Australian Indie Video Games tend towards the weird but lovable. The Godfeather: A Mafia Pigeon Saga sits high on this throne. It captures everything you ever suspected about pigeons in Australia. And it’s not the first time we’ve ventured into the animal world; Untitled Goose Game became a global phenomenon based on a crazy goose rampaging across a quaint English village. Both Hollow Knight and Webbed brought us into the mystical world of insects. Unpacking had us all looking for plush toy pigs. Cult of the Lamb empowered our woolly little friend in a very scary way. Baron: Fur is Gonna Fly remains one of my fave party games of all time. Each of these is Aussie Indie, and each of them highlights our great respect for wildlife, nature, and our quirky characterisations. It’s only natural for pigeons to feature on the list.
If not… well, the Godfeather would like to have a word with you. Pigeon to pigeon, so to speak.
What is The Godfeather: A Mafia Pigeon Saga?
Watch out below! Godfeather has quickly become one of the top-five games in the Evil Genius Lair. We first found it demo’ed at PAX Aus 2022, fresh on display in the Aussie Indie section. It quickly became The Meeting Spot every time I lost sight of EG Zaltu, knowing that she wanted at least one more go at pooping on the postal worker. It recently featured at Generation Games Sydney 2024, easily one of the main drawcards for EG Zaltu. (Read more about Generation Games Sydney 2024 here)
This fast-paced roguelike game is set in a top-down 3rd person view. It’s essentially swoop and poop. You play the role of a pigeon, given various secret missions across dynamically generated levels throughout the neighbourhood. Each map features a combination of unique targets, dangerous hazards, and refuelling stations (i.e. Dumpster Diving). As your pigeon strives to rise above the lower ranks within the pigeon underworld, your missions become more daring and definitely more threatening. It’s hard enough avoiding anti-pigeon drones and cats without having to deal with some pretty nasty boss battles! Once your mission is successfully completed, you can shop for upgrades in preparation for the next attack.
The Brains Behind The Boss
Godfeather comes from the minds of Hojo Studios, based in Sydney (Australia). Fans of PAX Aus 2017 may recognise the team from one of their earlier games, Inflatality. It’s another example of the absurdity behind Aussie Indie games that makes them so damn lovable. Inflatality is a vibrant and fierce physics fighter featuring the big inflatable wavers you usually see outside used car dealerships. It’s insane. It’s quirky. It’s downright perfect.
It’s also the same energy they bring to Godfeather. There is no stretch of the imagination to believe pigeons would have a nefarious underworld with secret lives and political machinations. Hojo Studios has embraced the quirky and added a level of cutesy to our feathered friends. Pigeons are the kind of innocuous birds that are simply begging for this!
They Who Control the Skies, Controls the World
It is a breath of fresh air to find a game that suits all ages and coordination levels. Godfeather is a hit with young players and cynical older gamers who desperately need to laugh at the world (Me. I’m talking about me).
My experience so far is limited to Steam and the PC, using an Xbox controller. Not exactly my most elegant of devices; meaning, yes, I crashed many, many times. But honestly, the actual controls for gameplay are very intuitive. It felt natural and fluid, with quick responses across the map and navigating the menus. I have played some games where the flying mechanic has taken a while to fumble through, but I’m very grateful to say Godfeather is not one of them. Instead, I can relax with the controls and simply sit back to enjoy the game.
Visually, the game is built on quirky art and comical actions. The colour palette is bright and playful, with a top-down look featuring easily identifiable landmarks. The mob-boss aesthetic is the highlight. I loved each of the puns and comical displays, which included a heavy dose of Jersey Italian caricatures.
A couple of points to consider. First, the minimal save points are killing me. Each neighbourhood has four levels, and those later levels are tough. The roguelike ‘permadeath’ feature is at its most brutal when your pigeon is captured on a later level, and you start again at the beginning of the neighbourhood. As I said: Brutal. I’m okay with starting at the beginning of the level, but all the way back to the beginning of the neighbourhood? C’mon, Hojo!!
I also need to consider when I play Godfeather. I sometimes lose sight of the pigeon, mostly when moving quickly against matching backgrounds, and it is more noticeable when tired. While the colours are usually bright and playful, they tend to blur and bleed with some landscapes. I haven’t yet tested this out further, but I’m interested to see what options are available, such as when the light-grey pigeon can blend into dark-grey roads or other surfaces.
A Video Game You Can’t Refuse
Score: 4 out of 5 loose pigeon feathers
Oh yeah. The puns are awful. I know. But they are part of the wacky charm. Godfeather is one of those games I probably won’t obsess over to the point of completion. But it is definitely the kind of game I can easily come back and play every now and then. I really like that. It’s like a complex comfort game, and I really need more of these.
If you are a completionist, I think you’ll miss the point with Godfeather. It’s not meant to be played like that. But if you like a bit of stress relief, with a laugh (often at yourself), and enough challenge to keep you busy, then I think you’ll really like Godfeather.
The Godfeather: A Mafia Pigeon Saga is currently available on Steam, soon to be released on mobile and Nintendo Switch. It’s a perfect match for Nintendo fans, sharing the controls around the family like a semi-party mode. I’m a little cautious about gameplay on the mobile, considering the struggle to see smaller details (like the pigeon) on a smaller screen. Currently priced at AUD$10 on Steam, this is definitely work checking out yourself. For more details and updates, head to the official Godfeather website here. Happy swooping!
Categories: General Evil Genius video games
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