Kickstarter Project of the Week: SkateBIRD

For this week’s Switch Kickstarter Project of the Week, we will be looking at Glass Bottom Games’ SkateBIRD. The game is slated to release in June 2020. Here’s the rundown:

You’re a lonely lil’ bird, and your Big Friend has hung up their board for good. Their job sucks, and lately, they’re barely ever home to play with you. You’re gonna fix all that with the power of being a chill little skateboarding bird. You may be tiny, but the more you skate, the more following you get, the more the world of bird skating will open up. Birds will come check out your park, and maybe even host events! Above all else, skate birds try their best.

Skate parks in SkateBIRD are, first and foremost: parks. Explorable, fun sandboxes to just chill and skate around in. You’ll find bowls to skate (sometimes with cereal in them!), hidden routes, and maybe even zoom through some doors birbs aren’t supposed to open.

As you explore, you’ll find secret hats, clothing and more for your birb to try on, and different skateboards too (some with weird powers). You’ll even find secret mixtapes, which unlock more in-game tunes to skate to. 

If you’re more into progression, just talk to one of the other birbs in the park. Pretty much everyone you meet has something that needs doing, whether it be retrieving a toy, finding them a snack, or even knocking over a book so they can explore the nearby desk.

As you complete tasks, you get more known as a skate birb. More birbs will come hang out, more tasks will be offered, and eventually you’ll host a skate event with all your new friends. Finish that, win or lose, and the birbs help you get to a totally new skate park. Maybe you’ll break into an office and play with desk toys, or go explore another Big Friend’s fancy house!

As you unlock more skate parks, you’ll have more places to play, more clothing and boards and mixtapes to go find, more tasks to try, and! Your “Big Friend” (your human) comes along for the ride. If you’re in an office, it’s because you’re getting them a better job. If you’re in a bedroom and there’s floor undies you don’t recognize… maybe you have a new big friend!

SkateBIRD spins a tale of how a little birb can make a big difference, but the story doesn’t get in the way. It’s there if you want to look closer, but if you just treat things as a series of fun skate parks with no further context required, the game is totally on board with that too. 

When asked about a console/Switch version, Glass Bottom Games had this to say:

We’re in talks with literally all three right now. We’ve got almost all the information we need to go forward, we’re just waiting on the final one to give us a sign – and that will tell us which consoles we’re releasing on and when. Hopefully we can get this figured out by mid-campaign.

SkateBIRD has already been fully funded! The project had required $20,000(USD) and is currently sitting at $37,123(USD) with still 21 days still remaining. SkateBIRD has since gone on to tick off a few stretch goals:

Click here to check out SkateBIRD on Kickstarter and perhaps consider chucking a few $ their way.