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[edit]
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[edit]
The iOS version of Crossy Road contains 217 playable characters, including the default, Chicken: 182 unlockable characters and 32 "secret characters". The game only counts 214 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[edit]
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[edit]
The "Prize Machine" or "Machine" is a bulk vending machine that costs a certain amount of coins to obtain all except purchase-only characters and "secret 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[edit]
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 second.
Development[edit]
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] The game's art style was created by Ben Weatherall.[9]
Reception[edit]
The game was a finalist for the Game of the Year Award 2014 for the Australian Game Developer Awards.[10] It received generally positive reviews with Metacritic giving the game a score of 88,[11] TouchArcade giving the game 5/5 stars,[5] BigBoomBoom.com giving the game 5/5 stars,[12] Gamezebo Gaming giving the game 4.5/5 stars,[13] and Apple N' Apps giving the game a 4/5 overall score.[14] 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.[15] At the 2015 Apple WWDC developer's conference Crossy Road was one of the winners of the 2015 Apple Design Awards.[16]
Three months after its initial release, the game earned over $10 million and had over 50 million downloads.[17]
Spin-offs[edit]
Disney Crossy Road[edit]
In 2016, Hipster Whale and Disney Interactive Studios launched on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 8.1 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 franchises such as The Lion King, Tangled, Wreck-It Ralph and Pixar's Toy Story and Inside Out. In the game, there are over 440 characters, with secret characters like Mortimer from the Mickey & Friends franchise and Lenny from the first Toy Story movie.[18]
Disney Crossy Road Developer(s) Hipster Whale Publisher(s) Disney Mobile Engine Unity Platform(s) iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Release
- WW: March 28, 2016
Genre(s)
Mode(s) Single-player
Star Wars[edit]
After the success of Disney Crossy Road, a sequel was launched to focus on Star Wars as it was too large to be part of Disney Crossy Road.[19]
Crossy Road https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Road_icon.jpegIcon of Crossy Road
Developer(s) Hipster Whale Publisher(s)
- Hipster Whale iOS, tvOS
- Yodo1 Android, Windows Phone
Engine Unity Platform(s) iOS, tvOS, Android, Windows Phone, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 Release
- WW: November 20, 2014
iOS
- WW: December 18, 2014
Android
- WW: May 1, 2015
Windows Phone
- WW: October 30, 2015
tvOS
Genre(s)
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer(tvOS)
