BirdBrainz — Press Kit

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2026

BirdBrainz Brings Feathered Personality to the Classic Queens-Style Logic Puzzle

Queens-style deduction with a cast of birds that have opinions about their space.

Shark River Studios LLC today released BirdBrainz, a bird-themed logic puzzle for iPad and iPhone from independent developer Jay Wardell. The game is in the Queens-style logic-puzzle tradition: on a board divided into colored home regions, the player places one bird in each home so that every row and every column contains exactly one bird, and no two birds touch — not even diagonally. Every puzzle has exactly one valid solution, and the game requires no guessing at any point — only deduction.

The catalog contains more than 40,000 puzzles across board sizes from 5×5 to 9×9, organized into six difficulty tiers that unlock as the player wins at preceding levels. A hand-tuned beginner tier eases new players into the mechanic. Board size isn’t a proxy for difficulty: the higher tiers include extreme 5×5 puzzles alongside gentler 9×9 boards.

BirdBrainz’s nine recurring birds — Cardinal, Blue Jay, Goldfinch, Flamingo, Hummingbird, Oriole, Kingfisher, Snowy Owl, and Toucan — are stylized characters with signature animations and reactions. Place a bird next to another and the neighbor ruffles and shrinks back to the bank; solve a puzzle and the birds celebrate. The soundtrack is original — a warm, laid-back score with different themes for gameplay, difficulty selection, and quieter moments.

Players start with five hints and earn a new one every 20 minutes. Each hint points at a next deduction rather than at the whole answer, so the player still does the solving.

BirdBrainz launches free on the App Store. There are no ads and no in-app purchases in the initial release, and progress lives on the device.

Availability
BirdBrainz is available now on the App Store for iPad and iPhone.

About Shark River Studios
Shark River Studios LLC is an independent software studio founded by Jay Wardell, focused on creating thoughtfully designed applications for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Its products emphasize clarity, simplicity, and ease of use — tools intended to fit naturally into everyday life. Other releases from the studio include VWLSS, a daily missing-vowels word puzzle for iPhone, and Purr & Relax, a companion-style purr generator for sleep and rest.

Press Contact
Shark River Studios LLC
hello@sharkriverstudios.com
sharkriverstudios.com/birdbrainz

BirdBrainz is a colorful bird-themed logic puzzle for iPad and iPhone — find each bird a home without letting any two share a row, column, or corner.

BirdBrainz is a Queens-style logic puzzle for iPad and iPhone, starring a colorful cast of bird characters. Each puzzle divides the board into colored home regions, one per bird. The player places one bird in each home so that every row and every column contains exactly one bird, and no two birds touch — not even diagonally. Every puzzle has exactly one solution, and the whole game runs on deduction — no guessing required. More than 40,000 puzzles, six difficulty tiers that unlock as you improve, and helpful hints when you’re stuck — five to start, with a new one every 20 minutes.

BirdBrainz is a bird-themed logic puzzle for iPad and iPhone in the Queens-style logic-puzzle tradition. The board is divided into colored home regions, one per bird. The player places one bird in each home so that every row and every column contains exactly one bird, and no two birds touch — not even diagonally. Every puzzle in the catalog has exactly one valid solution; the game is pure deduction, with no guessing required at any point.

The catalog contains more than 40,000 puzzles across board sizes from 5×5 through 9×9. Six difficulty tiers unlock progressively as the player wins at each level. Board size isn’t a proxy for difficulty, so the harder tiers include extreme 5×5 puzzles alongside gentler 9×9 boards.

The nine recurring birds — Cardinal, Blue Jay, Goldfinch, Flamingo, Hummingbird, Oriole, Kingfisher, Snowy Owl, and Toucan — are stylized characters with signature animations, individual personalities, and their own reactions when placed correctly or when other birds crowd their space. Smaller puzzles introduce the earlier, bolder-color birds first; the full cast of nine appears in 9×9 puzzles.

Players start with five hints and earn a new one every 20 minutes. Each hint points at a next deduction rather than at the whole answer, so the player still does the solving; the solver just clears the fog when asked.

The soundtrack is a warm, laid-back original score with three themes — one for gameplay, one for difficulty selection, and a lighter piece for the in-between moments — that fade smoothly into each other as the player moves through the app. Sound effects are tuned to match the music rather than played as generic UI beeps.

BirdBrainz requires no account, contains no ads in the initial release, and stores progress locally on the device.

Shark River Studios LLC is an independent software studio founded by Jay Wardell, focused on creating thoughtfully designed applications for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Its products emphasize clarity, simplicity, and ease of use — tools intended to fit naturally into everyday life. Other releases from the studio include VWLSS, a daily missing-vowels word puzzle for iPhone, and Purr & Relax, a companion-style purr generator for sleep and rest.