Physics climbing games live or die on two things: whether the movement feels fair when you fail, and whether the game makes you laugh while it’s ruining your evening. Flipping is Hard nails both. Steam players are clearly feeling it too, with a Very Positive rating in its first week. As one player put it: the game is absolutely unbearable, makes them want to bite their fingers off, and they’d rate it 10/10.
Our verdict: “Flipping is Hard is a brutally challenging indie gem that demands precision and patience from every player.”
How Do You Climb Without Legs?
Flippy moves by rotating end over end, so every flip has to land just right.
Your one other trick: buzz yourself into the air like a phone on a table.
There are no checkpoints by default. Slip, and you can lose a lot of progress in seconds.
Quick restarts, built-in splits, and hard-to-master movement for the brave.
It’s a simple control scheme with a surprising amount of depth. One player loves that there are many mechanics you keep learning the more you play, along with speedrun routes for those daring enough to go for them. It’s very difficult, they say, but satisfying. Another sums it up perfectly: fun and frustrating at the same time, and addicting.
A Narrator Who Knows Exactly When to Twist the Knife
The story is light, but it has charm. One player admits there isn’t much lore, but says it’s still fun to try to guess the lore and the ending. Another, who doesn’t normally play rage games at all, says this one is so much more than just a rage game: it has great humour, a great story, heart, and Flippy. Instead of making them want to quit, it made them want to get better.
⚠️ Mild gag and secret spoilers: tap to reveal
• Go into the toilet. Seriously. One player promises it’s super fun.
• Watch out for the “real main character” course. One first-time climbing-game player spent 40 minutes on its challenge.
Struggle Together (Up to 16 of You)
🧍 Play Solo
- Master the flip, struggle your way up, and experience the story alone
- One solo player calls it a great game even without friends
- Optional Chill Mode with checkpoints for a gentler climb
👥 Online Co-op
- Struggle together with up to 16 friends
- Use Beams and Microwaves to help each other out
- Proximity chat, so you can yell at your friends as everything goes wrong
The co-op is a big part of the appeal. One player, burnt out on other rage games, found this one a refreshing change: more casual (for the genre), playable in co-op, but with a hard classic mode for those who want it. They called it a sign of a golden age of small studios. And yes, play in multiplayer and you get multiple Flippys.
Where It Stumbles
Things to Know
The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
| The Good | The Bad | The Ugly |
|---|---|---|
| Rotate-Only MovementSimple to learn, with real depth to master. | Light on LoreCharming story, but not much behind it. | The Big DropsOne bad flip can undo a lot of hard work. |
| The NarratorFoddy-esque taunting that hits right after your worst falls. | Brutal for NewcomersFirst-timers can spend a long time on one challenge. | — |
| Sound DesignSquishy mud and plonking wood make every flip feel great. | Steam Deck UnratedNot yet tested by Valve. | — |
| 16-Player Co-opBeams, Microwaves and proximity chat chaos. | — | — |
| Chill Mode & ExtrasCheckpoints if you want them, plus NPC challenges and phone games. | — | — |
The Verdict
Flipping is Hard takes the Getting Over It formula and gives it a personality all its own. A legless phone that can only rotate and buzz shouldn’t be this fun to control, but the movement is deep, the narrator knows exactly when to twist the knife, and the sound design makes even your failures feel satisfying. The optional Chill Mode and 16-player co-op make it far more welcoming than most of the genre, without watering down the challenge for those who want it.
It’s not for everyone. If big falls and lost progress make you want to throw your controller rather than try again, no amount of charm will change that. But for anyone even slightly curious about rage games, this is one of the friendliest, funniest ways in.
The honest read: at $9.74 during the launch discount, this is an easy recommendation. If you’re unsure, Chill Mode is there to soften the landing. Then go get Flippy back to Jeff.
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