Songbirds

Place cards on a 5x5 grid to help your secret favorite bird win the most nuts, with ties ignored for sneaky swings.

Designer: ゆお (Yuo)
Published by: こっち屋 (Kocchiya)
Editions by: Schwerkraft-Verlag, Pixie Games, Gen-X Games, 盒拍工作室 Hepa Studio, Daily Magic Games, Homosapiens Lab

Songbirds, known in Japan as Birdie Fight, is a small card game about birds fighting for dominance of the forest. Each bird has a color, and you are a forest spirit secretly cheering for one of them. Cards numbered 1 to 7 in red, blue, green and white go onto a 5x5 grid, one card at a time, after nut tokens are laid out for each row and column. When the grid is full, every line is tallied: the color with the highest total takes the nut token, and tied colors are ignored, so a low card can win a nut. Then you reveal your last hand card to show which bird you backed. A short game of subtle sabotage, with solo and co-op options too.

A 5x5 grid filled with numbered color cardsHighest total in a line takes the nutYour final hand card reveals your secret bird

Who it's for

You like short card games with a bluffing edge and a secret preference, and you also want solo or co-op options.

Not for you if…

You want deep strategy or lots of direct interaction. It is a light, quick puzzle on a shared grid.

Vibe's take

Small, sneaky and mildly mean. Everyone shapes the same grid, so you are always guessing which bird the others are secretly helping.