A rotate-only precision platformer about a 2000s brick phone flipping its way back to its owner, solo or in online co-op.
Flipping Is Hard / Press kit
Press kit
Everything you need to write about Flipping Is Hard. All text and assets on this page are free to use in coverage. Need a Steam key, an interview or something that isn't here? Email team@eleganthorsestudios.com.
Description
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One line
Short (≈40 words)
Flipping Is Hard is a difficult rotate-only precision platformer about Flippy, a 2000s brick phone climbing back to its owner. Master physics-based flips and push through every fall, solo or in online co-op with up to 16 players.
Medium (≈100 words)
Flipping Is Hard is a 3D precision platformer starring Flippy, an indestructible 2000s brick phone lost down a storm drain. With no legs and no walking, players rotate Flippy and launch him with a vibration jump, climbing ten areas of the Trashlands, a world built from forgotten 90s and 2000s objects, to get back to his boy Jeff. One bad flip can undo minutes of progress. A voiced narrator comments on every climb and fall, quirky NPCs offer optional challenges, and up to 16 friends can suffer together in online co-op. Developed by Elegant Horse Studios, the team behind Driving Is Hard.
Long (≈230 words)
Flipping Is Hard is a difficult 3D precision platformer in the tradition of Getting Over It and Jump King, from Lithuanian indie studio Elegant Horse Studios. Players control Flippy, an indestructible 2000s brick phone who was accidentally hurled into a storm drain by his owner, Jeff. Flippy wakes up in the Trashlands, a vertical world built from everything the 90s and 2000s threw away, and the only way home is up.
Flippy has no legs. Players rotate him relative to the camera and launch him with a vibration jump: a high jump for height, a long jump for distance. The controls take a minute to learn and much longer to master, and a single mistimed flip can send Flippy tumbling down a long way. Ten hand-built areas, from a cardboard army camp and a wooden playground to Candyland, a neon grid and a freezing fridge, introduce new hazards like ziplines, cannons, magnets, conveyor belts and reverse gravity.
Along the way, a warm, theatrical narrator, voiced by Sir Captain, keeps Flippy company, while eighteen oddball NPCs offer optional challenges that unlock covers, charms and stickers. Pressing Tab opens Flippy's own phone, with retro mini-games, stats and incoming calls. Players can go it alone or climb with up to 16 friends in online co-op, using the Help Beam to pull fallen friends up. Flipping Is Hard launches October 16, 2026 on Steam.
Key features
- Rotate-only movement. Torque-based flipping with W, A, S, D relative to the camera, plus a high jump and a long jump. No walking.
- A brutal vertical climb. Ten areas, each with its own look and hazards. Falls cost real progress in the intended mode.
- Three difficulty modes. Flipping Is Chill (collectable checkpoints), Flipping Is Hard (no checkpoints, the intended experience) and Flipping Is Insane (planned post-launch update).
- Online co-op for up to 16 players. Steam Friends lobbies (private, friends-only or invite-only), a risky Help Beam to pull friends up, and proximity voice chat.
- Narrator-driven story. A fully voiced narrator by Sir Captain, reacting to falls, progress and time spent climbing.
- 18 NPCs and optional challenges. From a foul-mouthed virtual pet to a rave-DJ gingerbread man, many with platforming trials and cosmetic rewards.
- Phone OS. Press Tab for retro mini-games playable on Flippy's screen, stats (falls, playtime, distance), checkpoints and customization.
- Incoming calls. Calls meant for Jeff interrupt the climb, some heartwarming, some suspicious.
- 26 interactive mechanics. Boost pads, cannons, ziplines, swinging hooks, magnets, fans, hammers, breaking rings, hidden paths, ice, snow and reverse gravity zones.
- Speedrun friendly. Quick restarts, in-game timer, community tournaments and speedrun.com leaderboards.
- Built for streaming. Bold, readable art that works at small sizes, and humor that lands for viewers.
Story (spoiler-free)
Jeff, a boy of about twelve, slips on a banana peel and sends his phone flying into a storm drain. The phone is Flippy, and he lands at the bottom of the Trashlands, a hidden world of forgotten toys and gadgets. The drain closes above him. Somehow, he can move.
A friendly voice starts narrating his climb, from somewhere at the top of the Trashlands, by someone who has watched this place for a very long time. He is warm, funny and helpful. He is also a little too keen for Flippy to stay. The higher Flippy climbs, the stranger things get.
Theme: connection and belonging, a lost phone finding its way home. Tone: bittersweet humor, "cozy rage".
Spoiler request: the story has twists in its second half and a finale we would love players to discover for themselves. Please keep late-game areas, the final boss and the ending out of headlines, thumbnails and preview images.
Videos
Free to embed or cut into coverage. Every file is also on the downloads page.
Teaser
youtu.be/eApaDsjb7dY · Download: 1080p60 (36.3 MB) · 1440p60 master (304.9 MB)
Gameplay clips
Eight short clips with no interface, handy for b-roll. Press play to watch one before taking it. All video (61.6 MB)
Screenshots
1920×1080 JPG. Click a shot to see it full size, or use its download button. Everything is also on the downloads page.
Store page 12 shots
The twelve shots used on the Steam page. Download the set (3.6 MB)
Gameplay 27 shots
Moments from across the climb: challenges, co-op, skins, falls. Download the set (7.9 MB)
Environments 9 shots
One wide shot of each area in the Trashlands. Download the set (1.7 MB)
Logos & key art
Transparent PNGs at full resolution, including the Steam capsules. All key art (24.8 MB) · Logo font is Bungee, pixel labels are Jersey 10, both SIL Open Font License and in the font pack.
Please don't recolour or stretch the logo. Flippy's phone brand is Flippia; please don't describe him with real-world phone brands, and he is a brick phone, not a flip phone.
History
| May 2025 | First public prototype at Comic Con Baltics. The playable character was a plank, who later became the secret NPC Plonk. |
|---|---|
| July 2025 | Full production begins. |
| August 2025 | Pre-alpha speedrun tournament. |
| November 2025 | New trailer at the Winter OTK Pre-Show; Steam playtest announced. |
| December 12, 2025 | Free Steam demo launches with a $1,000 speedrun tournament. |
| September 28, 2026 | The free demo is taken down ahead of release, after 107,000 players. |
| June 15–22, 2026 | Steam Next Fest, with a community league tournament. |
| October 16, 2026 | Launch on Steam. |
| After launch | Planned: Flipping Is Insane difficulty and a map editor. |
Credits
| Name | Handle | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Liudas Spangelevičius | Hangeris | Directing, Development |
| Laurynas Jatužis | Jatuzis | Art, Story |
| Tautvydas Kalėda | Chastom | Development |
| Sir Captain | Sir Captain | Narration, Story, Music |
| Domantas Kutkaitis | Domantussss | Sound Design |
| Domantas Grigaitis | 3D Art | |
| Ignas Ramonas | 3D Art | |
| Thiemo Zimmermann | 2D Art | |
| Spindleguts | 2D Art | |
| Emilija Dailydė | 2D Art |
About Elegant Horse Studios
Boilerplate
Elegant Horse Studios is a three-person indie studio from Vilnius, Lithuania, making cozy rage games: games that look colorful and safe on the outside, but leave you one mistake away from losing your sanity. Founded in 2024 by Liudas Spangelevičius, Tautvydas Kalėda and Laurynas Jatužis, the studio is behind Driving Is Hard (2025), a physics climbing game played in a bathtub on wheels, and Flipping Is Hard (2026).
The team met while working in games: Liudas and Tautvydas were making Sheep Sweep and needed an artist, and Liudas brought in Laurynas from Engines of Fury. The name comes from Liudas beating Tautvydas at chess with sneaky knight moves, plus a song about a "disgusting horse" that became an inside joke. For Driving Is Hard they brought a real bathtub to Comic Con and GameOn, and people still call them "the game with the bath".
Previous game: Driving Is Hard (Steam, January 2025, Very Positive).
Press keys & contact
Embargo: anything made with a pre-release key goes live on launch day, 16 October 2026 at 17:00 UTC, not before. The free demo came down on September 28, 2026.
The embargo has lifted. Flipping Is Hard is out, so anything you made with a pre-release key can go live now.
Ask for a keyOpen the form
Fill this in and we'll send a key before launch. Everything with a star is required.
Rather just email us?
team@eleganthorsestudios.com
| team@eleganthorsestudios.com Liudas Spangelevičius | |
| Discord | discord.gg/Nd6y5SVxRS |
| Social | YouTube · TikTok · X |
| Downloads | Browse every press asset |
System requirements
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| OS | Windows 7+ (64-bit) | Windows 7+ (64-bit) |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500K / AMD FX-6300 | Intel i7-4770K / AMD Ryzen 5 1500X |
| Memory | 4 GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GTX 770 2GB / AMD R9 280 | NVIDIA GTX 1060 or better |
| Storage | 2 GB | 2 GB |