A wacky video game about throwing people off the roof is a hit in China thanks to viral videos on Douyin

In China, mobile games and short-video apps are going head-to-head for the attention of millennials. But sometimes, they too can help each other out.

A little-known smartphone game called Party.io has become a sudden hit in China after videos of users playing the game gained prominence on Douyin, the short-video app that is known as TikTok overseas.

The indie title is now the most-downloaded free game in China for Apple users, surpassing previous leaders like PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.

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Its popularity can be largely attributed to the popularity of short clips about the game on Douyin, which has more than 500 million active users.

In Party.io, players control a play dough-like figure to grab each other and throw them off the arena, which range from floating houses to hot air balloons to a birthday cake. The last dough standing wins.

These floppy creatures fight and fall in a wacky way and gain in size with the number of “kills.” The controls are easy but bizarre: You need to tap the screen to control the direction while drawing the infinity symbol “∞” to snatch people and throw them away.