Surely you remember the Flappy Bird hysteria from a year or two ago. That event is still influencing developers as they try to find the next casual gaming hit. Crossy Road might be the closest, and now comes a game that combines the best parts of Flappy Bird and Crossy Road into one unholy hellstew of compelling endless gameplay. This is Mad Aces from Bulkypix.
The game starts out simply enough—your character flies from left to right across the screen and smashes through blocks along the way. But uh-oh, there are some blocks with spikes. Better avoid them. If you can’t, you’ll have to hope you’ve got a powerup to shield yourself or blast them from a distance.
Over time, you earn coins that can be used to unlock new heroes, which bring with them different visuals and gameplay tweaks. You also get periodic gifts of coins a la Crossy Road. There are a few different control schemes to choose from. None of them will help you live longer than a few minutes, though. The mild, ongoing frustration is what keeps you coming back. The game is free with the option to purchase heroes for $1 instead of unlocking them. That’s pretty fair.