Flock Preview - Wholesome, Wonderful, Whimsy

Sometimes we all need an injection of pure happiness in our lives, and Flock is here to envelope us all in its wholesome embrace. It's a simple, low-stakes game about cruising through the sky cataloguing funny little animals that can then join you flock and fly with you.

The premise of the game is simple. You're on to see your aunt Jane, who is studying the strange creatures you'll see in the world and needs help cataloguing them all. Of course, you agree to help and then you're off.

Flight is a simple joy. You don't need to worry about height, as the game will adjust that automatically for you. You can just zoom about where you'd like, sitting on perches or not littered throughout the world if you wish.

The simple movement that takes you to beautiful vistas combined with the calming, upbeat music create a meditative mood. Happily, I was lulled into a reverie that was utterly relaxing -- a welcome relief at the end of many appointments at Summer Game Fest.

What helps pull you in is the vibrancy of the world, which I would defy anyone to not be charmed thoroughly. The locales are popping with color, varied, and full of interestingly shaped flora and fauna at every turn.

That unique approach is applied to everything you come across, even with the interesting names of the creatures themselves. There are many different families of creatures you come across, each of which have fun names like gleebs, sprugs, burbots, and more.

When you do come across a new creature, you can observe its mannerisms and habits to try to learn a little about it. Once you're confident, you can prompt your aunt Jane that you've found a new creature to catalogue.

If its a new family of creature you've never seen, she'll reveal its kind to you. But, its up to you to find the specific type in that species. She'll give you a list with brief descriptions like, "Three vertical stripes" or "nose is a different color from the rest of its body."

Some of the descriptions are about their actions, too. If one zips and darts around, or always tries to fly into the brush or hide, that may be a clue for you to correctly identify what you've found.

After they're identified, and you have a whistle for that animal family, you can try to entice it to join your flock. That is simply done by following them and timing a call from your bird, who mimics the whistle, towards the creature. Do it correctly, or multiple times if needed, and it will fly around with you.

In a nutshell, that is more or less Flock. There is a wide world to uncover full of interesting creatures and characters as you learn all about the region. It's simple, cozy fun. And one of the best parts is you can do it with a friend, as Flock will have a co-op mode if you wish.

If you're just wanting to sink into a meditative state and meet cute creatures, one of which you'll no doubt fall in love with, Flock is perfect for you.

Flock was previewed for about 30 minutes at Summer Game Fest Play Days. It releases July 16th, 2024 on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.