The fun but competitive nature of Bird Fight makes for an addictive experience to play with a friend. While most games made for the class have been single player, the designer chooses to make a game that is borderline unplayable for a solo player. The game however becomes truly itself when introducing the multiplayer aspect to it. The game is designed around having two players face off and the rules are fairly simple for anyone to pick up. Like many one on one fighting games, Bird Fight constantly tests both player’s skill at movement. The gravity requires players to constantly flap their wings to not be an easy target to hit on the ground. The choice to not have each round “reset” the timer of the game is great as it leads to constant action. Aiming in the game is exceptionally difficult as it involves the player controlling their movement as well as reading the other player’s movement as the projectiles have travel time to account for. There is constant interplay between the movement and shooting as they directly lead to the other being required. Movement is required to line up your own shots while also being required to dodge the other player’s shots. On the other hand, moving makes aiming harder for the player themselves which is a tradeoff. The limit on 8 bullets being on the screen shows careful consideration from the designer. With no limit on projectiles, the game would become a two player bullet hell game which strays away from the skill based one on one that the designer intends. The lack of “cover” on the map leads to an interesting mechanic where players are forced to keep moving. The pace of the game is essentially dictated by the skill of the players as people who become more accustomed to the movement and projectile speed of the game can play more aggressively. We did not touch on competitive balance too much during our semester and I think the designer avoids this issue by creating two identical birds. While there exists an optimal strategy that puts the opposing player, I did not put effort into finding it and was more focused on learning the movement of the game. The bird sprites and background are aesthetically pleasing and while the focus of the game is not its story, the implied backstory of why the birds are fighting is a nice touch. There is also constant feedback for every player action. The movement feels fluid with the animation of the wings flying. The animation for birds being hit is also a reward and constantly pushes the player to hit their opponent. The scoreboard UI is very simple and it adds more info for the players to track. Tracking both player’s health point levels while keeping track of movement adds more skill expression to the game. The game has a lot of interplay as various factors have to be taken into account to make a good decision for the player. Tracking both player’s positionings, health bars, and number of shots fired leads to a fun competitive 1v1 game to play with a friend.