A Free Streaming App Has a Secret Video Game You Need to Try

The current era of streaming services can blend together sometimes. Especially when the apps are just walls of pictures and titles, the various presentations can begin to feel repetitive over time. One of the exceptions is Roku, which managed to give itself a sense of personality through a well-designed screensaver function that’s become known as the Roku City.

It’s a small touch, but sometimes that’s all you need to stand out in the crowd. Now, Roku has added an additional purpose to the screen with Roku City Dash, a simple but addictive game where players make their way around the city. Although the game is functionally an updated and themed take on Flappy Bird, it’s a clever way to give viewers something extra with their Roku experience — and further cement their identity in the streaming space.

Roku’s Secret Video Game, Explained

The Roku City has become one of those instantly recognizable sights of the streaming era. The free streaming service provides plenty of films and TV for zero cost to the user, with the scrolling screensaver of Roku City serving as a visually distinct city full of movie and TV deep cuts. It’s a clever little way for the app to present an art piece to viewers who aren’t actively watching something — and now there is actually a hidden mini-game waiting for players on the screen.

The game can also be accessed through a separate app or by activating Roku City Dash in the idle screen with a push of a button. In terms of mechanics, the game is fairly simple: players control a small UFO that can otherwise be seen floating over Roku City. Controlling the ship with a TV remote or console controller, players move the UFO around obstacles like incoming drones, accruing points with each successful dodge. The longer they can stay in the air and moving, the more points they accumulate — with each Roku account keeping track of the high scores. It’s functionally similar to something like Flappy Bird, but designed to fit easily into the aesthetic that the Roku City has codified as part of the service’s presentation. That little touch is what adds a sense of colorful charm to what could be a simple distraction.

Why The Roku City Dash Is Such A Clever Idea

One of the things that makes the Roku City such a clever little means of branding is the way it reflects the evolving roster of titles and franchises that have been featured in the service. The screen includes all sorts of broad strokes to iconic settings and characters, teasing out a shared space for all those properties. That carries over to Roku City Dash, which gives players a pretty firm view of the entire city and the nearby landmarks. Roku City Dash is a way to gamify that space and let the viewer have their own impact on the screen. It’s a simple but entertaining game, a solid successor to titles like Flappy Bird and Google Chrome’s Dinosaur Game that also used a simple mechanic and an endless space to challenge players.

Especially for audiences who can have a hard time deciding what to watch and end up seeing a lot more of the Roku City than most would expect, the Roku City Dash is a fun excuse to move through the colorful setting and see it firsthand while adding some naturally fun challenge to the experience. It’s not too deep a game, but it would be distracting if it were. It’s also a way to incorporate ads without being distracting, as they can appear as billboards throughout the game just as they do in the screensaver. It makes that royalty-free background its own little world that the player is a part of, adding to the sense of feeling like a part of a shared space of film and TV.

Roku’s Game Plays Into Its Personality

Streaming services have increasingly been experimenting with game releases directly on their platforms, with Netflix arguably being the most prominent. Roku’s success with regard to its being a free-to-access app, Roku City Dash is that it plays directly into the aesthetic of the app as a whole. It feels like an extension of the identity that the platform is trying to cultivate, one where you can go on an adventure but see countless others playing out in the background. While more games could broaden that expeirence, Roku City Dash feels like a good first step for the service to take in the larger direction of gaming.

The easy-to-learn gameplay means anyone can try their hand at it without being overwhelmed, while the escalating challenge gives it a certain level of replayability. Roku City Dash doesn’t reinvent a genre or try to be anything more than it is. That’s exactly what makes it so charming and why it’s such a fun easter egg to discover on the app.