Every Shiny Thing, a game about being a crow in a small town, by CindieForge
Fly for real. Steal anything. See the dead.
Crow Sandbox · Physics Flight · Small-Town Comedy
You're a crow in Ashby Green, a small town that keeps its routines and remembers what you did to them. The flight runs on real crow numbers, so landing on a wire is something you get good at. Take the sandwich, the key, the hat off a man's head, and carry all of it home to the nest. When the light goes, you'll see something nobody else in town can.
The demo is free and plays in a desktop browser, with a gamepad or keyboard and mouse. Not on phones. Windows and Linux downloads are on the itch.io page.
A Crow in Ashby Green
Every Shiny Thing is a game about being a crow. You live in a nest on the ridge above Ashby Green, and the town below is full of things that shine: a key on a desk, a coin in the fountain, a teaspoon at the café, a sandwich in somebody's hand. Nobody tells you whether to be helpful or a menace. You work that out one person at a time.
Flying is the game. You flap for height, trade a dive for speed, and brake hard before you land on a wire. Come in a bit too fast and you run it out across the pavement, wings up. Much too fast and it's a scramble. Either way it costs you nothing but your dignity.
The town is paying attention. People keep their routines, react to what you do, and remember it, so make enough of a nuisance at the café and a plastic owl turns up to keep you off. At night you sleep in the nest, the game saves, and a card tells you what the town saw that day: Somebody's sandwich is missing. The crow was seen.
The first day in Ashby Green is free to play now, right in your browser.
See Ashby Green
Frames from the current build. It's pre-release, so expect the town to keep changing.
What You Do
Fly the town, spot something, take it or meddle with it, and watch what happens next.
Fly for Real
Flap for height, glide to keep it, dive for speed and brake before you land. Real crow numbers sit under it, with a few allowances made for fun: no stamina, a landing assist, and a camera that never rolls.
Steal Anything
If you can lift it, you can take it. Sandwiches, keys, teaspoons, the hat off a man's head. Heavy things fly heavy, and if you caw with something in your beak, you drop it.
The Town Remembers
Everyone in town makes up their own mind about the crow, and it shifts with what you do. There is no meter for it. You see it in how they act: who shoos you off, and who starts leaving peanuts on the sill.
Find the Errands Yourself
Nobody hands you a quest, and nothing in the world points the way. The town's problems are there to be noticed, and you notice them by watching people. What you do about them is up to you.
Everything Comes Home
The nest is your progress, your save point and your museum. Its empty places show the shapes of things the town has, and each one you carry home settles into its spot.
See the Dead
At dusk the town's dead come out, and the crow is the only one who can see them. They are sad, sometimes funny, and mostly waiting. Nothing jumps out at you.
The Free Demo: Day One
Your first day in Ashby Green, from waking in the nest to the first ghost at dusk.
The town as it stands
The nest's ridge, the church and its cemetery, Main Street, the river and the park, and the suburb over the bridge. One day to spend in it, and more in it than one day will get to.
The whole crow
All of the flying, perching, hopping, grabbing and cawing. Hats come off heads. Lunches go missing.
A town that answers back
People notice what you do and they do not forget it. There are errands hidden in their days, and you only find them by watching.
Stay out until dusk
When the light goes, the first of the dead is waiting.
How to Play It
It plays in a desktop browser. It won't run on a phone, so save it for a computer.
Use a gamepad, or a keyboard and mouse. The game shows you each button the first time you need it, and that's all the explaining it does.
Rather download it? Windows and Linux builds are on the same itch.io page.
The Whole Town, at Launch
The demo is one day in Ashby Green as it is today. This is what the full game is being built to hold.
Five Districts
Main Street, the park and the river, a suburb block, the church and cemetery, and the woods edge where the nest is. One town, all in one piece.
About 30 Townspeople
Each with a routine, and most with a story that goes differently depending on you.
Ten Spirits
The town's dead, each of them waiting on something only a crow could manage.
Around 35 Hidden Situations
Problems you find by watching, and solve the way a crow would.
Mimicry
Learn the town's sounds and use them. A doorbell you mimic is a doorbell to everyone who hears it.
Hats, and a Nest That Fills
Eight hats to wear, and around 150 things to carry home.
All of it planned for 1.0. Plans move, and this page will move with them.
Questions
When does Every Shiny Thing come out?
There is no release date yet. It is coming to Steam for Windows and Linux, built with the Steam Deck in mind. Join the Forge, our Discord, and you will hear the date first, along with the Steam page the day it goes up. The free demo is playable now.
Join the ForgeWhat kind of game is it?
A 3D sandbox about being a crow in a small town. It sits near Untitled Goose Game: wordless mischief in a town that reacts to you. The difference is that you fly, the town remembers what you did, and at dusk you can see the dead.
Can I play it now?
Yes. The demo is free and plays in a desktop browser. It does not run on phones. If you would rather download it, Windows and Linux builds are on the same itch.io page.
Play the free demoDo I need a controller?
No. It is built pad first and the keyboard mirrors it: every action is one button on the pad and one key on the keyboard, and the mouse only looks around. The options cover inverted look, sensitivity, reduced motion and rebinding.
There are ghosts. Is it scary?
No. Mostly the dead want someone to notice them, and a few are funnier than they mean to be. Nothing jumps out at you. Daylight is slapstick, and dusk is quieter.
Can the crow die?
There is no death screen and no stamina bar. A bad landing is a scramble, and a wall is a bonk and an offended caw. The worst that happens is the hawk, which hunts at midday: it makes you drop whatever you were carrying, and you wake up in the nest.
Are there microtransactions?
No. It is a game you buy once, with no loot boxes, energy timers or premium currency. Free updates are planned after launch.
Free Demo · Coming to Steam
Play It, Then Tell Us
The demo is how we find out what works. Spend a day in Ashby Green, then tell us what made you laugh, where you got lost, and what you tried to steal that wouldn't come loose. Post it in the Forge, our Discord, or email selodev3d@gmail.com.