Star Birds Review – A Relaxing Bird-filled Base-building Game in a Nutshell

Developer: Toukana Interactive
Release Date: September 10th, 2025
Price: $19.99
Platforms: PC, Steam

Jumping into Star Birds

Screenshot of a stylized asteroid with various buildings on it connected by pipes.

Star Birds is a relaxing base-building and resource management game where players help a flock of birds navigate and survive in outer space. Players will need to research and harvest resources on various asteroids to travel further into the unknown.

Star Birds players will begin the game by going through a brief tutorial in the first few sectors. This tutorial will cover how to utilize the various buildings and machines to collect resources, including iron, copper, and silicon. As well as how to gather credits and tech points, which help unlock more buildings and upgrades.

Each stage of the game is divided into sectors, with each having its own unique set of completion requirements and bonus goals. The standard completion requirement in each section revolves around gathering materials to help the crew progress further into space.

The bonus completion requirements can range from transporting a set number of resources between asteroids to completing a sector in a set amount of time. Star Birds players who choose to complete these additional quests will earn additional achievements. However, players who are not interested in achievement hunting won’t be penalized for not meeting these extra requirements.

360-Degree Base-building & Experimentation

In Star Birds, players can fully rotate each asteroid to build 360-degree production pipelines. Each asteroid has a unique procedurally generated shape, which makes figuring out ideal setups a fun challenge.

Some sectors are very straightforward and spacious, making base-building a quick process. While other sectors will be so cramped that only a launch pad can fit on an asteroid, the rover will end up doing most of the heavy lifting.

In addition to base-building, another fun mechanic in Star Birds is using various machines to craft new resources. Players have the option to either use the game’s built-in wiki to figure out how to craft more complex resources, or they can take an experimental route and plug items into each machine to see what comes out.

Some quests require players to produce “waste” products to collect as a resource, and these have vague recipes that welcome the more experimental approach. While other quests will have players craft resource-heavy things, such as sunglasses and circuit boards.

A Relaxing Take on Resource Management

Screenshot of several asteroids on a a grid connected by lines.

While it is very easy to spend hours playing Star Birds, it is just as easy to multitask and take breaks from gameplay. Levels are not timed, outside of bonus achievements, so players can leave the game running if need be.

Resources connected to a launch pad will automatically be sent up to the main ship over time. If a production building is not connected to a launchpad or any collection building, those items will just sit in the pipes or machine until they are connected to the correct building.

Players can also use the level selection menu to revisit previous sectors. This is great for players who may not have been able to spend as much time in one area as they would have liked. Star Birds players can also keep track of their high scores in this menu.

Having the ability to pause, leave the game running, and revisit levels in Star Birds makes the management side of the game a lot more forgiving in comparison to other games in the genre.

Final Thoughts on Star Birds

Screenshot of a futuristic city in a stylized art style.

Players familiar with Kurzgesagt – in a nutshell’s YouTube videos will find the art style and soundtrack in Star Birds feel very familiar. Each of the bird characters has their own unique personality and look, which makes the game feel lively and fun.

The music and narrations during cutscenes in Star Birds feel cinematic. When working on base-building in a sector, the music is very laid back, but still captures the feeling of being in outer space.

Whether a player is a veteran of the genre or a beginner, gameplay in Star Birds is very easy to jump into, thanks to the tutorials throughout the game. The 360-degree take on base-building adds a unique challenge to tackling each quest.

If you enjoy games like Astroneer, The Wandering Village, and, of course, Dorfromantik, you should give Star Birds a try. Star Birds will be available on Steam on September 10th of this year for $19.99.