This new indie horror game is about the hurt in creating art

Project Songbird begins not with our star, Dakota, but with the programmer of the game: Conner Rush. Before we step into Dakota’s shoes, Conner introduces himself, runs us through a few quick steps like adjusting the brightness. He informs us that this is his seventh game, and thanks us for playing. Only then do we get to step into the shoes of Dakota, an anxious musician and the game’s protagonist — but the introduction stuck with me.

Dakota is a mess. She’s sleeping past 2PM, and her apartment has entered “Damn, bitch, you live like this?” status. Her agent, Rob, calls about the latest music she’s sent for review. Dakota is better known as Neon Songbird, and all of her recent songs have been real bummers. The fans want a return to the classics, and the critics are tearing her apart as pretentious. So, she decides to get away to a remote cabin in Appalachia to take a swing at recording some new hits.

Project Songbird is a horror game, and the marketing and framing make that quite clear, but it takes a little bit for the scares to show up. For a while, Dakota just explores the cabin, plunks out some tunes, chops firewood, and sips coffee. The story takes place over three acts, and while the daytime is safe and cozy, nightfall summons a mysterious red door that leads Dakota through a series of horrifying and haunting environments, forcing her to confront a grief that has calcified within her.

I don’t want to spoil Project Songbird’s story, so I am going to talk about a different game: The Beginner’s Guide. The Beginner’s Guide is by Davey Wreden, the creator of The Stanley Parable and Wanderstop. Wreden is the game’s narrator, and he explains that he will be walking us through a few work-in-progress game prototypes that his friend made and shared with him. Wreden is our tour guide through these little games, and his perspective and commentary colors everything we see. It’s a deeply affecting game about art and hurt, and much like Project Songbird, it begins with the developer framing the story for us.