CLASSIC AND MODERN ELEMENTS COMBINE to form Everwing: the latest Facebook craze.“It’s extremely addicting and eating my life” says Gavin Mays ’20, when asked about his latest addiction. He’s not talking about anything illicit however; just the latest mobile craze in the form of Everwing. Developed by Blackstorm Labs in 2016, the Facebook Messenger exclusive game has taken my contact list by storm – transforming pleasant conversations into tallies of scores and achievements. The premise is simple, and maybe that’s why it’s so addictive. Like the Space Invaders of old, Everwing is simply a race to outlast your friends and acquire the ultimate reward: bragging rights.
The game’s main menu allures you start playing the moment you load it in. By dragging your character, a fairy on a mystical quest, you are immediately thrown into the game as hordes of dragons advance toward you. Comets whizz by, trying to end your quest prematurely, and scattered bosses attempt to hit you and cause you to restart. One shot is all it takes to doom a run, which instills a sense of caution in the player. Everything is changeable between runs: your character can be swapped, your dragon companions, who hatch from eggs that are bought with in-game currency, can be swapped in and out for others, and your character’s bullet damage is always upgradable.
Despite the competitive nature of the game, there is also a cooperative mode that forces players to work together in achieving a common goal. The Boss Rush game mode has players all fighting a singular boss, who is upgraded in terms of lethality and health. It offers prizes and legendary grade dragon companions to players who damage it, and it is a nice step outside the original game.
All in all, Everwing is just a messenger game, and might fade from the general view in a month or so. Similar crazes, like Flappy Bird and Pokemon Go, were immensely successful in the short run, but never ended up lasting in most people’s lives for any significant time. However, if Everwing is updated constantly and keeps growing, who knows how big it could become?