How to get EVERY mystery character in Crossy Road - Cheats, secrets, and tips [Update]

Every time addictive traffic dodger Crossy Road is updated, it receives a handful of secret characters for you to unlock.

From the Loch Ness monster to the Chinese god of wealth to a British phone box to the game's coder, Crossy Road is now jam packed with hidden hoppers.

Luckily for you, we know how to unlock every single one, and we'll share the secrets with you. Here's how to get all the mystery characters in Crossy Road, as of May 2015.

Jughead



For this mystery character you'll first need to buy or unlock Archie, and then start playing as him. As you hop along you'll notice burgers along the side of the road. Land on one, to eat it.



You need to eat about 30-50 (across as many different attempts as you want). When you hit the magic number, you'll get Jughead upon your next death.

Hipster Whale



This guy will appear when you're playing as any character. He's found randomly swimming through lakes in the game, and you'll need to land on his back like you would a log. This will unlock the mascot for the game's developer, as a character in the game.

Gifty



We need to get the Festive Chicken for this update. Start hopping along until you hear Christmas bells. Soon after, you'll stumble upon a clearing with a Christmas tree, which showers you with gifts.

Then, when you next get a game over, you'll receive Gifty for your character list.

There doesn't seem to be any specific point at which the tree appears. We got it at 100 steps but others have seen it much earlier or much later in their run.

Crab



To get this crustacean character you first need to buy or win one of the Australian animals. That's the kangaroo, platypus, echidna, kookaburra, wombat, koala, dingo, cockatoo, or emu.

You'll know you're using one of the grass is replaced with sand.

Then, swipe left and right many times during your run when you're on sand. Whenever you get a spare second, swipe left and right like crazy to sidestep up and down the sand.

Do it enough times and you'll be rewarded with this crab when you next die.

Drop Bear



This guy can be found sitting in a tree, as long as you're playing as one of the Aussie animals. He's at a random point along the road so you'll just have to keep playing until you find him.

If you finally do seem him, get close enough to him so he jumps out of his tree and lands on you. This will kill you, which is sad, but you'll immediately unlock a new character for your roster, which is nicd.

Cai Shen



The secret character is called Cai Shen, and is the Chinese god of wealth. To get this greedy fellow you need to pick up the little red envelopes that are strewn about the world, while playing as the Fortune Chicken.

You have to get about 20 to 25 of these things. But don't worry - you don't need to get them all in one go. Your red envelope count rolls over from game to game, so you just need to keep collecting them and eventually you'll have enough.

Michael Boom



I'm guessing this guy is supposed to be Michael Bay, which means we'll need to make a massive great explosion to lure him into our game.

You can be any character, you just need to have the update that adds Archie to the game. And the you need to hop along until you see a big green truck carrying a rocket on its back, like this:



Hit into the rocket and it will explode into a stunning voxel-art eruption. You'll die, obviously, but you'll get a new character for your trouble.

Andy Sum



Andy is one of the three makers of Crossy Road, and you can unlock him as a playable character by getting a new high score - or very close to your high score - while playing as his favourite character.

To get Andy, you need to play as the Mallard.

Ben Weatherall



Same deal as Andy, above. Use the Dark Lord and if your score is above or close to your best, when you die you should see a screen that says 'Great Score', before unlocking your new character.

Matt Hall



Matt's the same as Ben and Andy above, just use the Lucky Cat to get this scamp.

Phone Box



This guy is pretty easy to get. Just unlock and use one of the British characters (that's butterfly, badger, fox, squirrel, Queen's guard, bobby, piper, chimney sweep, fancy lady, fancy gent, schoolgirl, or fish 'n chips).

Then, hop your way to the 100 point mark and you should reach a clearing with a phone box in it. Keep going until you die, at which point you'll add this outdated red cuboid to your roster.



We tested it with two devices, using the badger and the Queen's guard, and both worked the exact same way. Ring ring! New character!

Nessie



This Scottish monster is basically like the Hipster Whale, in that she will be found swimming along a river and can be used as a platform to cross the stream. The only catch is - you need to be playing as a UK or Irish character. See the list, above.



You'll just have to keep trying. And trying. And trying. And hopefully you'll get lucky and have Nessie randomly swim across a river. If you see her, hop on her back and you'll get this mythical creature for your roster.

Rugby Player



The Rugby Player is a tricky one to get. Basically, you need to play as a UK character and look out for a rugby ball in a tree.

The screenshot below doesn't really help - its on the left, but covered a lorry - so just look for a small white square while you play. Once you have gone past it, you'll get the sportsman upon your next death.



There are lots of rumours and theories about the exact scores you need to get to make the ball appear (a popular one, about having two scores 10 points apart and then finding the ball on the third go, didn't work for us).

But as far as we know, it's just down to luck and persistence. Have fun!

Leprechaun



To get this guy you need to find a four leafed clover. Luckily, it's a little easier in the game than the real world.

Basically, when playing as a UK character the game world will be littered with little three leaf clovers which you can pick up by hopping on them. Sometimes, however, they'll have four leaves.

Pick up one of these and you'll get this lucky Irish fella' when you die.



It can be frightfully hard to see the clovers on a tiny phone screen so either get this character on a tablet or just pick up every clover you see and hope for the best.

Blinky



For this red chap, you should be playing as the Pac-Chicken. Now, your job is to get run over by Pac-Man, who randomly appears and speeds across the level. He's hard to find and even harder to get run over by, but listen for his distinct audio cue.

Pinky



Play as Pac-Chicken for Pinky, too. For her, you need to find and gobble a pair of pixel art cherries that appear randomly on the world map. They're quite rare, so just have patience and keep playing until you find them.

Clyde



Getting Clyde involves playing as Pac-Man, grabbing a power pellet, and eating ghosts. Lots of ghosts. Seems like you have to eat seven ghosts from one power pellet. You'll then get Clyde when you next die.

You can make this a lot easier by eating a power pellet while in power mode. This will greatly lengthen the amount of time you have to munch on ghosts.

Inky



No one quite knows how to get Inky right now. All we know for sure is that you have to be Pac-Man to get him. There are lots of theories, but the most popular suggests that you need to get a score of 50 (by eating 50 pellets) in 30 different games.

Pro Gamer



The goal is to get a score of around 90 to 150, while maintaining a really fast input speed. That means you need to avoid waiting around, need to take more risks, and must generally hammer the screen whenever you see a clear path.

You'll see how this all works when you unlock the pro gamer, who actually shows you your APM (actions per minute) on screen.

It's a really hard one to get because it requires risky play, and also a high score. So even CR veterans will need a good few goes to get this one. But keep at it and you'll soon get a cool new character for your roster.