Gathering Sky Review

Are you the kind of player who needs to have a specific purpose in mind? If that's the case, Gathering Sky isn’t for you. It’s more about a pleasant journey through the skies than providing an actual storyline or objectives to complete. It’s very nicely done but it’s a bit of an one-shot kind of idea.

You’re guiding a flock of birds around the sky as they dance through the wind. You start out with just the one bird and fly towards others to attract them. Controls are a matter of dragging a finger around the screen to guide the creatures. There’s no peril to speak of. While you can dodge around some obstacles, hitting them merely causes your flock to divide up briefly before rejoining not long afterwards.

Instead, Gathering Sky is all about enjoying such simplicity. You’re not constantly working your way towards another objective or unlocking a new achievement. You’re just there savouring the moment and the strangely relaxing theme. Exploration is welcomed but don’t expect to uncover much along the way.

That also happens to be Gathering Sky’s main problem. Without a purpose behind it, it’s not going to appeal to everyone. The first few minutes are a lot like its last few minutes, excluding a change in scenery and a larger flock of birds. It’s quite beautiful to look at and its soundtrack is beguiling, which gives you some kind of peace from the chaos of so much else in the world.

Whether that appeals to you depends on why you play games, though. I can see this working well for introducing simple gaming concepts to children, for instance. As a form of escapism, Gathering Sky does a remarkable job of soon calming you after a busy day but no one could blame you if your complaint was that not much happens.