A charming underwater Flappy Bird-style game featuring a realistic pink axolotl swimming through an SNES-inspired ocean environment. Built with HTML5 Canvas and vanilla JavaScript.
No installation needed - just download and play!
- Download Installer (Recommended)
- Download Portable (No install, run directly)
- Download AppImage (Universal)
- Download .deb (Debian/Ubuntu)
- Click or tap to make the axolotl swim upward
- Navigate through pipes while avoiding obstacles
- Collect power-ups from mermaids
- Defeat bosses every 20 points
- Try to survive as long as possible and set a high score!
- Realistic axolotl sprite with animated gills, tail, and swimming motion
- Underwater-themed SNES-style graphics
- Dynamic difficulty scaling
- Heart-based health system with invulnerability frames
- Procedurally generated sound effects
Mermaids swim across the screen with hair colors that match their power-up:
- 🪱 Worm (Pink) - Restores all hearts
- ⏰ Slow (Orange) - Slows down pipe speed
- 🔽 Small (Magenta) - Shrinks the axolotl for easier navigation
- ⭐ Star (Yellow) - Invincibility and speed boost
- Scuba Diver Boss - Throws nets that trap you
- Dolphin Boss - Creates whirlpools that pull you in
- Defeat bosses to earn Golden Hearts that permanently increase max health
- Animated bubbles and background elements (fish, jellyfish, seaweed)
- Parallax scrolling layers
- Ocean floor with seamless texture
- Atmospheric underwater gradient background
- High score tracking with localStorage
- Top 10 scoreboard with initials
- Increasing difficulty every 2 points
- Boss alternation system
- Start with 3 hearts
- Take damage from:
- Hitting pipes
- Going out of bounds
- Boss attacks (nets/whirlpools)
- Invulnerability period after taking damage
- Collect golden hearts from defeated bosses to increase max health
- Triggered at scores: 20, 40, 60, 80...
- Bosses alternate between Scuba Diver and Dolphin
- Deal damage by successfully passing pipes during boss fight
- Each boss has 5 health points
- Bosses retreat when defeated, dropping a golden heart
Simply open index.html in a modern web browser.
For the best experience with PWA features:
# Using Python 3
python -m http.server 8000
# Using Node.js http-server
npx http-serverThen navigate to http://localhost:8000
The game can be installed as a Progressive Web App on mobile devices and desktop browsers that support PWA installation.
Flappy Axolotl/
├── index.html # Main HTML file
├── game.js # Game logic and rendering
├── style.css # Styling
├── manifest.json # PWA manifest
├── sw.js # Service worker for PWA
└── README.md # This file
- No dependencies - Pure vanilla JavaScript
- HTML5 Canvas for rendering
- Web Audio API for procedural sound generation
- LocalStorage for high score persistence
- PWA-ready with service worker and manifest
- Class-based architecture for game entities
- Responsive design (800x600 canvas)
- SNES-inspired pixel-perfect aesthetic
- Realistic axolotl anatomy (external gills, tail fin, legs)
- Underwater color palette (blues, teals, sandy browns)
- Smooth animations using sine waves for natural movement
- +1 point for each pipe cleared
- +5 bonus points for defeating a boss
- Difficulty increases every 2 points
- High scores saved locally with player initials
All sound effects are procedurally generated using the Web Audio API:
- Flapping sounds
- Power-up collection
- Damage effects
- Boss defeat fanfare
- Special golden heart sound
- Boss attacks (nets/whirlpools) disappear when boss is defeated
- Golden hearts scroll with the environment
- Power-ups have timed effects (except worm, which is instant)
- Mermaids swim elegantly with animated tails and hair
Created with Claude Code Game design inspired by Flappy Bird Axolotl sprite and underwater theme original
This project is open source and available for personal and educational use.
Enjoy swimming with the axolotl! 🦎💕
Copyright (c) 2025 Daniel Bates / BatesAI
This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.
While this code is open source under the MIT License, the BatesAI brand name and associated trademarks are proprietary. Please do not use the BatesAI name or logo without permission.
For commercial support or custom development, contact: daniel@batesai.org
- Personal tinkering: Free to download, study, and modify for your own hobby, learning, or research projects as long as you keep the required credit.
- Attribution: Always display “Built with BatesAI software by Daniel Bates (https://batesai.org)” anywhere the app, docs, marketing pages, or listings mention the product.
- Organizations & monetization: Any company, client, employer, school, nonprofit, or government team must either obtain a BatesAI commercial license (daniel@batesai.org) or remit a 10% share of gross receipts—including one-time purchases, subscriptions (monthly, annual, seat-based, usage-based), service retainers, and bundled sales—that rely on this software.
- Reporting: Revenue-share users must send monthly revenue summaries plus payment within 15 days of month-end or the license automatically pauses.
Read the full “BatesAI Personal & Revenue Share License v1.1” in LICENSE for legal terms, including no sublicensing and California governing law.