Bowerbird is a project about love and crafted in that spirit. The narrative is lovingly written in the style of famous nature documentarians. Even now, I find myself speaking out the words of this paragraph in an enunciated English accent. Each page is beautifully presented as an early 1900’s scrapbook journal from naturalist who would have been onsite. Will you add your own observational notes to the scrapbook already full of odd mementos and useful notecards? Best to start your own. After all, this is a journaling game.

Hours of meticulous work in Photoshop have gone into the art to carve out the negative space of the birds' bowers. There are not words to stress the connection the designer feels with these bowerbirds... the lengths they go through to find a partner feels especially resonate. Careful work has been spent into making the bowers stand out commensurate to the amount of work that the bowerbird performs every courtship season.

Overall, readers will find that the game was designed to feel like a historical artifact. A book that still carries an important metaphor that rings true about dating today. Throughout the course of the game, your bowerbird will discover important answers:

• Will their heart stay strong enough to weather the currents of courtship?
• Will they remove objects from your bower to appease a partner? 
• Will trouble befall the bowerbird or their carefully constructed bower? 
• Will their relationship fizzle or will they end up with the partner of their dreams?

Perhaps, you will even learn something about the nature of love yourself...

The Bower - the courtship arena on which the bowerbird will attempt to profess its love. During the morning, critical tasks will be performed to ensure that the bower represents the bird. Construct the bower and decorate it with objects that represent aspects of the bowerbird's personality. Hopefully, these efforts will attract potential partners who are interested in similar things. 

However, not every partner will be into the bowerbird's exquisite circuit boards, mysterious sea glass, or striking rotting mushrooms. Will you watch the bowerbird abandon their preciously collected pile of goods to appease a potential partner? Will they hold fast to their likes and curse the consequences? Only time will tell how their love story will unfold.

The afternoon will be spent wooing new or returning partners. Shrouded in mystery, the partners will appear and will seem to have randomly generated likes, dislikes, and deal breakers that the bowerbird will discover through conversations and activities. As an encounter progresses, either the bowerbird will be able to influence the conversation towards an area of their interest and experience or things might turn towards a less agreeable topic. Through a series of moments represented by dice rolls, the partner's attraction levels will shift. Hopefully enough to the point where the bowerbird feels it is the right time to make their move and confess their romantic feelings.

The afternoon will be spent wooing new or returning partners. Shrouded in mystery, the partners will appear and will seem to have randomly generated likes, dislikes, and deal breakers that the bowerbird will discover through conversations and activities. As an encounter progresses, either the bowerbird will be able to influence the conversation towards an area of their interest and experience or things might turn towards a less agreeable topic. Through a series of moments represented by dice rolls, the partner's attraction levels will shift. Hopefully enough to the point where the bowerbird feels it is the right time to make their move and confess their romantic feelings.

As night falls in the forest, the normal activities of courtship halt as survival must precedence. The darkness holds an unimaginable amount of terrors - predators, rival birds stealing from your bower, discovering that your intended love has chosen another as they soar across the sky. But night can offer a surprising amount of opportunities - a chance to relax after a strenuous day of wooing, a night out with your friends, or perhaps an unexpected visit from an intended lover. While we do not know what the evening holds for our bowerbird, we do know that the cycle will repeat until an end is reached.

The courtship season will continue as usual until your bowerbird confesses their love for another. Either this admission of feelings bears fruit, resulting in a new couple or turns sour, separating the pair forever. If your bowerbird has enough heart and can continue to survive their evenings, they can continue to court other birds. However, it is perfectly acceptable for the bowerbird to call it quits for a myriad of reasons. This may not be their season and they can try again later. However should love prevail, all of the bowerbird's intense efforts will be worth it.

Physical zine by Joel Salda. PDF code included!