- Crossy Road
- Hipster Whale, arcade, App Store release 20 November 2014, free
- Chicken cross arcades
- Many, e.g. Chicken Cross: Chicken Road (IMLabs) and Chicken Cross (Joker.games) in Google Play AU
- Chicken Road (casino)
- InOut Games, 4 April 2024, real stakes, 18+
- The difference
- Points versus money; a run versus a round with a multiplier per lane
The arcades: Crossy Road and its flock
Crossy Road is the one everyone means. Hipster Whale, a Melbourne studio, released it on 20 November 2014 according to Apple's Australian catalogue, and it's still there, free, rated 9+. A blocky chicken hops forward across roads, rivers and railway lines, the camera keeps creeping, and the run ends when a truck, a river or the edge of the screen gets you. The score is the number of hops. Hundreds of "chicken cross" games followed the formula; on 29 September 2026 the Australian Google Play results for "chicken road" included Chicken Cross: Chicken Road by IMLabs and Chicken Cross by Joker.games alongside the look-alike apps the app page describes.
What all the arcades share: no stake, no payout, and a run that only ends badly. The fun is in how far you got.
The casino game
Chicken Road by InOut Games keeps the picture and replaces the rules. You stake money, choose one of four difficulties, and the hen steps across a road of 15 to 24 lanes. Each lane carries a fixed multiplier, from 1.03× on Easy's first lane to 2,542,251.93× on Hardcore's fifteenth at 98% RTP, and you can cash out after any lane. A hit costs the stake; a cash-out banks stake times multiplier. There's no score, no camera and no next level, only a round that ends when you stop or when you don't.
It runs in the browser inside casino lobbies and in the studio's public demo, is provably fair, and is rated 18+ everywhere it's offered. The home page goes through how it pays, and how to play has the controls.
Side by side
| Crossy Road and arcades | Chicken Road (InOut) | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Hop as far as you can | Cash out at a lane you chose |
| What you risk | Nothing | The stake, each round |
| What you win | A score | Stake × lane multiplier |
| Where it runs | App stores, free | Casino lobbies and the studio's demo, in the browser |
| Age | 9+ (Crossy Road) | 18+ |
| Ends when | You're hit | You cash out, or you're hit |
The apps that muddy this are the ones using the casino game's name with an arcade's screenshots and a promise of cash. They're neither: the arcade doesn't pay and the casino game has no app. The legit page has the five signs.
Pros
- The arcades are free and rated for children; a good way to see where the theme came from
- The casino game's covers show what each crossing is worth, which arcades never do
Cons
- The shared vocabulary lets look-alike apps borrow the casino game's name
- Neither the arcades nor the copies pay anything; only the casino game does, and only with real risk
My verdict
If you're after a game to pass a bus ride, Crossy Road has been doing that since 2014 and costs nothing. If you're here for the game where a lane is worth 1.12× a stake, that's Chicken Road by InOut, and it lives in casino lobbies, not app stores. The two don't overlap, and anything claiming to be both is neither.
Questions people ask
What is the chicken crossing the road game?
Is Chicken Road the same as Crossy Road?
Is there a chicken crossing game that pays real money?
Why does Chicken Road look like Crossy Road?
Sources
- Apple, iTunes Search API, term "chicken road", country AU (Crossy Road, Hipster Whale, release 20 November 2014) — itunes.apple.com/search?term=chicken+road&country=au&entity=software, checked 29 September 2026
- Google Play, search "chicken road", store country Australia — play.google.com/store/search?q=chicken%20road&c=apps&gl=au, checked 29 September 2026
- InOut Games, Chicken Road game page — inout.games/en/game/chicken-road, checked 29 September 2026