Guys the world needs more games like this!
@lyxil never stop telling stories! @colm-eccles you did an amazing job in so few days!
Maybe people is expecting more action from a game, but I think interactive experiences are valuable too expecially if they are telling good stories. The time was little, I know, but now you can make the story less static by adding some more animation, and why not, by integrating some small games along the way, just ideas.
Really loved it. Good job!

Our first impression of this game was amazement at the huge download size! ;-)

We really liked the graphics, and the matching music. The chirping sound effects at the beginning got repetitive fast, though.

The game was a little too long and stretched-out in this context, at least for our taste. The "truth" about ourselves became clear to us pretty quickly, and we stopped playing when the (to avoid spoilers) other big bird showed up for the first time. We also felt that our options didn't make a real difference in how the story continued. Not "gamey" enough for our tastes.

Bug report: On the about page: "can be found ......" / "Made with ..... 6.99...

@tommyflower: I agree with your feedback about more animation, flourish, and finishing details. As our first Ludum Game entry, we struggled with timing the most as we weren't used to having such a small time frame. Mini-games would be fun, too! I'm glad you enjoyed our small contribution to interactive storytelling games. Thank you for the enthusiastic response! :)

@blinry: Thank you for your feedback! The music certainly needs work, as it was the next thing on our plate but time ran out. My top concern as I typed the story almost nonstop was that it'd be too short, by visual novel standards... so that is surprising that you found it long. Going back to revise and edit the story, I'll keep in mind ways to build more interest so it wouldn't feel as long. If you went through the story from beginning to end at least once, I think you will see clearly where your choices impact the story. There are 5 different endings depending on your choices. While most of the story is linear, there are events that can or can't occur based on your choices (*for example, mini-spoiler*: 2 possible fight scenes). Visual Novels aren't the traditional "gamey" choice, but a genre I love to play, explore, and support! Games can be a strong medium for telling branching, interactive, and immersive stories.

The art is very well done, and I'm impressed that you were able to evoke strong emotions from a story about birds. This is probably the first visual novel I've played from a Ludum Dare, props for doing something different! I would like a screen that shows how many of the endings I've achieved, to give more incentive to play again. Animations would be great too.

Overall great work for a first jam!

I liked the pictures of nature and the graphics of the birds are cute!
However, the size of the novel is still too big :D The story is touching. Anyway thank you for this job, well done and got a high ratings!
You can also check up our hand-drawn game https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/38/stardust

Just finished. A well conceived twist on an age old tale. Ren’Py seems to serve you well, but I recommend you play around with Visionaire Studio if you find the time. Great atmosphere, great job!

Beautiful story. I liked this novel very much. The music and the pictures fit perfectly together. Some sound effects would've been nice, I think. Like when you take off, flapping wings or when you fall through the branches. :) The end was a little bit abrupt in my opinion. Great job!

I really like the game. I feel like the end you guys made was more like the story can continue. I loved everything. It eventually gets son interesting that you just want to keep clicking I forgot about time and everything and I feel immerse in the story. Great job. Would love to see a sequel. :)

That was.... beautiful. Love it!

:'-)

How did I miss that there was a magpie game until now!? Lovely story (and longer than I was expecting!) and beautiful images. (I was sad that it wasn't for linux, but I got to borrow a windows computer just for trying this.)

Really great game and most importantly it had magpies in it! I really only have two comments. The color for non-selected option made it really hard to read. When selected it was nice but the other option could have had more contrast in it. Also, if the music and the sound effects weren't mutually exclusive would have been great. It was a little abrupt and strange to loose the music while getting sound of birds.

Quite amazing the amount of content, graphics and text included. Well written and well drawn.

Very small side note, if you could update the itch.io page to flag each download with the correct OS so they work in the itch-app.

I didn't realize the person who commented on my game was in a team until today, glad I've made it in time to rate your game!

...or not a game? Beautiful experience anyway. I wasn't sure if my answers were affecting anything, were they? Fun thing is: one option that I was always missing was going full asshole and pushing them out, or returning back when you can fly and they're still kids and bringing the revenge with you, but in reality I've chosen the most peaceful options all the time.

Were you able to take and edit all these gorgeous photos within just 72 hours, and make that into a game? Good stuff.

Yeah, I focused on the drawings while Lyxil worked on the story and game development. The backgrounds were stock photos with filters on top and the drawings themselves were done in Adobe sketch on iPad. I handed over the assets as they were done. The last assets were only completed an hour or two before the deadline. It was close. :)

a lovely well written story :)

It was a fun experience being a little bird and the story reflecting real life and human life is an emotional one. Nice!

Very nice! Normally i'm not into visual novels, but i liked yours. I would have loved a scrolling background on the last shot, that would have been awesome, because it would have been a contrast to the previous still shots. But i know the time limit is harsh (this was my first LDJam, too). Well done, great story!
!> I wonder how many players knew that you are a cuckoo's egg right from the start?

Thank you thank you everyone for all the feedback! Really, it's so super helpful, and we'll definitely keep it in mind as we continue to make story-driven games together. This experience has really helped us grow :)

@skosnowich: The audio is definitely not my favorite part as it was suuuper rushed and I didn't have time to do any finessing on it.

@local-minimum: Yes, your choices are making a big difference! There are 5 endings after all. Spoilers below:
!> There are two possible fight scenes if you are really aggressive toward Gail, and even a death scene. If you return back to the nest, it can get very, very violent.