Flipping Is Hard

Flipping Is Hard / World & cast

The Trashlands

Everything the 90s and 2000s threw away landed here, stacked ten areas high. Somebody has to climb it. Here is the whole world and the cast Flippy meets on the way up.

The Trashlands

A land of lost things, stacked straight up

Every area is built from stuff a kid in the 2000s would recognise, blown up to giant size. Colourful, chunky, readable at a glance, and not remotely safe.

  1. 01The Storm DrainWhere Flippy wakes up. Pipes, trash and your first lessons in flipping.
  2. 02Cardboard FortA military camp of boxes, tape and plastic army men. The drill sergeant is waiting.
  3. 03The PlaygroundWooden towers, slides and planks. The difficulty takes its first big step up.
  4. 04CandylandSugar-coated terrain, chocolate rivers and a gingerbread rave.
  5. 05+Six more areasEverything above Candyland is for you to find. No spoilers.
Flippy clinging to a wooden playground tower with pine trees above Two named players squeezing up a tight industrial shaft Phones tumbling through an icy blue interior A cannon firing a phone across a room of giant toys Flippy lined up on a wooden post in the misty playground The customization screen with rows of unlockable phone skins A player falling beside the candy river in Candyland A phone dropping onto a green rope net above the playground The Toy Soldier briefing Flippy before his challenge in Cardboard Fort Players pulled through the neon Grid by a magnet A player using the Help Beam beside a giant toy car Flippy on a mossy ledge at the bottom of the Storm Drain
Characters

Meet the forgotten

The Trashlands are full of discarded toys and gadgets with opinions. Most of them have a challenge for you. Some of them have a grudge.

The hero

Flippy

An indestructible 2000s brick phone of the Flippia brand, with endless battery and a lot of determination. Not a flip phone: the flipping is how he moves. His whole world is getting back to Jeff.

The reason

Jeff

Flippy's owner, a boy of about twelve. You never see him while you climb. You only hear him calling from somewhere far above.

The voice

The Narrator

A voice that has watched the Trashlands for a very long time. Warm, theatrical and funny, and oddly keen for you to stay. Voiced by Sir Captain.

  • Toy Soldier, a green plastic army man in the Cardboard FortToy SoldierCardboard FortA drill sergeant guarding a hard challenge. Sir, yes, Sir!
  • Muddy, a pink virtual-pet toy with an angry face, sitting on a stumpMuddyThe PlaygroundA rude, slightly broken virtual pet sulking in a mud pile. Calls you "Brick".
  • Beamer, a phone frozen mid Help Beam, its beam glowing across the playgroundBeamerThe PlaygroundA former climber permanently stuck in the Help Beam pose. Upbeat about it.
  • Microwaver, a phone fused inside a microwaveMicrowaverThe PlaygroundFused inside a teleporting microwave. Explains the elevator. Calls you "Kid".
  • Plonk, a wooden plank with a face, alone in a cavePlonkSecretThe game's original hero, replaced by a phone. Hidden somewhere, feeling sorry for himself.
  • And more to meetSomewhere aboveThe Trashlands are busier than this. The rest are for you to find.
FAQ

More questions

The basics (release date, co-op, length, difficulty, demo) are answered on the main page. The players and the studio have their own page under Community.

Is Flipping Is Hard like Getting Over It?

It belongs to the same genre as Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy, Jump King, Pogostuck, A Difficult Game About Climbing and Egging On: one unusual control, a long vertical climb, and falls that cost progress. Flipping Is Hard adds 3D rotate-only movement, online co-op, a voiced narrator-driven story, NPC challenges and a playable in-game phone.

Is Flippy a flip phone?

No. Flippy is a 2000s brick (candybar) phone of the fictional Flippia brand. He has no hinge. The “flipping” in the title is the way he tumbles end over end to move.

Who made Flipping Is Hard?

Elegant Horse Studios, a three-person indie studio from Vilnius, Lithuania, also known for Driving Is Hard. It is published by Elegant Horse Studios together with Dawn Wood Games. The Narrator is voiced by Sir Captain and the sound design is by Domantas Kutkaitis.

Does Flipping Is Hard support controllers?

Yes. It supports keyboard and mouse and has full controller support, including PlayStation DualShock and DualSense controllers.

What languages is Flipping Is Hard in?

English (with full voice-over), French, German, Japanese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Spanish (Spain), Polish and Turkish.

Can I speedrun Flipping Is Hard?

Yes. The game has quick restarts and an in-game timer, and the community runs it on speedrun.com. Tournaments have been running since the pre-alpha in 2025.