Video games have the ability to bring out the best and worst facets of people. No matter how innocent or complex they are, those who play are ultimately the ones who interpret and react accordingly. The best example is found in Flappy Bird, an innocent video game that drove thousands of people crazy.
Flappy Bird It was a video game developed by Dong Nguyen and Nguyen Hà Đông in Hanoi and published by GEARS Studios for iOS and Android mobile devices (Apple Store and Google Play respectively). It was released on May 28, 2013, and it didn’t take long for it to become a huge hit.
The idea was extremely simple and fun: The player controls a bird that tries to fly between rows of pipes (green, similar to Mario) in a scrolling scenario. Should tap the screen so that the bird gave an upward impulse with its wings before falling again. The goal was to clear the stage without crashing into the pipes, the floor, and the ceiling.
Don’t be fooled by its simplicity, it was complicated as hell! As the levels progressed, the speed increased and the design became more and more complicated. And then Flappy Bird became a sensation. Everybody ever played. They didn’t take long to appear hundreds of clone games that continue to this day. We are talking about a title that added revenues of more than 1.2 billion dollars in six years.
New simple game. Flap Flap. pic.twitter.com/Dmt9AXsYzY
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) April 29, 2013
The closing of Flappy Bird: “It was simply very addictive”
Its creator, Dong Nguyen, saw how Flappy Bird it went from being a small innocent game that only wanted to entertain during the idle moments of the day to a game that devoured hours and created severe additions in many people. The matter got out of hand to such an extent that Nguyen decided to close the game forever on February 9, 2014. After this, she offered several interviews to The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stones and other media and magazines.
Nguyen’s initial intention was “create a game that people could enjoy for ten minutes, in a relaxing context, not spend hours trying to reach a top score“. However, reality worked its magic once again. Nguyen received “e-mails from Flappy Bird fans claiming that it was as addictive as crack and this frustrated people“.
I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.
— Dong Nguyen (@dongatory) February 8, 2014
Translator: Sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, in 22 hours I will remove ‘Flappy Bird’. I can not take this anymore.
By withdrawing the game from stores, Nguyen became a villain. Not only for fans of the game, but for all those who sold and auctioned mobile phones at insane prices claiming to have installed the famous Flappy Bird. We have not exaggerated to say that it was complete madness.
The legacy of Flappy Bird It is among the hundreds of clone games that you can find for mobile devices, consoles, and PC. you can even play it via web. It is enough to put “Flappy” in the search engine to have a huge list of games. On his side, Dong Nguyen continued his life and shortly after (2017) launched Ninja Spinki Challengesanother mobile adventure.
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