'I think the core fun element of Crossy Road is similar to that in Flappy Bird,' says Sum. The core fun element of Crossy Road is similar to that in Flappy Bird Andy Sum Your high score reflects how many lanes you've traversed before inevitably getting flattened by a car, hit by a train, or swept upstream.

In Crossy Road, you control an animal or human character - there are dozens to unlock - trying to cross the mayhem one hop at a time.

If Crossy Road resembles anything, it's Frogger, Konami's classic arcade game from 1981, rendered here in an endless voxel landscape of busy roadways, open fields, and log-jammed rivers. 'We wanted to create a title that shared the same DNA, but was very different,' he saysĬrossy Road does indeed stray from Flappy Bird, which is far more frustrating and two dimensional, both literally and figuratively. 'I not only really enjoyed, but enjoyed what it did to the store afterwards.'Īccording to Hall, Flappy Bird allowed similarly challenging games like Dextris to gain visibility without being outright clones.

'It all began with Flappy Bird,' says Hall, when asked about Crossy Road's similarities to the notoriously challenging reflex game. Indie game duo Hipster Whale didn't officially form until a few weeks before their debut game Crossy Roadhit the App Store.īefore taking on the quirky moniker, they were just Andy Sum and Matt Hall, two Australian game developers with a few free web games, jam projects, and other works-in-progress under their belts.Īccording to Sum, the two made the decision to collaborate after Game Connect: Asia Pacific 2013, and spent some time after bouncing ideas around online until something particularly bouncy (hoppy, even) took root.

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