Devlog 2 - A Crowing Appetite!

We want to start this post with a big thanks to all of you for supporting Migration and giving us so much crucial feedback for the game. Thanks to your help, Migration has now passed 60k wishlists, a major milestone for our small team of 2 indie devs.

We are really grateful for such an amazing community behind our project, and you are our biggest motivation to keep working on our crow game.

It’s been a while since our last dev log, so we just want to spend a few minutes giving everyone an update on what happened over the last few months. If you’ve followed us on our socials, you might notice there are a few new features we’ve introduced to the game, and here’s the summary of everything in one post:

Insect Hunt

We’ve added the first version of insect hunting to the game. Crows can now find and hunt different types of insects, starting with crickets, beetles, and spiders.

Each insect spawns in specific environments: crickets can be found in open plains and grassy areas, while spiders and beetles are more likely to appear in forests, damp places, or near humid terrain.

To catch them, the player can use a new ambush-like attack: a short forward leap aimed in the right direction. If timed and aimed correctly, the crow will strike the insect, kill it, and be able to eat it.

Insects are a valuable food source, offering strong nutritional benefits and contributing to the crow’s body fat, making them especially useful when preparing for harsher weather conditions.

Body Fat

We’ve introduced a new body fat system for the crow, ranging from 0 to 100.

Body fat acts as an important survival resource: the higher the value, the more protection the crow gains against the cold. A lower body fat value means reduced cold resistance, making harsh weather and freezing temperatures more dangerous.

Body fat can be increased by eating fatty foods, such as meat and insects. Different foods provide different amounts of fat depending on their type, size, and rarity. For example, some insects may be more nutritious than others, making hunting them especially rewarding.

Over time, if the crow stops eating fatty foods, its body fat will slowly decrease. This makes fat management an ongoing part of survival rather than a permanent upgrade.

The system is visible both in the UI and on the crow’s body: as body fat increases or decreases, the crow’s appearance will change accordingly, becoming visibly plumper or leaner depending on its current fat level.

Health & Status System

We’ve started building a broader health and status system for the crow.

This system allows the player to gain both positive and negative effects depending on how they play, how they take care of the crow, and what kind of situations they survive.

Positive statuses can come from healthy behaviors, such as keeping the feathers clean, finding natural disinfecting resources, or interacting with specific objects in the environment.

One example is the anthill: the crow can stand on it and perform what is known as an “ant bath,” using the ants to help clean and disinfect its feathers, skin, and wings.

Negative statuses, on the other hand, can appear as a consequence of poor survival choices or dangerous encounters. Bad nutrition, eating unsafe food, taking hits from other animals, or suffering physical trauma can all lead to different kinds of debuffs, illnesses, or temporary conditions.