At PAX West 2025, we met with Buffalo Buffalo to check out the latest update to their newly released game Fresh Tracks and get a sneak preview of their upcoming game Birdseed. Now, you can read our previous preview of Fresh Tracks or wait until our full review of the game later this month.
After checking out Fresh Tracks at PAX East 2025, we definitely wanted to hit the slopes once again and enjoy its energetic and soulful soundtrack. The boss fight music will get your heart pumping, and if you start to panic, you might not know which way to swing.
After an extended demo of Fresh Tracks, we moved over to the VR portion of Buffalo Buffalo’s booth. If you recall, I am not the biggest fan of VR and rarely play VR games.
In fact, Tunnels was the first one I had attempted since Skyrim VR in 2022. Rather than having to decide between sitting or standing, the developer instructed us to sit in order to be able to take in the full environment of the game.
This upcoming game is called Birdseed, and as its name gives away, the fact that you will be bird watching.
Now, the idea of bird watching, just like fishing, might be boring to some, but to others it can be a way of interacting with and observing nature. At first, I wasn’t a fan of the concept. Why play a game when you could experience the real thing?
After thinking about it for a few seconds, I realized that many people do not have the luxury of being able to sit in the woods and enjoy the sounds of nature or see wild creatures move around.
At first, the tutorial made the game feel a bit tedious, where you had to learn the base concepts of the game, but if you didn’t do it in the right way, it made you keep trying.
Although the game is called Birdseed, there were times when I wanted to take pictures of the Butterflies, the waterfalls, and even the clouds.
It wasn’t easy to find the different birds that the game was requesting you to take photos of at first. Rather than being able to find the birds immediately, you had to be patient and wait for the right moment to take the perfect photo.
Once the tutorial had been completed, we were tasked with taking photos of two specific birds and then taking photos of whatever we desired. Now, at first, we tried to take a selfie, but it came out as a rock.
We then attempted to try to take a photo of the butterflies, but they came out blurry. When we spoke to the developers, they stated that the game was early in development and that there would be different lenses.
Overall, the core concept of Birdseed is to create a relaxing experience for those who might not be able to experience the real thing. After completing the demo, it made me want to go out and experience the real thing. The demo was an interesting idea, but it could have used a bit more, like trying out different cameras, lenses, or being able to interact with different things.
At one point, I wanted to be able to bend over, grab my thermostat, and have some hot coffee while a dog lay down beside me. As a proof of concept, the game seems like it will be fun, but it definitely needs a good bit of polish. I would love to see where it goes in the next few years, and hopefully, they incorporate different environments and maybe other types of creatures alongside Birds.
