Lava Bird vs Cooped Up
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Lava Bird
Tap to control a bird that shoots lava with every flap. Navigate treacherous environments, dodge enemies, and avoid your own fiery projectiles in this endless flying adventure. Discover an epic story as you play.
- Tap to fly mechanic
- Avoid enemies and spikes
- Shoot lava balls
- Earn a shield
- Unlock an epic story
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You are a bird with an unfortunate medical condition that causes you to spew lava balls with every flap of your wings. Tap to fly. Avoid enemies, spikes, and your own fiery spit balls in this neverending flying game. - If you can tap on your phone, you can play. - Enemies increase in difficulty over time. - Earn a handy shield. - Uncover the most epic story ever written by anyone.
Cooped Up
Navigate a vibrant sanctuary as a new exotic bird, flinging yourself upwards while avoiding obstacles and other quirky birds. Snack on tasty insects along the way and use boosts to ascend further. Compete with friends via Game Center.
- Intuitive twanging fling gameplay
- Simple pick up and play
- Game Centre support
- Collect and eat insects
- In-game boosts
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You are the latest addition in the exotic bird sanctuary. The other older birds have been Cooped Up a little too long and are a branch short of a perch! Ahhemmm... they is a bit crazy! Fling yourself up up and away but watch out, there's more than just birds that you must avoid. However don't be afraid to snack on the way... ...and don't let the other birds laughing at you get you down! Pick yourself up and twang twang twang again! Features: - Intuitive twanging fling gameplay. - Simple pick up and play for all! - Full game centre support to compete with friends and foes - Eat worms, spiders and flies! Hmmm yummy!!! - Boost you way up like a steam train! Important information This game contains third party advertising which can be removed via a one time IAP. This game contains coins which can be collected within the game for free, bought with real money or via earned via promotions. This game contains cross promotion for other Nitrome games and this is not removed with the IAP for removal of ads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Cooped Up at 4.5 against Lava Bird's 3.8. Cooped Up also leads on ratings volume (84 vs 16). Lava Bird's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 17 months) and review sentiment (90% vs 71%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Lava Bird sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Cooped Up sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Cooped Up holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cooped Up has 84 ratings behind it against 16, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 90% of Lava Bird's written reviews are positive against 71% of Cooped Up's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Lava Bird ships an update fortnightly, Cooped Up every 17 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.
| Parameter | Lava Bird | Cooped Up |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (16 ratings) | 4.5 (84 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.5% of reviews — better | 70.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 16 | 84 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 17 months |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.1 — better | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 95 MB | 157 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Unept | Nitrome |
Customer experience
Lava Bird
Cooped Up
Bugs and requests
Lava Bird
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Cooped Up
Reported bugs
13 issues- Game crashes on launch or during gameplay
- Screen flickering and glitching after ads
- Upside-down screen display
- Phone freezing or requiring restart
- Jump mechanics not responding
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- Achievement notifications not displaying
- Trophy/score button unresponsive
- Invincibility frames missing after bug collection
- Screen rotation causing control issues
- Frame rate drops during star animations
- Black screen on startup
- Incompatibility with iPad devices
- Pixelated app icon on iPhone 6
Requested features
12 requests- Unlockable characters and skins
- New maps and backgrounds
- Additional enemy types and difficulty levels
- In-game currency and upgrade system
- Customizable bird options
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- Story mode or narrative elements
- Different game modes (rush mode, challenge mode)
- Tutorial for new players
- Leaderboard functionality improvements
- Power-ups and special abilities
- Bird care mechanics (feeding, washing, growing)
- Mute settings that persist between sessions
In-app purchases
Lava Bird
- Remove Ads$0.99
Cooped Up
- Remove Ads$1.99
