This funny new indie game features a bunch of weird avians and a goddess that's been kidnapped. You can also explore a beautiful lantern world inspired by Persian Art.

The Scientist has kidnapped Simurgh, goddess of Lantern City on the eve her prophesied awaken. It's up to you, a young girl named Zig, who spends most of her time on her smartphone, to figure out what is going on. That's the beginning of the story in 30 Birds, a gorgeous and unexpectedly funny exploration-adventure that's out today on Steam.

The Persian-inspired art and unusual mix of 3D and 2D visuals in 30 Birds caught my attention at first. Lantern City is a literal collection of giant floating lanterns, with gameplay taking place on the surfaces of each. The light, breezy writing and low-pressure game play kept me interested. I was expecting something a little more serious, as would be expected of an indie-art game. But it's actually more like this:

Zig isn't the only one on her quest to find out what happened to Simurgh. The first thing to do is find a group of birds scattered throughout Lantern City. Each bird will be able to help you in a different way. The birds are a diverse group of characters: the first bird you encounter is a kind of degenerate gambling addict who may or not have been involved with another woman. Details are not provided, but he seems to be a character.

The artistic director Coline Savand and co-creator Laurent Toulouse said that a trip to Istanbul, a few years back, inspired them to create 30 Birds. Sauvand explained that she wanted to tell the story about our trip using traditional Persian art, Persian miniatures. We had discovered them through the book My Name is Red. "Back in Brussels we created an interactive painting using this idea. Then we thought, 'Hmm... It would be fun to make a videogame using this idea'."

In the early parts of 30 Birds, I came across a fire djinn who was guarding a locked door. I quickly solved the djinn’s puzzle, he opened up the door and everything appeared fine. Except that, as soon as the doors opened, a goblin-like creature rushed out screaming "goobagooba", undoing my work. It was a real surprise that added a new layer of complexity to the problem. I laughed despite being annoyed at having to chase after the creature like a dog playing with its favorite toy.

The game's guide is helpful, but you can also explore the environment and poke around. There are plenty of things to do and see, including puzzles, games, hidden objects to find, and conversation topics. And there's no failure state: an innkeeper will keep telling you that you're young until you figure out what's going on. (Tip - Lie about your actual age. It's really that simple.

30 Birds is all about the sense of discovery you get from playing around with things. It reminds of The Manhole by Cyan, a 1988 puzzle-adventure game: I could do stuff even when I didn't know what I was supposed. I don't use the word "delightful" often, but 30 Birds is a great example.

30 Birds is available now on Steam for $16/PS13.49/EUR16--10% off the regular price--until December 11.