Going up
Curated by BverGame· Added 16 August 2026
Why We Picked It
Filed under Arcade, Going up asks nothing of you but a click. The publisher's description runs 317 words and covers the mechanics properly, so we leave it to speak for itself. It is 274th of 498 in Arcade by plays, with 10,505 plays and 4.4 out of 5, above the 4.2 the library averages.
How to Play
- At 320×480 the whole playfield fits the width of a phone screen, so nothing has to be scrolled.
- The description talks in taps rather than keys, which fits a frame drawn for touch.
Editor’s Note
The page is short on purpose; a longer essay about a five-minute game would be padding. Closest on the same shelf: Pigeons Pigeons, Saguaro, Knife io. Whether it holds up past those minutes is something the frame answers faster than this page can. What you see is what was published: a title, a shelf, a score, and a frame that runs. That is the extent of what can be said without playing it properly, and we would rather stop there.
Curated by BverGame
Publisher’s Description
Reproduced as supplied by the game’s developer. The editorial note above is ours; this text is theirs.
A tiny bird, a nest somewhere high above, and an endless column of obstacles in between: Going up takes the one-button flying formula and points it straight at the sky. Your only job is to help a lonely little bird climb home, and it is much harder than it sounds.
The controls could not be simpler. Touch the screen or left click and the bird flaps upward; stop pressing and gravity takes over and pulls it down. That is the entire input scheme, and everything else is timing. As you climb, obstacles appear in your path that must be threaded, dodged, or waited out, and a single collision ends the flight. Along the way you collect coins scattered through the level, which serve as both a score and a currency.
Those coins matter because they unlock new skins for your bird, giving you a reason to take slightly riskier routes instead of always playing it safe. The climb gets progressively busier the higher you go, with tighter gaps and trickier obstacle patterns, so each run naturally pushes your skill a little further. The loop of fly, crash, unlock, and try again is quick enough that one more attempt is always tempting.
Technique beats tapping speed every time. Short, controlled presses keep the bird stable, while long holds send it rocketing into the ceiling of a gap. Try to keep the bird near the middle of the screen so you have room to react in both directions, and only detour for coins when the path back is clearly open. A fancy skin is not worth a crashed run.
Going up is perfect for players who enjoy minimalist arcade games where the rulebook fits in one sentence but mastery takes real practice. It is the kind of game you open for two minutes and close twenty runs later, still convinced the nest is reachable on the very next try.