Who makes it
Flak Runner is made by a solo developer in Brisbane, Australia. Questions, bug reports and ideas all go to one address: contact@flakrunner.com.
One game on three platforms
The game started in the browser, and the web version at flakrunner.com/play is still a full version of it, not a demo. The iPhone app is written natively in Swift and the Android app in Kotlin, and all three follow one shared set of rules.
That shared rulebook matters because of the Daily. Every pilot flies the same course each day, and that course is built from the date itself, identically on every device. A Daily score from a laptop and one from a phone mean the same thing, so they can sit on one leaderboard. The same goes for Endless, the Weekly Lab, Ace and the weekly leagues: runs from all three platforms post to the same boards. A signed-in pilot carries one save between them, too.
What guides the game
A few rules shape how Flak Runner is made.
Start gently, then climb. Sector 1 is slow, with wide gaps. From there the course climbs past your skill over a long arc, with breathers along the way, so the hard part is something you work up to rather than a wall at the start. How to play explains how the course changes.
Keep the boards fair. Ships are earned by flying, and no purchase raises your pilot level. Anything that helps a run, such as Assist mode, a pre-run item or a continue, moves that run to the separate Assist board. The Standard board only holds runs flown without help.
Neon you can read. Walls, turrets and enemy fire keep fixed colours. Every skin and theme is checked against them, so a cosmetic can never hide a threat. There's a colour-blind palette, a reduce flashes switch and a photosensitivity notice before your first flight.
Ads that stay out of the way. There are no ads during a run. Rewarded ads only play when you tap to watch one, and a one-time Remove Ads purchase stops the ads between runs.
Help for anyone who needs it. Assist mode is for someone who can't get past Sector 1, or who just wants to fly around. It slows the whole course, widens the gaps and makes the floor safe.
Shaped by playing it
The game changes when playing it shows that something isn't working. A few examples from its development:
- Assist was rebuilt. The first version only softened gravity a little, and in testing it was still too hard for a young player. The real limit was reading time: how long you have to see a gap coming. Assist now slows the whole course down instead.
- One Lab twist was retired. GIANT SHIP made your ship huge for a week. After playing it, it was judged a bad idea and replaced with DEAD WEIGHT, which makes the course harder through heavy gravity rather than a bigger target.
- The season pass got longer. In testing, the first version of the pass was cleared in two days, and Fever came too easily. The pass grew to 60 tiers, and the Fever target now rises with every sector. The seasons page explains how it works today.
Privacy
You can play without an account. Analytics can be switched off in Settings under ANALYTICS, and in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland the game asks for consent before analytics run. The full details are in the privacy policy and the terms of service.
Get in touch
Email contact@flakrunner.com with questions, bug reports, purchase problems or ideas. Inside the game, Settings › SEND FEEDBACK opens an email to the same address.
Find your way around
- How to play: controls, heat, banking, Fever and scoring
- Modes: Endless, the Daily, the Weekly Lab, Ace, leagues and medals
- Ships: the six-ship fleet, unlocks and looks
- Seasons: season XP and the season pass
- FAQ: platforms, purchases, saves and accessibility
Or skip all of that and play now.