Almost all the ads I see on TikTok are for a video game about walking in comical high-heeled shoes. High heels! is inescapable – so I downloaded it this afternoon. The only break I took from playing was writing this blog. I’m stuck in a high-heeled prison and surrounded on all sides by video game announcements about renovations.
I’ve seen my heels get so absurdly high that my character – I’m playing an imitation of Hitman’s Agent 47, with the barcode tattoo on his neck – was pushed off the screen. I watched him, in his rainbow-colored heels, fall from the perpetual catwalk and ragdoll into the ether.
You may have seen the videos too. Ads for High heels! are all over TikTok and in free game apps. Game videos of High heels! are also going viral on TikTok and Twitter. “I found a game for villains,” says a popular TikTok clip. “You basically walk like a bad bitch in high heels. My ankles never could. ”The video has been viewed almost 4 million times.
This is, in fact, the premise of High heels! As you collect jumps on the obstacle course, your shoes become taller. This is essential, because your shoes need to be taller than the obstacles to overcome them. After overcoming an obstacle, you are knocked down a few centimeters and need to collect more jumps to reach the celebration catwalk, where a circle of fans is waiting for you.
If you’re still confused, here’s what developer Rollic – who was acquired by the power of casual games Zynga last year – says about it on the App Store:
Are you ready for the best high jump game EVER?
Watch the walls! The higher the heels, the easier it will be to escape the walls. Different obstacles await you in each level! There are tracks where you have to spread your legs and slide, walls to jump, a stick to balance yourself and a huge podium waiting for you at the end of the road. Among the dozens of different accessories you can buy at the store are buckles, necklaces, puppies in bags and angel wings. And most importantly, you will find heels with very different models and colors to suit your style!
Walking on your heels will make you feel like a QUEEN!
Do not forget! You need to choose as many high heels on the road as you can to get on the podium!
There are a variety of different obstacles to overcome, but my favorite is the division; to do this, your heels need to be long enough to keep you upright as you cross a gap. The character (in my case, an imitation of Agent 47, which I unlocked by watching three ads) claps his hands as he slides.
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Image: Rollic Games / Zynga via Polygon
No surprise, High heels! took off and is now a meme. You will want to check the Apple App Store ratings and reviews, of which there are abundance (just under 38,000) detailing the elaborate and hilarious ways the game saved lives. Here’s my theory: the game is the perfect amount of highly satisfying gameplay and meme content paired with a player base that increasingly wants to be stepped on.
It is also free for Android devices on the Google Play Store. The ads are excessive, but there is also a paid version.
Rollic’s High heels! may be a short-lived star on the App Store, but the developer knows how to be successful. Blob Runner 3D, another game made by Rollic, is currently number 2 on the App Store.