Screenshots
Flare Up
Horned Llama · Published by Horned Llama · Official site ↗
3 user reviews — 100% positive (3 reviews)
Last updated 29 Sept 2026
Flare Up is a retro-inspired endless platformer where chronic illness changes the rules as you play.
Simulation, Free To Play, Casual · More free games
About this game
Flare Up is a retro-inspired endless platformer where chronic illness changes the rules as you play.
Chase a highscore while dealing with unpredictable mechanics tied to your player-character symptoms.
Each new day, encounter new symptoms, combos, and challenges.
Over time, learn which symptoms cause which challenges, and use your knowledge to improve your high score.
Creative director has fibromyalgia, a nervous system condition responsible for a constellation of symptoms that can change each day.
Symptoms and their impacts in Flare Up have been designed to represent her lived experiences.
Originally built to be played in a public venue, Flare Up prioritises pick-up-and-play design.
Easy to engage for a short session for longer durations while chasing higher scores.
Limited settings and accessibility features due to its intended display context (sorry!)
Horned Llama is an Australian-Swedish game studio founded by two developers who have been creating experimental projects together since 2016. Their work spans commercial games, software development, and interactive media, with a shared focus on engaging systems and thoughtful player experiences.
The studio founders have contributed to large-scale titles such as Call of Duty and Hand of Fate 2, alongside smaller independent projects. Their combined background includes frontend web development, software and tool creation, tertiary education, and other forms of creative practice, informing an approach to making games that is innovative, intentional, and accessible.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10 (64-bit)
- Processor: Dual-core 2 GHz
- Memory: 2000 MB RAM
- Graphics: GPU with OpenGL 3.3 support (integrated graphics OK)
- Storage: 300 MB available space
Recommended
- OS: Windows 11 (64-bit)
- Processor: Quad-core 2.4 GHz
- Memory: 4000 MB RAM
- Graphics: Dedicated GPU with OpenGL 3.3
- Storage: 300 MB available space
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Volume settings and Symptoms UI
Some changes based on (very reasonable) early feedback of the game. Thanks for letting us know what you want! There is now a Settings page, reachable from the title screen and the pause screen, that lets you tweak the music and sound effect volume. The Symptoms box used to get in the way of gameplay in the top right, especially once you started getting a longer list of them. It now fades out when the player or a platform is close to it.Read full article on Community Announcements (rantz)Patch NotesOfficial
High score table focus order fixed
Previously, if you were using a controller and focused the buttons below the high score table after dying, there was no easy way to get back up to the high score table. Pressing up just cycled between the buttons in the list. That's now fixed.Read full article on Community Announcements (rantz)AnnouncementsOfficial
Dev Log
Our game, Flare Up, is out now and free to download!Thank you to everyone who has already downloaded Flare Up since we soft-launched last week. Your enthusiasm and engagement with the game has brought us a great deal of joy.You may have also seen that we have already released a small update since launching the game, which adds nine achievements. Now you can show off your skill in tiny pixel art form.Horned Llama is a small team of two developers, one based in Sweden and the other (me!) in Australia. Flare Up is about my own experiences with fibromyalgia, a chronic health condition that I've had since I was 17. The specific symptoms and challenges faced by the characters in Flare Up are directly inspired by the frustrations I often experience in my own life. Thank you (and sorry) to those who find this relatable. Remember you are not alone.Flare Up was made during a short break my co-developer and I decided to take from our current main project, Body of Work. We have been working on this spooky-cosy game for the last year and needed the dopamine rush of releasing something to help motivate us. Change is as good as a holiday, right?I also just wanted to apologise for the lack of accessibility options in Flare Up, especially regarding music and sound settings. The game was originally designed for public display in an arcade setting and several of the symptoms are directly tied to audio, so there is currently no way to adjust the sound. We may change that and some other quality of life elements in future, but for now we are returning our focus to Body of Work, in the hope that we can get a demo into our players' hands soon.Thank you again for your support, feedback, and enthusiasm. We'll see you again soon!PS: What's your high score?Read full article on Community Announcements (Inkcap)Patch NotesOfficial
Achievements added
Added a bunch of achievements. Unlock them to show the world your prowess.Read full article on Community Announcements (rantz)
