Nyan Cat game: fly the rainbow cat
Nyan Cat is a pixel cat with a pop-tart body that flies through space, leaving a rainbow trail. Artist Chris Torres drew it in April 2011, and a looping song made it one of the biggest memes of that year. Its natural game is a flying runner, and you can make one yourself.
How Nyan Cat happened
Chris Torres, who goes by prguitarman, posted the animated Pop-Tart Cat on his comic site on 2 April 2011. A few days later, a YouTube user set it to "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!", a song by the Japanese producer daniwell, in a cover sung with the UTAU voice Momone Momo. That video named the cat "Nyan Cat" and spread everywhere.
The loop was the joke: the same few seconds of song and pixel art, forever. Fan sites counted how long people could watch it. In 2021, for the tenth anniversary, Torres sold a remastered version as an NFT.
A Nyan Cat runner, step by step
- The run. The cat flies right on its own. You tap to rise and let go to fall, like a flappy game.
- Pickups. Collect stars and sprinkles. Ten in a row makes the rainbow trail longer.
- Hazards. Floating space junk and comets. Hit one and you lose a heart.
- The twist. The song speeds up the longer you survive, so the run feels faster even when it is not.
- A reason to return. Unlock new cat bodies: waffle, sushi, pizza slice.
Build it on Roam
Type the runner in a sentence and Roam builds it playable, with art and sound. Then talk to it: "add a boss comet every minute", "make it two-player, race to the furthest star". Use a photo of your own cat as the flyer. Pick your own snack body too, since Nyan Cat itself is Torres's art.
Play it on Roam
More on Roam
Make your own rainbow cat runner with Roam
Describe the runner and drop a photo of your cat. Roam turns it into a game you can play and send. Roam is rated 13+ on the App Store.
Try: "space flying runner, my cat with a waffle body leaves a rainbow trail, tap to fly up, collect stars, dodge comets, 3 hearts"Roam ("Roam - Make Games" on the App Store) is an iPhone app where you play games and make your own by describing them or from a photo. It is free to download and play, and making games works without a subscription; optional Spark and Reality plans and credit packs add more creation. Android: pre-register on Google Play.
Questions people ask
Who created Nyan Cat?
Artist Chris Torres (prguitarman) drew the animation in April 2011.
What is the Nyan Cat song?
"Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya!" by daniwell. The meme used a cover sung with the UTAU voice Momone Momo.
Why is Nyan Cat a pop-tart?
Torres drew it that way. The pop-tart body is part of the original art.