Game: Clash of the Talons

an animated hawk and owl fight over a squirrel
  • Grades 2 - 12
  • Ages 6-7, 8-10, 11-14, 14+

A Battle Between Mighty Birds of Prey

In the twilight hours, just before Red-tailed Hawks turn in for the night, the Great-horned Owls emerge to start their day -- and the battle for survival begins!

Become a powerful bird of prey and outhunt your opponent. Take control of one of ten unique bird species and clash as you hunt for prey in distinct environments. Do you have talons strong enough, dives fast enough, and eyes sharp enough to fly your way to victory?

The Facts Behind the Game

Ecosystems represent complex communities of living things interacting with each other and their environment. Ecosystems which contain a great variety of living things (i.e. have high biodiversity) achieve this when the living things within it find a wide variety of ways to survive (or, “make a living”). Inevitably though, there are times where different individuals will come into conflict over resources (like food), especially when times are tough. In Clash of the Talons, we see 10 species of predatory birds competing beak and claw for their prey!


Bring the Battle Home!

The free, playable demo of Clash of the Talons is available for Windows and Mac. Inspired by the ROM's own research and collections and informed by museum science, the full version highlights the interactions of new predators and prey in new habitats, showing how they compete for food and resources in a game that is fun, fast, and addictive! 

If you'd like to own the expanded version for PC, Mac, or Linux, get it now (for $5.99) at LastHourGames.com. A portion of each sale will support the ROM.

The ROM Connection

The gameplay in Clash of the Talons was inspired by the collections and research of the ROM’s Ornithology Department. Our scientists work all over the world in understanding the threats that faced by migratory birds on both their breeding and nesting grounds, as well as looking at DNA to better understand the diversity and evolution of birds both living and extinct.


What's a Game Jam?

At a ROM Game Jam, teams of developers spend a weekend at the ROM learning from collections and curators and using those ideas to build fun games inspired by the museum.  With only two days to research and create their games, the results can be weird, wacky, and downright wonderful!

Clash of the Talons was created by Last Hour Games. 
The ROM Arcade is hosted by Last Hour Games.


Game Info

(Please note this game is only playable on a computer and is not optimized for mobile devices.)

# of players: 1 to 2

Controls: Xbox controller or keyboard

To play the demo:

  • Follow the "Go to the game" link and click on the "Windows" or "Mac" link to download the appropriate rar file.
  • Extract the files to a folder on your computer

For Windows:

  • Open "Clash of the Talons Demo.exe"

For Mac:

  • Open the "ClashOfTheTalons.app" folder
  • Open the "Contents" folder
  • Open the "MacOS" folder
  • Open "ClashOfTheTalons"

controller instructions keyboard instructions

Screenshots:

Clash of the Talons menu screen screenshot of the forest level screenshot of the lake level screenshot of the mountain level  screenshot of the plains level screenshot of the tundra level