Perch: Birds of Play – Small Modules, Noticeable Impact

Birds of Play is a modular expansion for Perch. What you get are three small add-ons that you can use separately or all together. Think of it as the same game, just with a few extra things to worry about. Setup is almost the same as usual. You mix in the new objective cards that match your player count, and only use the cards linked to the modules you actually picked.

That’s it. No new phases. No side board. The goal is still the same. Five rounds, score the most points, try not to get annoyed when ties cancel everything.

In the box you get three modules: Seeds the Day, Points in the Sky, and Pond-emonium. Each one tweaks the incentives in a slightly different way. I mean, nothing here reinvents the game. It just nudges it. Sometimes lightly, sometimes in a way you really feel.

If you want to see exactly what’s included, the Kickstarter campaign page has the full breakdown.

👥 2-5 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 45-60 minutes
📝 Designer: Douglas Hettrick
🎨 Artwork: Ari Oliver

🏢 Publisher: Inside Up Games (review copy provided)

About the base game: what is Perch?

Perch is an area majority game that plays over five rounds. Each round has four phases: migration, recruit, perch, and upkeep.

In migration, birds go into the bag. In recruit, you draw two from the bag and take two from your own flock. In perch, you place them one by one on the location tiles and maybe use a bonus action. In upkeep, you score everything from left to right. Most birds score top points, second-most score less, third-most maybe score something, and ties cancel.

That last part is important. Ties cancel. It’s one of the core feelings of Perch.

Control of creature home locations gives you creature powers next round. At the end of the game you score for largest single flock, creatures you control, birds in the fountain, birds in the plaza, and your hidden objective.

Birds of Play doesn’t change that structure. It just adds more reasons to care about where and when you place a bird.

Now let’s go through the modules.

Seeds the Day

This one is very straightforward. During setup you put one birdfeeder on every location. The first bird placed there takes it and scores three points immediately.

That’s the whole rule.

Now, three points is nice. Points are points. But in Perch, scoring immediately also shifts turn order next round. And here’s the interesting part: in area majority games, going first isn’t automatically better. Often it’s the opposite. Going later gives you more control. You see where everyone else has placed their birds, and on your final placement they can’t respond anymore.

So with birdfeeders, you sometimes end up in this slightly odd spot. Yes, you want the three points. Of course you do. But those points might push you earlier in turn order next round, and that can actually reduce your flexibility.

We even had moments where someone deliberately placed another player’s bird just to give them the three points, so they would move up in turn order. I mean, it’s only three points, but over five rounds that shift in position can matter more than it looks.

In the end, it mostly changes the feel of the first round. After that, the module fades into the background. It doesn’t reshape the game. It shifts that opening round and makes you think for a second about whether you really want to be first.

Points in the Sky

This one adds the sun and the moon tiles. They cover certain locations and change the scoring values there. During upkeep, those locations score using the values on the sun or moon instead of what’s printed underneath. After scoring, both tiles move one location clockwise.

So the board state shifts in a predictable way.

I know “predictable” doesn’t sound exciting, but that’s kind of the point. It’s not random. You can see where the sun will go next round. Players in our group started planning one upkeep ahead. They’d park two birds somewhere not because it was good now, but because it would be good when the sun arrived.

That worked well for us. But it’s also where turns started to get longer.

If someone in your group already stares at the board for two minutes before placing a single bird, this module won’t help. It gives you one more thing to think about before placing a bird. Not huge, but noticeable.

Also, while covered, “during scoring” abilities on those locations are ignored, but “during upkeep” abilities still trigger. It’s clean in the rules. In practice, someone will forget once. Probably you. Or me.

This module sits somewhere in the middle for complexity. Not heavy, but you do feel it.

Pond-emonium

This is the one that changes the most.

You add one or two ponds under intersections between three locations. Players get bread pieces. During the perch phase, you can discard one bread to move a bird from a location next to a pond onto that pond.

Then in upkeep, after scoring the normal locations, each pond is scored. To even participate, you need at least one bird on the pond. Then you count birds on the pond plus birds on the three adjoining locations. Most total wins. Ties cancel, just like everywhere else.

For us, this changed how we looked at the game. We stopped thinking about single tiles. We started thinking in clusters. If I put a bird here, it helps that location, and the pond, and maybe creature control. That means every placement carries more weight.

The bread action is stronger than it looks. It’s limited. You discard it permanently. And you can use it either before or after placing a bird. That flexibility matters. Late in the round, moving one bird onto a pond can swing eligibility or break a tie.

Honestly, this is where the game shifts from light-to-medium into proper medium. Upkeep already takes some time in Perch because you score column by column. Now you score ponds too. And you count birds again for adjacency.

It’s not difficult math. But there is more scanning, more recounting. With four or five players, it adds up.

Artwork and components

We played a prototype, so some elements might change.

Visually, it’s consistent with Perch. Same woodland tone, same soft colours. It all blends in naturally.

The final version will include sculpted 3D birdfeeders and bread instead of flat tokens. The acrylic creature standees for the pond creatures look nice on the table, slightly glossy, a bit “watery.” Nothing over the top, just pleasant. Component-wise, it fits the base game well.

Our experience

For us, nothing felt bolted on. It doesn’t add new phases. It doesn’t force you to relearn the game. It increases decision density.

With Seeds the Day, those first placements suddenly matter in a different way. Points in the Sky rewards forward planning. Pond-emonium increases interaction and overlap.

When we combined all three, the game felt more dynamic, but also more swingy. Big shifts in single rounds were more common. Birdfeeders give instant points. Sun and moon shift scoring. Ponds create double-counting areas. Sometimes someone jumps ahead fast.

For experienced players, that was interesting. Bread timing also became a small resource arc over five rounds. If your group prefers Perch because it’s approachable and fairly breezy, using all three modules might push it a bit beyond that comfort zone.

Our thoughts

This is clearly for people who already like Perch. If you bounced off the base game because ties cancelling felt frustrating, this expansion doesn’t fix that. In some ways, especially with ponds, it intensifies it.

What it does well is modular scaling. Seeds the Day is easy. Points in the Sky adds a planning layer. Pond-emonium is the bigger jump. You can choose how far you want to go.

For us, the real strength is replay variation. Different module combinations, different pond placements, rotating sun and moon paths, new objectives. None of the ideas are revolutionary. But together, they stretch the lifespan of the base game.

The downside is simple. More counting. More evaluation. Slightly longer upkeep. And with five players, you will feel that.

Birds of Play doesn’t change Perch. It keeps the foundation intact, just with more happening each round. If you already enjoy the base game, I think this simply gives you more room to play with the same ideas. And yes, a few more ways to peck at each other.

More information about the expansion can be found on the Kickstarter campaign page.

📝 We received a prototype copy of the expansion from Inside Up Games.