There’s a new viral game sweeping the nation, and it is the chubby most infuriating bird ever… Flappy Bird. Despite his quick rise to fame, there have been rumors floating around that Flappy Bird is about to meet its untimely demise.
For those of you still the dark (consider yourself spared), it is a highly addicting yet simplistic game. You tap your phone’s screen to fly a little bird through a series a pipes. That’s it. No power-ups, no levels, no extra obstacles…just a bird and pipes.
It is extremely frustrating, increases adrenaline levels, and causes unnecessary expletives. Yet, why have over 18 million people downloaded the game that apparently took only 3 days to create?
Though the game only took off since the end of January, the app was released in May 2013 by Dong Nguyen, a creator based in Vietnam.
Neither the iTunes nor Android store have promoted the game which makes many speculate that bots were used to boost its visibility in both app stores. Twitter posts, mostly by gamers sharing their frustration of the little bird, also helped to make Flappy Bird the success it is today.
Apparently Dong Nguyen wasn’t prepared to see Flappy Bird become so famous. On February 8th afternoon, Nguyen tweeted…
He went on saying it wasn’t for any legal reasons. Regardless, Flappy Bird aficionados restlessly await the departure of their favorite little bird. In the meantime, you can tweet with #saveflappybird to get your voice heard.
But in the age of phenomenal computer-graphic potential and highly complex games, it’s hard to believe that a little pixelated bird has grabbed the attention of such a wide audience.
