Crossy Road
| Crossy Road | |
|---|---|
 Icon of Crossy Road | |
| Developer(s) | Hipster Whale |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | iOS, tvOS, Android, Windows Phone |
| Release date(s) |
iOS
Android
Windows Phone
tvOS
|
| Genre(s) | Arcade |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer (tvOS) |
Crossy Road (or Crossy Road - Endless Arcade Hopper on the App Store) is an arcade video game released on November 20, 2014. It was developed by Hipster Whale, the company of Andy Sum, Matt Hall, and Ben Weatherall. The name and concept of the game is a play on the joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?".[1] The game has been described as "endless Frogger."[2][3][4]
Gameplay
The goal of the game is to get as far as possible across the roads, rivers, grass and train tracks without dying. The player plays as a mascot (such as a chicken, koala, or bunny) and must tap to go forward or swipe the screen in the appropriate direction to move the mascot horizontally. There are many obstacles which cause immediate death, such as rivers, cars, and trains. To get past these obstacles the player must advance when the path is clear or use platforms to cross rivers. To discourage idling, an eagle will appear and snatch the mascot if they stay in the same place for too long or move three steps back, resulting in the player's death. Every square unit moved forward will earn a point, with every 50 points earned signified by a sound effect. Furthermore, gold coins used to unlock mascots are scattered throughout the environment.[5]
Characters
The iOS version of Crossy Road contains 145 playable characters, including the default, Chicken. There are 119 unlockable characters and 22 that are "Secret Characters" unlocked exclusively through various unique methods. The game only counts 141 characters because Piggy Bank, PSY, and Pac-Man are available through in-app purchases only, although Pac-Man is free. In addition to these, the Android version includes Android Robot, which is based on that operating system's logo. Other characters include Mallard, Doge (a reference to the eponymous meme), and Dark Lord, as well as a character simply called #thedress, referring to the viral phenomenon of the same name.
Coins
Coins are an in-game currency with the sole use of buying random mascots from a machine, which spits out characters for one to obtain. The machine can either award you with a new mascot or a mascot one has already gotten. Coins can be obtained in-game via landing on them during gameplay, watching advertisement videos, completing tasks, collecting a free gift given every few real-time hours, and using real money to buy them in various amounts. Coins are counted the top right corner of the screen. 100 coins can be used for a chance at a new mascot from the lottery machine.[5] If the player owns the Piggy Bank mascot, red coins worth five coins each are added to the game, and the coins received from free gifts or watching ad videos are doubled.
Time
During the time the player has the app they earn chances to gain coins via free gifts. It takes some time to gain these free coins which commonly come in large amounts earned by waiting in intervals. As soon as the game is downloaded, the player receives a free gift. These intervals start at three minutes then six minutes, 3 hours and lastly 6 hours.
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.[6] The game's free-to-play model was based on the one for Dota 2.[7] According to developer Matt Hall, Crossy Road drew inspiration from Frogger, Temple Run, Subway Surfers, Disco Zoo, Flappy Bird, Skylanders, Tiny Wings and FEZ.[8]
Reception
The game was a finalist for the Game of the Year Award 2014 for the Australian Game Developer Awards.[9] It received generally positive reviews with Metacritic giving the game a score of 88,[10] TouchArcade giving the game 5/5 stars,[5] BigBoomBoom.com giving the game 5/5 stars,[11] Gamezebo Gaming giving the game 4.5/5 stars,[12] and Apple N' Apps giving the game a 4/5 overall score.[13] Polygon dubbed the game "brilliant" and compared it as an updated take on Frogger,[2] while TIME called the game a mix of Frogger and Flappy Bird.[14] At the 2015 Apple WWDC developer's conference Crossy Road was one of the winners of the 2015 Apple Design Awards.[15]
Three months after its initial release, the game earned over $10 million and had over 50 million downloads.[16]
References
- ↑ Barker, Garry (March 11, 2015). "More than fun and games with local developers Rylandia". Digital Life. Fairfax Media. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
- 1 2 Kuchera, Ben (November 21, 2014). "Crossy Road has invented the 'endless Frogger,' and it's brilliant". Polygon.
- ↑ Hayward, Andrew (December 26, 2014). "You Should Play: Crossy Road is basically endless Frogger, and that's a very good thing". Macworld.
- ↑ Rosenberg, Adam (September 9, 2015). "'Crossy Road' brings a new take on its 'endless Frogger' to Apple TV". Mashable.
- 1 2 3 Dotson, Carter (November 21, 2014). "Crossy Road" Review - Watch Out for That Train!". TouchArcade.
- ↑ Kidman, Angus (18 December 2014). "Why Crossy Road's Developers Launched On Android Through Amazon". Lifehacker Australia. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ↑ Te, Zorine (24 December 2014). "Crossy Road's Surprising Success, Future Secrets, Dota 2 Connection". Gamespot. Retrieved 27 December 2014.
- ↑ "Matt Hall (@KlickTock) on Twitter". Twitter. 28 November 2014.
- ↑ "Australian Game Developer Awards Finalists Announced". GCAP. 15 October 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015.
- ↑ "Crossy Road - Endless Arcade Hopper iOS". Metacritic.
- ↑ "Crossy Road iPhone and Android Game Review". Big Boom Boom. January 20, 2015.
- ↑ Cymet, Eli (November 20, 2014). "Crossy Road Review: Traffic’s a Zoo". Gamezebo Gaming.
- ↑ Sheridan, Trevor (November 20, 2014). "Crossy Road – Enjoying Crossing To The Other Side". Apple N' Apps.
- ↑ Fitzpatrick, Alex (November 24, 2014). "Crossy Road Is Your New iPhone Game Addiction". TIME.
- ↑ Starr, Michelle (9 June 2015). "Crossy Road, Vainglory take Apple Design Awards". CNET.
- ↑ Tach, Dave (March 3, 2015). "They wanted to make a video game phenomenon. They made $10 million. The story of Crossy Road.". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved September 5, 2015.