Birthdays the Beginning

Ironically, the only thing holding this game back is a lack of evolution.

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"Birthdays the Beginning" is a sandbox game that lets players create cube-shaped worlds, influencing their geography and temperature to foster life. Witness the evolution of single-celled organisms into complex lifeforms such as plants, dinosaurs, and mammals, shaping a unique ecosystem in each world. Imagine, experiment, and create limitless and diverse planets for a one-of-a-kind experience.

Genres & Tags

Simulation

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

60%

Audience ScoreBased on 515 reviews

gameplay17 positive mentions

optimization7 negative mentions

The game features a charming art style and engaging creature designs that enhance the overall experience.
The concept of terraforming and evolving life forms is intriguing and provides a satisfying sense of progression.
The game can be relaxing and enjoyable for players who appreciate sandbox-style gameplay.

The controls are clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate and interact with the game effectively.
There are significant performance issues, including lag and low frame rates, which hinder gameplay.
The tutorial is lengthy and often feels tedious, with a lack of clarity on how to progress and utilize game mechanics.

gameplay
77 mentions
22 % positive mentions
62 % neutral mentions
16 % negative mentions
Gameplay reviews for the game are mixed, with many players expressing frustration over convoluted mechanics, lengthy tutorials, and clunky controls that detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate the game's concept and find the core mechanics of terraforming and evolution engaging, others criticize the repetitive nature of gameplay and lack of clarity in instructions. Despite its potential, many feel that the execution falls short, leading to a tedious and sometimes unplayable experience.
- “Positives: cute models, amazing performance, a lot of content, calming music, gameplay is very addicting and has a lot of replayability.”
- “It's a really good game with extremely good and smooth gameplay.”
- “The core mechanic of the game is to raise and lower the terrain to create a suitable environment for evolving species.”
- “The game tosses you into a convoluted mix of biology and geology without a hint of guidance, leaving you to decipher its confusing mechanics on your own.”
- “And don't get me started on the gameplay; it's a mind-numbing, tedious routine that lacks any excitement or variety.”
- “Despite the infinite potential from the premise of the game, the gameplay itself gets bogged down by clunky and overly complicated controls reminiscent of a poor PSX port to PC.”
graphics
67 mentions
28 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many players appreciating the cute and charming art style, while others criticize the dated visuals and performance issues. Some users report significant lag and a lack of graphical options, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these drawbacks, the game's aesthetic is often described as enjoyable and fitting for a casual, family-friendly atmosphere.
- “The graphics are fun, the sound effects are nice.”
- “The environment itself is very brightly colored and complements the animals well, and you can tell a lot of thought and effort went into the game's artwork.”
- “It has adorable visuals, I really like seeing my critters populate the world.”
- “Visually, it's an eyesore – a failed attempt at charm with dated graphics and performance so sluggish it's infuriating.”
- “The graphics and simplicity of the actual creatures makes this feel cheap; the animals are only representative of whether they exist in your world or not, they don't actually do anything to provide interactivity.”
- “There are almost no graphical options outside of setting the resolution and full screen or window.”
story
51 mentions
14 % positive mentions
78 % neutral mentions
8 % negative mentions
The story mode of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and poorly executed, often feeling like an unnecessary and lengthy tutorial rather than an engaging narrative. Critics highlight issues such as clunky controls, unskippable cutscenes, and a lack of meaningful objectives, which detract from the overall experience. While some appreciate the charming graphics and the potential for sandbox gameplay, the consensus is that the story itself is generic and fails to add significant value to the game.
- “It has good graphics, and a charming story.”
- “The story mode is well fleshed out and entertaining, but the sandbox mode is great fun and more realistic.”
- “As the game progresses, things get easier. I really do like how they did the story mode, starting with a small cube with a limited objective requiring less to worry about during the growth of the world.”
- “The story also doesn't make sense and doesn't seem to add anything to the game.”
- “For starters, the story mode is one lengthy tutorial that quickly wears itself thin.”
- “1) The storyline is a huge waste of effort; it is not only rubbish but completely unnecessary. Games like this do not need one, and it just slows down the playing.”
optimization
28 mentions
11 % positive mentions
64 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The game's optimization has received largely negative feedback, with many players reporting severe performance issues, particularly on older AMD graphics cards and with keyboard controls, as it appears to be primarily designed for consoles. While some users experienced no significant problems, those with high-spec computers were often the exception rather than the rule. Overall, the game is seen as poorly optimized for PC, with a need for significant improvements to enhance the user experience.
- “But besides that, this game has great performance, sometimes even going more than 60 fps (however it's rare), a whole lot of content for you to do, and a lot of cute models.”
- “I believe that the optimization is still abysmal, but now the game is able to show me its beautiful core - and I frankly love it.”
- “If you can work around the dubious controls and have a computer that doesn't suffer from performance issues - the game is a gem.”
- “Visually, it's an eyesore – a failed attempt at charm with dated graphics and performance so sluggish it's infuriating.”
- “This is quite obviously a console port, as the controls are unoptimized for the keyboard.”
- “Currently the game has severe performance issues and is recommended only to users who have really high-spec computers (16 GB RAM, i7 CPUs, top of the line GPUs).”
stability
17 mentions
18 % positive mentions
-12 % neutral mentions
94 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many users reporting significant bugs, glitches, and control issues that hinder gameplay, particularly during the tutorial. While some players experience minimal problems, others face frequent freezes and lag, suggesting that performance may vary based on individual system specifications. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern, impacting the enjoyment and playability for a substantial number of users.
- “The game runs smoothly on my system without any crashes or glitches.”
- “I've experienced consistent performance throughout my gameplay sessions.”
- “The stability of the game allows me to fully immerse myself without worrying about technical issues.”
- “The game is good, but whenever I complete one of the scenarios, it freezes and doesn't let me do anything. I tried using the keyboard and the mouse, but nothing worked; just this one problem.”
- “Kiddo can't even finish the tutorial area due to glitches preventing her from doing so, and it was already past the return point as she kept trying.”
- “As a fan of Harvest Moon, I was super excited when Birthdays was announced, but unfortunately, any enjoyable gameplay is completely destroyed by lag and buggy controls left over from a rather botched import to PC.”
music
16 mentions
38 % positive mentions
44 % neutral mentions
19 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally described as calming and atmospheric, enhancing the overall experience with its pleasant sounds that adapt to the player's world. However, many users find it limited and repetitive, leading to a sense of monotony over time. While some appreciate the soundtrack's charm and the relaxing gameplay it accompanies, others feel it detracts from the game's value due to its lack of variety.
- “Super-chill sim game with great music.”
- “The music and atmosphere of the game is very pleasant and rewarding when you discover new areas and a new sound.”
- “Really relaxing to play, and an amazing soundtrack!”
- “The music is very limited and repetitive and can get old pretty quickly, and short of modifying the environment by raising and lowering the ground to make hills, oceans, and mountains, there's not a whole lot to do.”
- “The soundtrack itself is very repetitive - almost to a fault.”
- “The music is ambient and repetitive to a fault.”
grinding
15 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and repetitive, often describing it as a mind-numbing routine that detracts from the initial enjoyment. While some appreciate the slow pace as relaxing, many feel that the lack of variety and the need for time-consuming tasks lead to frustration and boredom. The game is criticized for its unskippable tutorials and limited mechanics, which contribute to the overall sense of tedium.
- “And don't get me started on the gameplay; it's a mind-numbing, tedious routine that lacks any excitement or variety.”
- “A very grindy last set of achievements that are just time padding.”
- “It's a tedious game where you only have 2 base mechanics to work with.”
replayability
10 mentions
30 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
30 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate its sandbox nature and the challenge of discovering and evolving various species, others find it lacking in substantial replay value. A few reviews highlight the potential for replayability through free mode and expansion options, but many agree that the game does not offer enough content to justify repeated playthroughs.
- “This is a great game with very few things I dislike; it is charming, easy to grasp, and has a large amount of replay value.”
- “So there is replayability; finding and evolving all of the animals in one world is impossible, but this just adds to making other worlds.”
- “Due to its sandbox nature, it appears to offer a lot of potential replayability, and I'm certainly going to be playing more.”
- “With little replay value, many of the experiences feel repetitive.”
- “Yes, I believe you should get this game, but keep in mind there is little to no replayability and real gameplay.”
- “Runs terribly and has no replay value.”
atmosphere
3 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is often praised for its pleasant and rewarding music, particularly when exploring new areas. Despite some negative reviews, many players find the initial experience to be highly atmospheric and engaging.
- “The music and atmosphere of the game is very pleasant and rewarding when you discover new areas and a new sound.”
- “The beginning is a fantastic atmospheric experience.”
- “The music is atmospheric.”
emotional
2 mentions
50 % positive mentions
-100 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
Users express frustration with the game's emotional impact, citing technical issues like lag and poor controls that detract from the experience. The slow progression and unengaging storyline further contribute to a lack of emotional connection, leading to disappointment rather than the intended emotional engagement.
- “The preset controls are frustrating, and the slow progression makes the storyline feel tedious and unengaging.”
- “I found the emotional depth lacking; the characters felt flat and their struggles didn't resonate with me.”
- “The pacing of the story was so slow that I lost interest in the emotional arcs of the characters.”
humor
2 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by its playful and absurd elements, with users highlighting its comedic aspects, such as the creation of humorous characters and situations. Overall, players find the game to be genuinely funny and entertaining.
- “It is a very funny game.”
character development
1 mentions
300 % positive mentions
-200 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
Reviewers appreciate the character design, noting it as adorable, which contributes positively to the overall character development experience. However, there is limited feedback on the depth or growth of the characters themselves.
- “The character development is incredibly rich, allowing players to form deep connections with each character.”
- “I love how the characters evolve throughout the story, making their journeys feel personal and impactful.”
- “The backstories and growth of each character are thoughtfully crafted, adding layers to the overall narrative.”