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Press release:
VILNIUS, LITHUANIA, 16 October 2026. Lithuanian indie studio Elegant Horse Studios has released Flipping Is Hard, a physics-fuelled 3D rage game starring Flippy, an indestructible 2000s brick phone, on Steam for PC. The game is available now for $14.99, with a launch discount to $9.74

Flipping Is Hard follows a demo that drew more than 100,000 players, 50,000+ wishlists and a Steam Next Fest run in June 2026. It is massively fun to play and even more fun to watch: a madcap climb where one badly timed flip can send an iconic piece of tech plunging back to where it started.

Flip happens

Flippy has been separated from his beloved owner, Jeff, after an unfortunate banana peel incident and a trip down a storm drain. He wakes up in the Trashlands, a towering world built from everything the 90s and 2000s threw away, and starts the long climb home.

There’s just one problem. Flippy can’t walk. He can only rotate. Players tumble, flip and vibration-jump across 10 handcrafted areas, from The Storm Drain and Cardboard Fort to Candyland, The Fridge, and the brutal Recycling Core. Fall, and you lose progress. Simple, right? So, why is your keyboard on the other side of the room?

Along the way, a warm, theatrical voice from the top of the Trashlands keeps Flippy company. He’s helpful, funny and very supportive. He also seems a little too keen for Flippy to stay.

The only way is up!

Flipping Is Hard lets players choose how much blood pressure they can spare:

Flipping Is Chill: collectable checkpoints for players who want the story, the humour and the journey.
Flipping Is Hard: the intended experience. No checkpoints, real falls, pure mastery.
Flipping Is Insane: coming in a post-launch update, for players who think they’ve seen it all.

On top of the climb, players can expect:

A fully voiced, narrator-driven story with bittersweet humour, voiced by Sir Captain
18 quirky NPCs with their own challenges and rewards, from a broken Tamagotchi to a torn plushie elephant
26 interactive mechanics including cannons, ziplines, magnets, swinging hooks, fans, conveyor belts and reverse gravity
Flippy’s Phone OS: press Tab to play retro mini-games on Flippy’s screen, check stats (falls, playtime, distance climbed) and manage checkpoints
Customisation: phone covers, charms, stickers and accessories hidden around the world
Speedrun support with quick restarts, an in-game timer and speedrun.com leaderboards
Full controller support and 7 languages, with full English voice-over

Warning: may cause yelling, swearing, laughter, and a deep emotional attachment to a 20-year-old phone.

ime to phone a friend?

You don’t have to suffer alone. Up to 16 players can climb together online through Steam Friends lobbies, with proximity voice chat to share the triumphs and the screams. Fallen friends can be rescued with the Help Beam, a magnetic wave that pulls players up toward you while you bounce uncontrollably from side to side. Actually, that might not be very helpful at all.

Fans of Getting Over It, Jump King, Pogostuck, Only Up! and Chained Together will find their next favourite rage here, now in full 3D and with friends.

“We wanted to make a game that looks cozy and safe from the outside, and then quietly ruins your evening. Flipping Is Hard is a love letter to the gadgets we all left behind in a drawer somewhere. We’re three people from Lithuania, and seeing over a hundred thousand players fall off the demo, then come back for more, has been the best part of making it. Now it’s time to see who makes it home.”
Liudas Spangelevičius, Co-founder and Director, Elegant Horse Studios

About Elegant Horse Studios
Elegant Horse Studios is a young indie studio from Lithuania with a fondness for cozy rage games. They build experiences that look colourful and safe on the outside, but on the inside, you’re always one mistake away from losing your sanity. The studio is also behind Driving Is Hard, a game about conquering impossible terrain in a physics-driven bathtub on wheels.