Project Songbird Review – Writer’s Block

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FYRE Games, led by Conner Rush, has a history of creating scary games. They’ve proven their ability to build chilling atmospheres with smaller projects like Summerland and We Never Left, which were part of Dread X Collection 5. Now, with Project Songbird, they’re taking on a bigger horror experience. This game blends realistic outdoor settings with bizarre, dreamlike landscapes, and tells a moving, personal story about an artist facing creative challenges.

The narrative unfolds mainly through Dakota’s internal thoughts and conversations, expressed both as spoken dialogue while you play and as entries in her personal journal.

At the heart of Project Songbird is a story about Dakota, a musician known as Neon Songbird, who is struggling with writer’s block. After her last album didn’t do well, her friend and record label executive, Rob, suggests she escape the busy city of Pittsburgh and find inspiration in a secluded cabin in the Appalachian woods. With no cell service and surrounded by water, the cabin offers complete isolation. Over the next month, Dakota hopes to overcome her creative block and write a new album that will resonate with both critics and her fans.

The game primarily unfolds through Dakota’s internal thoughts and conversations – both as she speaks during gameplay and in the journal entries she writes. The environment also plays a key role in telling the story. Almost everything you discover while exploring, whether it’s a hidden patch of flowers or a peculiar painting setup, connects to Dakota’s personal journey. You’ll find notes throughout the game, ranging from ominous warnings about dangerous places to chilling accounts of what happened to others in the area.

Needing a break from busy city life in Pittsburgh, Dakota went to a secluded cabin deep in the Appalachian woods, hoping for peace and quiet away from everything.

What makes Project Songbird stand out is its focus on personal stories, not global catastrophes. Dakota isn’t trying to save the world – she’s on an emotional journey, and you, as the player, influence both her path and the music she makes. Valerie Rose Lohman delivers a compelling performance as the lead, building on her work in games like What Remains of Edith Finch. The supporting cast is equally strong, featuring voice acting from Maddy Murphy, Aleks Le, Jonah Scott, and even the game’s director, Conner Rush.

As a fan, I have to say that Project Songbird is absolutely gorgeous to look at. There are so many beautiful little scenes everywhere – from the thick forests at the beginning as you head towards the cabin, to even inside the cabin itself, which is filled with Dakota’s instruments and recording stuff. The game keeps things visually interesting too, with everything from run-down buildings to dark underground areas. And some of the more strange scenes are really well done – I especially loved finding a door that led to nowhere, just sitting on some rocks!

I really appreciate that Project Songbird isn’t trying to be completely realistic. It’s a smart choice! Instead, the game goes for a really cool, stylized look. At first, everything is warm and colorful, which is beautiful, but as the story gets darker and more unsettling, the colors shift to cooler tones – it’s a fantastic way to build atmosphere and creep you out!

“Visually, Project Songbird definitely has its moments of utter beauty.”

Okay, so the game looks really good, but you can definitely tell it was made by a smaller indie team with a limited budget. I played it on a pretty beefy setup – an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32GB of RAM, and a Radeon RX 7800 XT. I cranked all the graphics settings to the max at 2560×1440, and mostly hit a solid 144 FPS. But honestly, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. I kept running into little stutters and frame drops, especially when I was moving around the world. It felt like the game was struggling to load everything in as I explored. There was also a fair amount of pop-in – trees and textures would just appear suddenly, which was a little distracting.

I’ve been playing Project Songbird, and honestly, it’s really refreshing! It’s not trying to be super complicated like a lot of survival horror games. You don’t have to worry about tons of tricky stealth or managing a huge inventory. Instead, it’s all about exploring this gorgeous world and figuring out simple puzzles as you go. And let me tell you, the visuals are wild – sometimes beautiful, sometimes seriously creepy! When you encounter the scary creatures, you’ll need to use whatever weapon you have to defend yourself, but the focus is more on the atmosphere and exploration than intense combat.

The game is quite short, lasting about 5 hours, though it might take longer if you get stuck on any of the puzzles. While the simple gameplay helps you focus on the story and world, it doesn’t offer much complexity. Even the combat is basic – you just aim and shoot, and move back to avoid getting hit.

This game doesn’t focus on complex sneaking or managing lots of items – things you often see as important parts of survival horror games.

Although the fighting in Project Songbird is straightforward, exploring the game world offers more to do. You can play through the story focusing only on the main events if you choose. However, Dakota starts with a camera and a sound recorder. The camera is useful for capturing key moments, but the sound recorder is the more intriguing tool. While exploring, listen for beeps – they indicate interesting sounds you can record. These recordings can then be used to create music, adding extra layers to the album Dakota is making.

Overall, Project Songbird is a manageable horror experience. It’s relatively short and prioritizes building a creepy atmosphere over constant scares. With simple combat and exploration, it’s easy to recommend to horror fans. While there are some technical hiccups, they aren’t a major problem, and even occasional frame rate drops don’t detract much from the game since it doesn’t rely heavily on fast-paced action.

I was really drawn into Dakota’s struggle with writer’s block – it felt so real! Even if you don’t play music, I think a lot of us can relate to that feeling of being stuck. Plus, the voice acting was fantastic, and the game is a pretty quick play, making Project Songbird a perfect way to relax and enjoy a weekend afternoon. I definitely recommend checking it out!

This game was reviewed on PC.

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2026-03-25 17:47