Last updated on December 7th, 2025 at 04:49 pm
Thunderbird Strike – Game Review
Thunderbird Strike is a game from Elizabeth LaPensee, first launched in 15th December 2017.
It’s rated 9+ and currently has 39+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Thunderbird Strike Stand Out
In the 2D sidescroller Thunderbird Strike, fly from the Tar Sands to the Great Lakes as a thunderbird protecting Turtle Island with searing lightning against the snake that threatens to swallow the lands and waters whole.
This game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Thunderbird Strike is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 15th December 2017
Recent improvements include:
This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.
Download & Availability
Thunderbird Strike is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Get Thunderbird Strike on App Store
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Very insightful look into Native American issues….Kudos to the app creator & the musician.
Its a pretty minimalistic game but that doesnt really take away from the gameplay and the art is gorgeous.
Game is very entertaining but more importantly stands for so much more.
This is a fun, easy game that also gives some knowledge about Natives and the issue with pipelines. It definitely has created discussion.
We were really excited to stock up on some apps by the indigenous communities, but this plays the very first video and crashes with no option to skip ahead. Definitely has some bugs that need worked out.
We dont know why this game has such a majority of five-star reviews. We, um, wouldnt give it that. Obviously. First off: There are videos that play between levels, and when we allowed the videos end by themselves, the game crashed and we had to restart from level one. (There are only three levels, so this wasnt a huge issue.) we avoided this by closing the videos before they ended. The stylized art is really good, cute animations of deer, cool snake boss, very nice. The gameplay is somewhat unclear? We knew we had to tap the bird to create lightning, but the game didnt indicate where the bird needed to be to zap objects. (Slightly to the right of the object, it turns out.) we still dont know whether we were supposed to hit the deer (and protesters) walking around, it didnt affect our score. In levels one and two you can literally just start the level and leave your device for like five minutes and youll advance to the next level, the only difference is the score. (Also it crashes if you dont close the video fast enough.) On the third level, lightning seems to do nothing, the only way to advance is to grab the garbage bags, so just kinda keep the bird next to the snakes mouth? Not hard or fun, just tedious. The message is fine, oil pipelines on Indigenous lands are bad, trashing the environment is bad, we wouldnt say this game is educational though. Unless there is a tradition of the Thunderbird resurrecting animals and humans to fight a great snake? There IS information on the Thunderbird Strike website about both the pipelines and the Indigenous stories that inspired the game. If the game directed the player to the website or other resources, we feel like the message here wouldve been stronger. Kind of a missed opportunity. This game is an impressive project for a small group of creators, and they should be proud. Making a (mostly) functional game is absolutely an achievement. This is a great proof-of-concept and its cool that they put it out for free, buuuuuuuut if youre just looking for a fun game then this is probably not it. We only played the whole thing so we could give it a fair review, and we only wanted to give it a fair review because we were suspicious of all the five-star ratings. If you dont encounter any crashes, then this might fill up fifteen minutes of your life, but maybe you could spend that fifteen minutes researching environmental justice instead.
Controls do not work well and game is very basic.
We were very excited to try this app, but we unfortunately cannot get the app to work. It keeps crashing.
Obviously the reviewers who rated this game with 5 stars didnt even play it. Its pointless! Wish we could give it 0 stars. It has no screen play or storyline for it to be educational like the other reviewers claim. You fly around as a bird, collect lightning and fatally strike construction equipment with said lightning. Sometimes a tornado shows up for some reason. After level 2, the app crashed. Wish we hadnt wasted as much time as we did on it, but it was kind of like when youre watching a bad movie, and you stick it out and continue watching to see if it gets any better … Aaaaaand it never does. Happy to delete this one and regain 638 MB of space back on our phone.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.0
- Size: 614.46 MB
- iOS: 7.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence
- Developer: Elizabeth LaPensee
Last updated: 15th December 2017 | Genre: | Developer: Elizabeth LaPensee