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) |
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| Genre(s) | |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer (tvOS) |
Crossy Road (subtitled Endless Arcade Hopper on the App Store) is an arcade video game released on November 20, 2014. It was developed and published by Hipster Whale, with the name and concept of the game playing on the joke "Why did the chicken cross the road?"[1] The game has been described as "endless Frogger."[2][3][4]
Gameplay
The objective is to get as far as possible without dying. The player plays as a mascot (chicken, koala, bunny, etc) 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, the player must advance when the path is clear or use platforms to cross rivers. If left idle or three steps are taken back, an eagle will snatch the mascot, resulting in the game's end. Every unit moved forward will earn a point, with every 50 points sounded out by an 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: 119 unlockable characters and 22 "secret characters". The game only counts 141 because Piggy Bank, Psy, and Pac-Man are purchases, although Pac-Man is free. In addition, the Android version includes Android Robot, based on the operating system's logo. Other characters include Mallard, Doge, Archie, Dark Lord, and #thedress, a female character wearing the dress of the same name. Various references and games are also included, such as Forget-Me-Not and "Emo Goose" voiced by Phil Lester.
Coins
Coins are a currency, a yellow square with a red C in the middle, obtained in-game 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. 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 coins received from free gifts or watching ads are doubled.
Machine
The "Prize Machine" or "Machine" is a bulk vending machine that costs a certain amount of coins to obtain all except purchase-only characters. The machine can either spit out a new mascot or a mascot the player has already obtained. There is no time limit towards using the machine, but the amount of coins left interferes with using it.
Gifts
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]
Disney Crossy Road
In 2016, Hipster Whale and Disney Interactive Studios launched on iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices a spin-off named Disney Crossy Road. It features Disney characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, as well as some characters from numerous Disney movies such as The Lion King, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Pixar's Toy Story series and Inside Out. In the game, there are 250 characters, with secret characters like Mortimer from the Mickey & Friends franchise and Lenny from the first Toy Story movie.[17]
See also
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.
- ↑ Farokhmanesh, Megan. "Disney Crossy Road launches today for mobile devices". Polygon. Retrieved 12 April 2016.