We played this game recently as part of our Easter holiday with my firstborn in town to visit. He asked for it at Christmas so I obliged. We played it on New Year’s Day right after he got it. Then he packed it for this recent trip so we could play again. Yay! It’s a perfect game to play for Easter and springtime. Maybe this is a new Easter tradition!

I love this game so much I’m going to get my own and play it whenever I want and not just when firstborn comes to visit!

Here’s why:

-it teaches strategy and executive function. In order to win you have to constantly ask yourself, “What is the goal? What is my next best move?” It reminds me a bit of chess in that way but you don’t have to do so much defensive thinking, asking yourself, “Where am I being threatened?” It’s all offensive playing, at least as far as I can tell, after playing it twice now.

-it teaches facts about birds in a non-lecture-y way. When it’s not your turn you can read the facts and not be bored. 🙂 It has so many interesting facts to learn: a bird’s habitat, what it eats, the type of nest it lays (or not), the typical amount of eggs it lays in one nest, its wingspan, and some unique fact about the bird.

-the illustrations are just so lovely

-the quality of the pieces is high, as the cardboard pieces and cards are thick and the little pastel eggs are solid

-although it seems complicated at first, the game is simple to learn as it comes with a quick start guide where each player has an instruction sheet that tells each one exactly how to take his or her first four turns, which makes it easy-peasy to learn

-it is fun, as you feel success as you move backwards on the row, doing each step in order, activating the bird’s powers, laying eggs, etc., so for that reason it teaches one to think methodically, and in the process you learn to enjoy thinking step-by-step

-it’s also fun because of the bird feeder dice tower, I mean you could just roll the dice, but the bird feeder just makes it so much more fun

I give this game 5 out of 5 stars! I’d say it’s for ages 10 and up or 8 and up for fluent readers. It’s great for bird lovers, but you don’t have to be a bird lover to enjoy it. I plan on getting it for my bird-loving dad for Father’s Day. I can’t wait to play it with him!