Milktooth's debut title, Bad Magpie, is an open-world game that draws inspiration from the folklore and perceived intelligence of magpies to explore themes of death anxiety and coping mechanisms. The game casts players as a one-winged magpie navigating a handcrafted world filled with puzzles and whimsical characters. This environment features elements such as fireworks, sewer tentacles, and improbably talented mice footballers, evoking a tone reminiscent of games like Animal Well and Donut County.
The core narrative revolves around the magpie mourning her lost flock, finding solace in a fallen star that desires shiny trinkets. This relationship forms the basis of the game's puzzle design, which Milktooth co-founder and design director Daisy Fernandez describes as having an "elastic" cartoon logic that encourages impulsiveness. Players are invited to experiment, with actions like striking sparks from boulders to ignite fields or using megaphones capable of shattering glass.
While Bad Magpie could be classified as a "cosy game" due to its "ASMR tactile interactions" and satisfying sound design for every action, the game's developers use the magpie's tendency to hoard and collect as a metaphor for avoiding or processing grief. Fernandez notes that the game's development began with a concept involving a white duck and a fallen star, but shifted to a magpie after the announcement of Untitled Goose Game. The team was drawn to the magpie due to its association with the 1700s rhyme "One for sorrow, two for joy," which they felt resonated with themes of codependency and death anxiety explored in literature they were reading.
The concept of a flightless magpie who has lost her flock solidified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fernandez recalls seeing a flock of birds flying in a "missing man formation" and wanting to incorporate that image into the game. The constraint of a grounded protagonist also proved beneficial for design and technical challenges.
The game playfully engages with the popular, albeit scientifically unsupported, notion that magpies are drawn to shiny objects. Bad Magpie uses this trope to gently satirize the consumptive habits encouraged by many video games, suggesting that underlying feelings of loss or loneliness might drive such behaviors. Fernandez herself described the development of this densely packed open-world game about death anxiety as a way of sublimating her own anxieties.
While the game explores personal loss and mortality, it does so allegorically, allowing players to find their own interpretations. The idea of collecting items is presented not as a mechanical chore, but as a form of expressive accounting, echoing the structure of the "One for sorrow" rhyme.
Despite its thematic depth and unique approach, Bad Magpie risks being compared to Untitled Goose Game. However, its ambition lies in exploring more complex emotions and delving deeper into folklore and fantasy. The game is slated for release in 2027. The developers have also implemented a dynamic score that reacts to player actions, further enhancing the mischievous atmosphere.