Developer: Unbound Creations
Platforms: PC (Reviewed), Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Genre: Action, Adventure, Casual, Indie, Simulation
Publisher: Unbound Creations
Just Crow Things is an adventure sandbox game. The game has been developed and published by Unbound Creations. Just Crow Things is similar to games like Rain on Your Parade, Goat Simulator and more. This review is done for the PC version of this game, but the game is available for Xbox and Switch.
Just Crow Things is a single-player game where you get to live out your crowy fantasies. In the game, you play as a crow whose crow grandmother has decided that you are old enough to venture off into the world. As you start the game, you get to pick a family heirloom that your grandmother bestowed on you. Upon leaving our nest, we encounter a murder (gang) of crows who steal the heirloom of us. From this opening, we go from town to town in order to help various animals and go about our crowy needs.
The controls of the game are very easy to get a hold of. When starting the game, it does recommend playing with a controller, and I highly agree. At first, I played with a keyboard, and the controls were just on the keyboard itself, but I felt I was taking up too much unnecessary space for little keys. Thus, the second time I got on to play, I used a controller, and it added to a kickback and relaxed feel. I have to say that I love the tutorial at the beginning of the game, which gets you to interact with other animals in the village as each animal explains how to carry out a mechanic. For example, when talking to the pony, he explains the swoop mechanic that can be trailed through a set of rings. Controls are also shown on the bottom left of the screen, so it’s easy to play along, too. By far, the flying mechanic in this game is so much fun! Granny Crow is a great guide who tells you what needs to be done and how you can access certain things. The game can easily be played by anyone, which is something I like.
The cutscenes in this game are so funny; I love them. One of the cutscenes is the baby crow flying in and then getting stopped by this trio of mob crows. The humour in the dialogue is so childish, especially with the puns, but it’s hilarious. The animation of this game is so funky and unique, not like anything you would see in any other game. Everything is so vibrant and colourful. I especially love the unique town designs, which add so much variety and details to the game. Attention to the visuals in this game is fantastic. For example, when using a leaf blower on a human, they scurry away, or fiery poop that sets humans/objects on fire. The game’s art style is quirky and cartoonish, especially with the range of animal designs you encounter on your adventure. Some of the designs are so out there, like the pony, for instance, who seems stitched together. The crazy, unusual designs are fascinating to look at, and I love how realistic some of the town designs are. Alongside the visuals, the soundtrack consists of a funky tune, which matches the game’s vibe really well. It has a sort of upbeat synth vibe to it, almost giving a beachy theme to it. Some of the music varies between the different towns, which I found fits each theme really well. Not just the music but the sound effects that accompany the gameplay, like the poop, the humans screaming, the wind whooshing, and so much more, just add to the environment. Ties the entire game together so nicely. The sound effects are great as well.
The map of the world is similar to Super Mario, where you see areas that can be unlocked and a path leading to them. Just Crow Things plays out where you need to complete level after level to reach the end. An overview for each level is shown when you land on the pad, which includes the crow coins, quests, races and decors. In each of the levels, there are a number of animals that need your help with certain tasks. Collecting 100 crowputations lets you move on to the next area. Different areas on the map are also styled differently; for instance, the first level was a tiny town, and the second was desert-themed. One of my favourite themed levels was the Edgar Allan Crow, which, if you know the famous poet, Edgar, makes many references to the crow, which fits extremely well with this game.
The game is filled with a great sense of humour, and it’s nothing that stresses the player out, which I enjoyed. One detail that I liked was that each loading screen had a crow-related fact, which was interesting to read. The game itself is not very long, and usually, each town takes about 15-20 minutes to complete. Once you were in the flying groove of completing tasks left and right, it made fully completing each level really easy. After all, you’re a crow that’s ensuing chaos upon the towns you visit, all in hopes of retrieving your family heirloom. What I did like was that after you had retrieved the heirloom, you could replay towns again to unlock extra things and create even more chaos. Something I found so funny was that the crow could interact and use items, which made the gameplay even more ridiculous and a laugh to mess around with. As you play levels, you earn stars, which can unlock hats. You can customise your crow to your liking, which is a quirky addition to the game. The game has approximately 12 levels to it. I would 100% say that the game in the future could add some sort of co-op option where you and other fellow crows unleash mayhem on humans, which would be a fun update for the game. Besides that, Just Crow Things is enjoyable with its whacky visuals and easygoing gameplay.
If you want to play a game where you can relax back, enjoy crazy visuals and unleash chaos, then this game is just for you. In Just Crow Things, you are a crow ensuing chaos. You can poop on humans, interact with items like a leaf blower and flame torch and use them on humans. As a crow, you can fly all over town whilst helping complete tasks and having all the fun in the world. Thus, be sure to check out Just Crow Things!
Overall: 9/10
This is S & S. We are world game explorers. We play games. We have played over 10,000+ games! We travel, we write reviews AND we play more games!!!!
