In about 16 minutes of hands-on time with Bad Magpie, I torched flowers, added even more chaos to the mess humans left behind with a sonic bird call, and thoroughly disgruntled some innocent mice. Bad Magpie is instantly charming, and from what I played, has great puzzles to go with its chaos.
Bad Magpie follows a magpie that’s been left behind by her flock after an injury leaves it unable to fly. The magpie comes across a beautiful fallen star that also has a love for shiny trinkets. Alone and looking for company, the magpie decides to collect trinkets for the star to try and win it over. In the demo, I was tasked with getting a red badge for the star. When I came across it in a dark school playground, it was swiftly scooped up by what looked like a dragon in the sand. It wanted 20 shiny things (glass-like crystals) in exchange for the badge. Thus, my short adventure began.
Shiny things are everywhere. Some sit on the walkway, others are hidden in trees or in a spot that made me ask “how do I get there?” The space I played in Bad Magpie was loaded with these kinds of puzzles. Even in the first few minutes, I was teased with a shiny thing on top of a car hood that didn’t quite have direct access. Pecking the car’s windows didn’t work, nor did hitting it with a stick. Bad Magpie encourages chaos – which makes sense with the game’s title. The solution to this quick puzzle was to peck a tree to get a stick, then light it on fire with a nearby rock. Finally, char the car door’s window with the flame. Once it cracked due to the fire’s heat, an opportunity opened for me to peck my way through and collect my reward.
Actions as the magpie are limited; you can squawk, peck, jump, and move quickly. The dev team at Milktooth manages to do a lot with those few inputs by using item and action combinations, like the aforementioned lighting sticks on fire to open pathways. I saw much more of this once I made it to the abandoned school playground, which serves as the demo’s actual playground. Here, I found fireworks, soda cans, fruit, a maraca, and plenty of other items to interact with. I feel like I only found a small combination of interactions, too.
The most important item in the area was a megaphone. With it equipped, the magpie’s cry went from cute to supersonic. I used it to break glass and other obstacles to find even more shiny things… and irritate mice, of course. It’s not clear why yet, but it seems like humans aren’t around, or at least haven’t been in the schoolyard for a bit. Instead, mice and other creatures like the long dragon serve as magpie’s company and targets for mischief.
Ultimately it seems like you could do the bare minimum collecting to progress in the full game whenever it’s out, but I frankly, didn’t want to put the controller down even after I hit the 20 required shiny things. Ten more still lingered in the demo. So much of the reward of Bad Magpie comes from experiencing the small scenes that played out as a result of meddling. Most of the shinies in the schoolyard were hidden in items, which were hinted at by sparkling around a target. This included boxes, trees, bottles, and even a sand castle three mice were building. My favorite reaction came from disrupting two mice smooching on the ledge of a boarded up window. Unfortunately for them, a shiny thing hung above them. I set off a nearby alarm to cause them to jump out of their romantic moment, which caused the shiny thing to fall. They turned red in anger, the the heart bubble that floated above them broke. Sorry guys, it couldn’t be helped!
Bad Magpie is also just beautiful. The style Milktooth chose has a wonderful texture and I like that even though it’s cute, there’s a moodiness to it. The sound design complements the style too. The magpie’s claws make a pleasing pitter patter as it hops along the ground, and the pecking sound changes depending on your target.
I noticed my peers had mostly left and took it as a sign for me to stop at having collected 27 out of a possible 30 shiny crystals in the demo. Missing those final few will haunt me until I can begin my collection once again whenever Bad Magpie is out.
Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN and a member of Unlocked. She’s a big fan of stationery, reading, and knitting. You can sometimes find her on Bluesky and Instagram.
