Mix a Beast — Build an Animal, Then Race It

About Mix a Beast

Mix a Beast is the old flip-book where a page is cut into thirds, made into a game. Three bands fill the screen, one for a head, one for a body and one for legs, and each turns on its own. Put a dragon's head on a gorilla's body and a flamingo's legs, and you have an animal that never existed. You can play it in this browser right now.

It is not in a store yet. It is coming to the App Store and Google Play, and until it arrives the browser version is how to play it. There is no download button on this page because there is nothing to download yet.

Twenty-four creatures each give a head, a body and a pair of legs, from a T-Rex and a triceratops to a narwhal, a unicorn and a chameleon. That makes 13,824 beasts, and a meter counts how many you have found. Every beast gets a generated name, colored a part at a time so a child can see which animal each syllable came from, and a line describing what it actually is.

Then you race what you built. Press Play and the beast drops into a side-on obstacle course against a clock: tap to jump, hold to jump higher. The parts change how it runs. Legs set its speed and jump, the body decides how wide a target it is, a mouth with teeth or a beak smashes through crates, and wings and fins glide. No part is simply better, so no beast is the right answer.

There are eighteen courses: nine places, from a sunny meadow to a frozen pass, and then all nine run the other way. They open one at a time, and each has a target time, three medals and five eggs hidden off the fast line. Nothing on a course kills. A bump costs seconds, and running out of time is the only way not to finish. After three courses the Long Run opens, a course built fresh every time with no finish line, where the score is how far you got.

Beasts you like can be named, saved to a gallery and raced again, and two saved beasts can be crossed into a third. Beat a course and a faint ghost of your best run races beside you next time. The browser version has no ads and no analytics, and your progress is kept in this browser’s storage.

Screenshots

The mixer: a beast built from three animals, its name colored a part at a time, with Play, Shuffle, All parts and Save

The course list: the runner's speed, jump and toughness read off its parts, the long run still locked, and Sunny Meadow open

Sunny Meadow: the beast running with the clock at the top and a trail of eggs above a hole

A gold medal on the first course: the time, one bump, every egg, and the next course open

How it plays

Turn a band. Swipe it, or click its arrows, and only that third of the animal changes.
Read the stat bars. Speed, jump and toughness come from the parts you picked, along with anything special, like gliding on wings.
Press Play and pick a course. Tap to jump, and hold to jump higher or to glide.
Beat the clock. Bumps cost seconds, not lives. Finish in time for a medal, and look off the fast line for the five eggs.
Build another. A different beast runs the same course differently, and the next course opens when you finish this one.

Features

Twenty-four creatures, 72 parts and 13,824 beasts to find
A generated name for every beast, colored a part at a time
Eighteen obstacle courses, each with three medals and five eggs
The Long Run, a fresh course every time with no finish line
Parts that change how a beast runs, jumps, smashes and glides
No lives: a bump costs seconds and the beast gets back up
A gallery of saved beasts, and two of them crossed into a third
A ghost of your best run on every course you have beaten
No account and no purchases; no ads in the browser version
Progress kept in this browser

Frequently asked questions

Can I get Mix a Beast on the App Store or Google Play?

Not yet. It's coming to both. Until it lands, you can play it in this browser, free, with nothing to install.

Does Mix a Beast pay me anything?

No. There are no coins in it at all, and nothing to buy. The apps that do pay are on their own page, at a published rate.

Who is it for?

Young children first, and anyone who likes the idea of a shark with a frog's legs. Nothing on a course can end the game, the only control is jumping, and a child who never unlocks anything can still finish every course.

Can you lose?

Not really. Nothing on a course kills, and there are no lives. Bumping into things costs seconds, and running out of time is the only way not to finish. You can start again straight away.

Are all the creatures in the browser version?

Yes, all twenty-four, from the start. In the store versions twelve of them are unlocked a part at a time by watching a short video. There's no video to show in a browser, so here they're simply open.

Does the browser version have ads?

No. The ad network has no browser version, so there's nothing to show. The store versions will carry a banner under the mixer and an optional video that unlocks a part. No video will ever open or extend a run.

Can I put my own face on a beast?

In the store versions, yes: take a photo and it becomes a head. It needs somewhere on the device to keep the picture, which a browser tab doesn't have, so it isn't here. The photo never leaves the phone in the store versions either.

Does it save my progress?

Yes, in this browser. Your beasts, the ones you've found and your course times, medals and eggs are kept in the browser’s own storage, not in an account. They don't follow you to another browser or device, and clearing your site data or using a private window loses them.