Tori Note Review

A Songbird Symphony

Nothing sounds more relaxing than a day in the woods listening to a concert of birds. If that’s what you’re looking for, Tori Note has you covered. Tori Note is a casual game developed by Hit Point, who you may already know for their cat collector game Neko Atsume. This time, instead of cats, however, you’re collecting a very talented set of birds.

Building the Nest

The gameplay is nearly identical to Neko Atsume, so if you’re familiar with that game, you’ll feel right at home. You’ll be given a short tutorial on how to attract birds, then you’ll receive a small number of feathers to buy decorations. Birds come and go based on what you’ve laid out, so you’ll have to mix it up if you want to see them all. Once you’ve arranged the nest as you wish, simply leave the game and wait.

After some time has passed, checking back into the game will reveal some new visitors. Birds of different kinds will be sitting on the cushions you’ve laid out. From there, you can observe them and take photos. Once more time has passed, they’ll leave, but not before giving you a gift of feathers to buy more decorations. Despite it being a simple gameplay loop, I couldn’t help but find myself wanting to boot up the game every hour or so.

If you wait too long to check in you won’t be able to see the birds, but you’ll still get their feathers. Considering bird-watching is the main form of gameplay, it’s certainly a tight penalty.

Evolving Music

Where Tori Note stands out is in its musical touches. Each bird carries a certain instrument, and for as long as they’re around, they’ll add their instrument to the background music. There’s no telling which birds will come, so it’s worth checking in every so often to hear what the new background mix will be. You even have an option of playing an instrument of your own if you’d like to add some personal touches. Despite the many variations, there are only a few base tracks available, so it may become repetitive after some time.

If you’ve got an especially fine-sounding group, you can put together a concert for others. By spending a small amount of Rainbow Feathers, you’ll generate a link for other players to listen to your current band. Unfortunately, you’re at the mercy of randomness when creating a concert, since you can’t pick the birds that participate in it.

Birds of a Rainbow Feather

Either through a swipe of a credit card or a bit of luck with birds, you’ll soon acquire the game’s premium currency, Rainbow Feathers. The rate at which you acquire them doesn’t seem to be too slow, and you can even convert regular feathers into rainbow ones. Once you’ve got enough, you can unlock new locations for your nest, new background tracks, and even some unique decorations. Nothing in the game feels like it’s goading you to buy Rainbow Feathers, which is always nice to see.

Tori Note has its charms with a soft, adorable art style and music to boot. The game itself doesn’t provide much room for interaction, however. Even within its own premise of bird-watching, there is a limited selection of background music and birds available to view, so repetition should be heavily expected.