BirdGut is guilty of two things I really dislike: It forces keyboard controls for platforming, and it introduces a shooting mechanic near the end.

Yet there's something about the game's quirky story and presentation that really appeals to me. If Hollow Knight feels a little like an animated feature film, then BirdGut feels like an underground comic book. It's crass and silly but there's heart in there, too.

And while the platforming and shooting can feel pretty clumsy (though I alleviated the former by mapping my controller to keyboard inputs), the generous checkpoints and infinite lives helped a lot, and the exploration and puzzle solving segments (which make up the bulk of the game) made me want to push forward.

So while a part of me wants to criticize the game more harshly for those aspects, the honest truth is that the 2 or 3 hours I spent playing really flew by. It's a unique and special game, especially to be created by one person. And it's free!