Flicky on Steam: Guiding Chirps Past Tiger and Iggy

Herding the Chirps: Touch, Follow, and Escort to the Exit

Flicky's central task is a relay of contact and escort. Touching a Chirp makes it follow the little blue bird, and the round is complete only when every Chirp has been led to one of the exit doors. The birds are not simply collected and scored; they trail behind Flicky, so the route to an exit must be walked with the flock in tow. Getting them to a door is the goal of each stage, and the door itself is described as the safe destination rather than a timed gate.

Tiger the Cat and Iggy the Lizard chase both Flicky and the following Chirps. A catch costs one try, and play resumes on the same level in the same state where it stopped. The predators can also break the escort: when Tiger or Iggy touches a trailing Chirp, that bird is left behind and must be touched again. Running out of tries on the final attempt ends the game, which gives the pursuit a direct consequence beyond a single lost life.

Jump, Throw, and Pause: Controls for Bird and Controller

Flicky's movement is handled by the directional pad or arrow keys, which shift the little blue bird around each stage. On the action side, three separate buttons—A, B, and C—each perform the same dual function: they make Flicky jump and also throw items, a single input covering both commands. Those are distinct from the Start button, which has two jobs of its own: it begins a game and it pauses play. At the title screen, pressing Start once brings up a summary of the game, and pressing it a second time launches play from the first round.

Keyboard play ships with its own default assignments: A, S, and D map to the A, B, and C buttons, while W, Q, and E map to the Y, X, and Z buttons, and Enter stands in for Start. Because the A, B, and C buttons all jump and throw items, the keyboard inherits the same three-way action layout. For gamepads, any Windows-compatible controller works provided it has a D-pad and at least four other assignable buttons. Mapping is done by selecting the controller for Player 1 or Player 2 from a drop-down menu and clicking the assign controller mapping button, then pressing buttons on the pad in order for A, B, C, X, Y, Z, Start, and Mode.

Household Ammunition: Phones, Flowerpots, Cups, and Bottles

The level itself supplies the ammunition. Items scattered around the stage can be picked up, and they range widely: telephones, flowerpots, cups, and bottles all serve the same purpose. The manual presents this as the surest way to clear a path, since eliminating the pursuers opens the route the flock must walk. The sequence is fixed and hands-on: first pick up an item, then face the direction of the foe, then press Jump/Shoot. That last command is the shared button that both jumps and hurls, so the same press that launches Flicky into the air also sends a phone or pot flying at Tiger or Iggy.

Throwing connects directly to the predator rules. Tiger the Cat and Iggy the Lizard chase both Flicky and the following Chirps, and a thrown household object is the means of eliminating them rather than merely dodging. Diamonds are a separate find, worth bonus points instead of serving as weapons; they are small, so the manual advises watching for them while playing. Because the same button handles jumping and throwing, aiming an item at a foe means facing that foe first and then pressing it, keeping the combat step tied to the existing action input rather than a separate attack control.

Tries, Restarts, and the Bonus Round Net

Each Chirp carried to an exit adds to a rising point scale: the first is worth 100 points, rising through 200, 300, 400, and 500 for the fifth, then jumping to 1,000 for the sixth, 2,000 for the seventh, and 5,000 for the eighth. Because the value climbs steeply rather than staying flat, an escort that brings the whole flock through rather than a partial group reaches the largest single totals. The display tracks the current score, high score, Player 1 score, and remaining tries alongside these figures.

Finishing a level in under a minute awards a separate time bonus: 20,000 points for 0 to 19 seconds, 10,000 for 20 to 29 seconds, 5,000 for 30 to 39, 3,000 for 40 to 49, and 1,000 for 50 to 59. The Bonus Round changes the routine—two tigers launch Chirps skyward from see-saws while Flicky moves left to right, catching falling birds in a net. Each catch is 250 points, and saving every Chirp adds a 10,000-point bonus.

First published Oct 18, 2026.