Have You Played... The Secrets Of Raetikon
A little bird told me
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time.
I bet you haven't, you naughty scamp. And you really ought. Secrets Of Raetikon is an incredibly beautiful, peculiarly peaceful game about being a bird. And building weird statue things. And avoiding mean birds. And collecting magic glowy things. It's the sort of game you remember absolutely adoring on your friend's Sega Megadrive but not being able to remember what it was called.
What's most crucial here is the flying, and it's wonderful. Swooping, diving, fluttering, all nailed. It's ambient movement, a real pleasure to experience, meaning everything else in the game is that much more enjoyable too. And everything else is a rather splendid time of exploring the 2D gorgeous world, finding "slivers" and releasing shards. As you go you discover lots of lovely little details, like ways your pretty-much defenceless bird can improve her chances in a scrap with a jackal.
You can get it for £7/$10 from Steam, or $10 directly from developers Broken Rules.