Crossy Road

Last updated
Crossy Road
Crossy Road icon.jpeg
App icon
Developer(s) Hipster Whale
yodo1
Publisher(s) Hipster Whale
yodo1 (pre Dec 2017)
Engine Unity
Platform(s) iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, Android, Android TV, Windows Phone, Windows, Series 30+, Sky Q, KaiOS
ReleaseiOS
  • WW: November 20, 2014
Android
  • WW: December 23, 2014
Windows Phone
  • WW: May 1, 2015
tvOS
  • WW: October 30, 2015
Nokia 105 (2017) [1] KaiOS [2]
  • WW: 2019
Genre(s) Endless runner
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer (tvOS)

Crossy Road is an action game released on November 20, 2014. It was developed and published on iOS by Australian video game developer Hipster Whale and originally yodo1 on Android. The name and concept of the game play on the riddle joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?" [3] It has been described as endless runner version of the 1981 video game Frogger . [4] [5] [6] After June 2017, the publisher for the Android version of Crossy Road was changed from yodo1 to Hipster Whale. [7]

Contents

Gameplay and objectives

The chicken, near the bottom, waiting for a yellow car to pass Crossy Road Gameplay.png
The chicken, near the bottom, waiting for a yellow car to pass

The objective of Crossy Road is to move a character through an endless path of static and moving obstacles as far as possible without dying. By default, the character is a chicken that must cross a series of busy roads, rivers and active train tracks, but there are hundreds of other characters, and depending on the character the environment around also changes, with the obstacles varying. For example, when playing as the Astronaut, the environment is space and obstacles include asteroids.

In the original mobile version, the player must hop to go forward or swipe the screen in the appropriate direction to move the character horizontally or backwards. Some characters can only be unlocked with cash or ingame currency.

There are a number of special characters in addition to regular characters. For example, the Android version includes Android Robot, based on the operating system's Android logo. Other characters include Doge, Archie, Dark Lord, the mascot of Hipster Whale and #thedress, a female character wearing the dress of the same name. Various popular culture references and games are also included, such as Forget-Me-Not and "Emo Goose" voiced by Phil Lester.

The player is able to collect coins; an in-game currency, characterised by its golden-yellowish color, squarish shape and red C in its middle. These are obtained in-game by collection during gameplay, watching advertisements, completing tasks, collecting a free gift given every few real-time hours, and using legal currency to buy them in various amounts. Coins are counted the top right corner of the screen. One hundred coins can be used for a chance at a new character from a lottery machine. [8] If the player owns the Piggy Bank mascot, red coins worth five coins each are added to the game, and coins received from free gifts or watching ads are doubled.

Hipster Whale founders and game developers Matt Hall and Andy Sum at Game Developers Conference Hipster Whale.jpg
Hipster Whale founders and game developers Matt Hall and Andy Sum at Game Developers Conference

Development

Initially the developers planned to spend only six weeks developing the game, but afterwards realized the game's potential and dedicated another six weeks to completing it. [9] The game's free-to-play model was based on the one for Dota 2 . [10]

A big influence on the team was the success of the game Flappy Bird . Developer Matt Hall noted that "That was when people really wanted to play high-score chasing games, and they were telling people about it, and there was this cool opportunity." [11] Eventually Hall hit upon combining such a game with Frogger . [11] Other influences included Temple Run , Subway Surfers , Disco Zoo , Skylanders , Tiny Wings and Fez . [12] The game's art style was created by Ben Weatherall. [13]

Reception

The game was a finalist for the Game of the Year Award 2014 for the Australian Game Developer Awards. [14] It received generally positive reviews with Metacritic giving the game a score of 88, [15] TouchArcade giving the game 5/5 stars, [8] BigBoomBoom.com giving the game 5/5 stars, [16] Gamezebo Gaming giving the game 4.5/5 stars, [17] and Apple N' Apps giving the game a 4/5 overall score. [18] Polygon dubbed the game "brilliant" and compared it as an updated take on Frogger , [4] while Time called the game a mix of Frogger and Flappy Bird . [19] At the 2015 Apple WWDC developer's conference, Crossy Road was one of the winners of the 2015 Apple Design Awards. [20]

Three months after its initial release, the game earned over $10 million and had over 50 million downloads. [21]

Flat Eric, best known for his appearances in Levi's commercials in 1999, as well as the music video for Flat Beat is an unlockable character. [22]

Spin-offs

Disney Crossy Road

In 2016, Hipster Whale and Disney Interactive Studios launched a spin-off video game called Disney Crossy Road on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows 8.1, [a] and Windows 10 [a] devices. It features Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, as well as some characters from numerous Disney franchises such as Zootopia , Big Hero 6 , The Lion King , Tangled , Wreck-It Ralph , Moana , Pixar's Toy Story , Cars , The Incredibles and Inside Out . At launch, the game features over 100 characters. [24]

Disney Crossy Road was shut down on iOS, Google, and Amazon on March 12, 2020. [25]

Crossy Road Castle

Crossy Road Castle is an endless co-op platformer that acts as a sequel to Crossy Road, available only on Apple Arcade. [26] It supports up to four players and can be played with either touch controls or a controller. [27] Players are placed in a procedurally generated tower spanning multiple levels and must work together to reach the exit.

CroZXy Road

With the permission of Hipster Whale, Bob Smith re-wrote Crossy Road for the ZX81, an 8-bit computer from the 1980s. [28] In Smith's words, one of the motivations for porting the game "is to prove that there are some great modern game ideas which don't rely on amazing graphics or great processing power, and could work just as well on much older machines." [29] The ZX81 version was released in 2015.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Windows version was discontinued after version 2.8. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mobile game</span> Video game played on a mobile device

A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone, tablet, PDA to handheld game console, portable media player or graphing calculator, with and without network availability. The earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.

Disney Mobile is an American division of Disney Consumer Products, which is in itself a division of The Walt Disney Company, that designs mobile games and apps, content and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nitrome</span> English video game developer

Nitrome Games Limited is a British independent video game developer based in London. The company formerly developed Unity-based games for Web browsers, but now publishes and develops games across multiple platforms including mobile, Nintendo Switch, and PS4, with a few releases on Steam.

<i>Cut the Rope</i> Video game franchise

Cut the Rope is a franchise of physics-based puzzle video games developed and published by ZeptoLab. It consists of the original game Cut the Rope (2010) published by Chillingo, Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift (2010), Cut the Rope: Experiments (2011), Cut the Rope: Time Travel (2013), Cut the Rope 2, My Om Nom, Cut the Rope: Magic (2015), Cut the Rope Remastered (2021), Cut the Rope Daily (2023), and Cut the Rope 3 (2023).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZeptoLab</span> Multinational video game company

ZeptoLab is a video game developer best known for developing the Cut the Rope series, which has been downloaded more than 2 billion times since its release, and can be played on major platforms including Android, iOS, Windows Phone, HTML5 Internet browsers, macOS, Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS.

<i>Temple Run</i> 2011 3D endless runner video game

Temple Run is an endless runner video game developed and published by Imangi Studios. The player controls an explorer who has obtained an ancient relic and runs from demonic monkey-like creatures chasing him. The game was initially released for iOS devices on August 3, 2011, and later ported to Android systems and Windows Phone 8.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NimbleBit</span> American mobile game developer and publisher

NimbleBit, LLC is an American developer and publisher of iOS and Android mobile apps. It was co-founded by brothers David and Ian Marsh. Their titles include Pocket Frogs, Tiny Tower, Pocket Planes and Disco Zoo.

<i>Sonic Dash</i> 2013 video game

Sonic Dash is a 2013 endless runner mobile game developed by Hardlight and published by Japanese game studio Sega. It is Hardlight's second Sonic the Hedgehog game, the first being 2012's Sonic Jump. The game was released in March 2013 for iOS, November 2013 for Android, and December 2014 for Windows Phone and Windows, along with an arcade release in November 2015 as Sonic Dash Extreme. It was initially released as a paid application, but was made free-to-play a month after its iOS release.

<i>Temple Run</i> (series) Endless runner video game series

Temple Run is a video game franchise of 3D endless running video games developed and published by Imangi Studios. The primary theme of the series is an explorer chased from a group of demon monkeys, however, the characters and theme vary between spin-offs. The game was initially released for iOS devices on August 4, 2011, and later ported to Android systems and Windows Phone 8. The series consists of eight titles and has received commercial success with multiple entries surpassing 1 million downloads.

<i>Monument Valley</i> (video game) Puzzle video game

Monument Valley is a puzzle and indie game by Ustwo Games. The player leads the princess Ida through mazes of optical illusions and impossible objects while manipulating the world around her to reach various platforms. Monument Valley was developed over ten months beginning in early 2013 based on concept drawings by company artist Ken Wong. Its visual style was inspired by Japanese prints, minimalist sculpture, and indie games Windosill, Fez, and Sword & Sworcery, and was compared by critics to M. C. Escher drawings and Echochrome. The art was designed such that each frame would be worthy of public display.

<i>Flappy Bird</i> 2013 mobile game

Flappy Bird is a 2013 casual mobile game developed by Vietnamese video game artist and programmer Dong Nguyen, under his game development company .Gears. The game is a side-scroller where the player controls a bird, Faby, attempting to fly between columns of green pipes without hitting them. The player's score is determined by the number of pipes they pass. Nguyen created the game over a period of several days, using the bird from a cancelled game made in 2012.

<i>Threes</i> 2014 video game

Threes is a puzzle video game by Sirvo, an independent development team consisting of game designer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend, and composer Jimmy Hinson. The game was released on February 6, 2014, for iOS devices and later ported to Android, Xbox One, Windows Phone, and Windows. In Threes, the player slides numbered tiles on a grid to combine addends and multiples of three. The game ends when there are no moves left on the grid and the tiles are counted for a final score.

<i>Swing Copters</i> 2014 video game

Swing Copters is a 2014 arcade video game released for iOS and Android on August 21, 2014. It was developed by Vietnamese video game developer .Gears, best known for Flappy Bird (2013). The player controls a character wearing a helmet with helicopter rotors, and the player changes the direction of the character by tapping the screen.

<i>Vainglory</i> (video game) Multiplayer online battle arena video game

Vainglory is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game, developed and published by Super Evil Megacorp for iOS, Android and PC. As many games in its genre, Vainglory's gameplay focuses on player versus player battles, with players split into two teams of three or five with the ultimate goal of destroying the opposing team's base. The game was released for iOS on November 16, 2014, after being soft-launched for over half a year, with the Android version being released on July 2, 2015. A Mac and Microsoft Windows version of the game was released in July 2018. Through cross-platform play, players on all four platforms can play together simultaneously.

<i>Altos Adventure</i> 2015 video game

Alto's Adventure is a 2015 endless runner snowboarding video game developed by Team Alto and published by Snowman (iOS) and Noodlecake Studios (Android). The player-character automatically moves to the right of the screen through procedurally generated landscapes. The player taps the screen to jump and perform tricks (backflips), and works towards goals, competitive high scores, and upgrades. Snowman, a Toronto-based, three-person indie development team, previously worked on productivity apps before Alto's Adventure. The game was made to emulate the ethereal atmosphere of snowboarding, and was inspired by Ski Safari (2012), Tiny Wings (2012), Jetpack Joyride (2011), Journey (2012), Monument Valley (2014), Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 (2000), and Windosill (2009).

<i>Pac-Man 256</i> 2015 video game

Pac-Man 256 is an endless runner video game developed by Hipster Whale and 3 Sprockets and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The game is part of the Pac-Man series and is inspired by the original Pac-Man game's infamous Level 256 glitch, as well as Hipster Whale's own game Crossy Road, which previously featured a Pac-Man mode. The game was originally released as a free-to-play title for iOS and Android on August 20, 2015. In June 21, 2016, Bandai Namco Studios Vancouver released a version of the game for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, featuring additional features like multiplayer for up to 4 players, a new power-up, and no longer having to wait a certain amount of time to get power-ups, and instead having to eat a number of Pac-Dots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hipster Whale</span> Australian video game developer

Hipster Whale is an Australian independent video game developer and publisher founded on 20 November 2014 by Andy Sum and Matt Hall, shortly before making the game Crossy Road. The company has also created the games Shooty Skies, Pac-Man 256, and Disney Crossy Road.

<i>Shooty Skies</i> Video game by hipster whale

Shooty Skies is an arcade shooting game created by Hipster Whale and Mighty Games for iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Linux. It was released on iOS on September 30, 2015, and on Android on November 6, 2015; it was later released on Windows, macOS, and Linux on March 6, 2018.

<i>Altos Odyssey</i> 2018 video game

Alto's Odyssey is an endless runner and sandboarding video game developed by Team Alto and published by Snowman (iOS) and Noodlecake Studios (Android). The player controls Alto as he explores the endless desert across different biomes, each with unique traversal mechanics and challenges. Developed over a year and a half, it was released in 2018 for iOS and Android. It is the sequel to Alto's Adventure (2015).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of mobile games</span>

The popularisation of mobile games began as early as 1997 with the introduction of Snake preloaded on Nokia feature phones, demonstrating the practicality of games on these devices. Several mobile device manufacturers included preloaded games in the wake of Snake's success. In 1999, the introduction of the i-mode service in Japan allowed a wide variety of more advanced mobile games to be downloaded onto smartphones, though the service was largely limited to Japan. By the early 2000s, the technical specifications of Western handsets had also matured to the point where downloadable applications could be supported, but mainstream adoption continued to be hampered by market fragmentation between different devices, operating environments, and distributors.

References

  1. ↑ HMD Global (17 July 2017). "The new Nokia 105 and Nokia 130 delivers even better value with great quality designs". Archived from the original on 3 June 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
  2. ↑ Ambre M (27 December 2023). "10 All-time classic games on your KaiOS phone" . Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  3. ↑ Barker, Garry (11 March 2015). "More than fun and games with local developers Rylandia". Digital Life. Fairfax Media. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 Kuchera, Ben (21 November 2014). "Crossy Road has invented the 'endless Frogger,' and it's brilliant". Polygon. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Hayward, Andrew (26 December 2014). "You Should Play: Crossy Road is basically endless Frogger, and that's a very good thing". Macworld. Archived from the original on 19 August 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Rosenberg, Adam (9 September 2015). "'Crossy Road' brings a new take on its 'endless Frogger' to Apple TV". Mashable. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Crossy Road - Android Apps on Google Play". 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  8. 1 2 Dotson, Carter (21 November 2014). "Crossy Road" Review - Watch Out for That Train!". TouchArcade. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. ↑ Kidman, Angus (18 December 2014). "Why Crossy Road's Developers Launched On Android Through Amazon". Lifehacker Australia. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  10. ↑ Te, Zorine (24 December 2014). "Crossy Road's Surprising Success, Future Secrets, Dota 2 Connection". Gamespot. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
  11. 1 2 Partridge, Jon. "Crossy Road: Making the next Flappy Bird". Red Bull. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  12. ↑ "Matt Hall (@KlickTock) on Twitter". Twitter. 28 November 2014. Archived from the original on 21 April 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  13. ↑ "Ben Weatherall (@sunraheadgear) on Twitter". Twitter. 8 August 2014. Archived from the original on 4 April 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  14. ↑ "Australian Game Developer Awards Finalists Announced". GCAP. 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015.
  15. ↑ "Crossy Road - Endless Arcade Hopper iOS". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  16. ↑ "Crossy Road iPhone and Android Game Review". Big Boom Boom. 20 January 2015. Archived from the original on 20 January 2015.
  17. ↑ Cymet, Eli (20 November 2014). "Crossy Road Review: Traffic's a Zoo". Gamezebo Gaming. Archived from the original on 30 November 2019. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Sheridan, Trevor (20 November 2014). "Crossy Road – Enjoying Crossing To The Other Side". Apple N' Apps. Archived from the original on 31 July 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  19. ↑ Fitzpatrick, Alex (24 November 2014). "Crossy Road Is Your New iPhone Game Addiction". Time .
  20. ↑ Starr, Michelle (9 June 2015). "Crossy Road, Vainglory take Apple Design Awards". CNET. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  21. ↑ Tach, Dave (3 March 2015). "They wanted to make a video game phenomenon. They made $10 million. The story of Crossy Road". Polygon . Vox Media. Archived from the original on 12 February 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  22. ↑ "'Crossy Road' Dinosaur Update: Unlock New Secret Characters in the Latest Game Update". 13 September 2016. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  23. ↑ "Disney Crossy Road version 2.8 will be the final Windows update". crossy-road.com. Disney Interactive Studios. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  24. ↑ Farokhmanesh, Megan (7 April 2016). "Disney Crossy Road launches today for mobile devices". Polygon. Archived from the original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  25. ↑ "Disney Crossy Road is being retired on iOS, Google and Amazon". Disney. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  26. ↑ "Apple Arcade's latest exclusive is a new Crossy Road spinoff". theverge. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  27. ↑ "Hipster Whale's Crossy Road Castle brings goofy laughs to Apple Arcade". venturebeat. March 2020. Archived from the original on 28 June 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  28. ↑ Smith, Bob (2016). "CroZXy Road - Bob's Stuff". itch.io. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
  29. ↑ Smith, Bob (23 January 2016). "CroZXy Road - New 16K ZX81 game - Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 / Z88 Forums". Sinclair ZX World. Archived from the original on 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.