozy bird adventure that is, frankly, much too polished for an Early Access release. Everything in the game works perfectly as advertised, and all systems and mechanics are completely functional.
A group of cartoon birds have taken off into space with their super advanced sci-fi technology and must collect enough materials and technology from each tiny galaxy to get them to the next one. Each level is made up of a small collection of asteroids in a galaxy that each boast their own unique minerals to be mined. The real treat is that once you scan and pick an asteroid to land on, you have a full 360 degree space on which to build! Since there’s no platforming involved, it’s a little less overwhelming than Super Mario Galaxy, but it very much has the same feel.
You’ll plant down a launch pad to create a space for rockets to come and go from the mothership and get to work. As with all automation games, Star Birds starts off very simple and after a short time becomes extremely intricate. Set down mining outposts to pull minerals, create pipelines to send the outputs to the desired location, and boom. You’re sending aluminum or oxygen or what have you up to the mothership! Now begins the trickiness.
The first fascinating change of pace is that on this 360 degree planet, your output pipes cannot cross over each other. This means careful planning, although thankfully you can freely refund any placed building or pipe and set it down elsewhere. You’ll also have quests appearing on the left side of the screen which mostly amount to different ways to research new equipment, build new rooms for the mothership, or earn credits and tech points.
I really enjoy that you can choose whether each quest will reward you with each of the two currencies, credits or tech points, because it adds a layer of strategy as well as gives you an option to get whatever you actually need most at the moment. After collecting basic minerals, you will place refiners, solar panels for energy, landing pads, chemical labs, excavation machines, and a whole host of other machines to transform them into the ship’s needed products. Each material combines with others in specific machines to build increasingly complex networks of buildings.
All this leads up to vast networks of machines across these tiny asteroids, which will set specific goals for you to accomplish in each galaxy. Also note that each asteroid only has specific materials naturally occurring in it, so you’ll need to set up bases on many asteroids with trade networks to move materials to where they need to be so you can focus on advancing your scientific findings. Each level ends when you complete the main quest, and you move on to the next galaxy.
There are already many factors that I think makes Star Birds the most approachable automation game I’ve played. First, there are essentially no consequences for messing up or wasting time. If you need to sit down and re-wire your entire planet, do it. No harm, no foul. Second, the UI is very pretty and extremely easy to navigate. Even for those who have no experience in the genre, if you’re patient you’ll be able to easily navigate it. Third, you’ll never run out of your currencies. While your automations are pumping away in the background, you can drag your little Mars rover around the asteroid to pick up both tech points and credits, so you’re never not earning stuff.
Star Birds never pushes you to be at 100% efficiency at all times, but it does allow it if you’re that kind of person. If you’re not, go at your own pace. As I said, there are no consequences or even opportunity losses for moving slowly. It also allows one of my favorite things, playing this game on my main monitor while watching YouTube videos on the other, although I must commend the relaxing music as well. I have known since I played the demo months ago this would be my new go-to PC strategy game, and I can see my faith was not misplaced.
Even in Early Access, Star Birds runs at 1440p 144 FPS on high settings on my rig, and I only had a single freeze when I drove the rover in circles a dozen times as a joke. No other frame drops, glitches, or bugs presented themselves over my three hours with it. As stated before, Star Birds is extremely polished and is only lacking a few more levels to round it out as a full experience. I earnestly look forward to the hours I’ll put into this delightful game and recommend for management game fiends like myself and genre newbies alike.
Nirav reviewed Star Birds on PC in Early Access with a provided review copy.
