For the past week, I have been using Finch to see whether or not it is worth your time. 

What is Finch?

Finch is a self care pet that aims to help support various mental health struggles by giving you goals and by rewarding you when you complete them. Every day after you accomplish enough goals, you earn energy to go on adventures that trigger conversations with your Finch and can give you different decorations or micropets for your Finch.

My Review:

Features

Right off the bat, the game is very cute. It has a colorful, cartoony art style that creates a very welcoming environment. A  feature that is very interesting for a mental health app is the ability to connect with friends. Using the “Tree Town” function  you can add friends and family into your mental health journey and send them different messages.  Including strength, hugs, high fives, dances and many other positive actions to help out your friends with their day. 

Activities

Another aspect that I really enjoy is the multitude of different activities you can do. Using the plus sign at the bottom, you are able to access reflections, movements, breathing exercises, goals, grounding techniques and more. I have explored some of the features and I have really enjoyed the acts of kindness and the guided meditations. They have been helpful in centering my mind after stressful days or when I have a lot to accomplish.

Negatives

Even with all of the features I really enjoy and find helpful, there are a few negatives. For starters, Finch stops you from accessing some of the activities if you are using the free version. You have to pay $5 a month for premium, and for a mental health app, I think that is quite steep when you are only getting a few extra features. They should either offer more exclusive items to make it worth your while or they should make all the activities free. Another negative of this app is that you are required to wait 12 hours until you are able to communicate with your bird. You can gain more energy by using the activities to speed up the adventuring time but even if you do everything, it is still a multi hour wait. For me, this is very annoying if you want to connect with this virtual pet. In the week I have been playing, I’ve only interacted with my bird seven times. 

My thoughts

Overall, I think this app is very fun and would recommend it if you want just the slightest bit of bird happiness added to your everyday life. I wouldn’t recommend this app to replace true mental health resources, for that I would suggest going to an expert who is there to help you. This app receives a rating of 4 out of 5.