''Flappy Bird'' is a
mobile game
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...
developed by the
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
ese
video game artist
Game art design is a subset of game development involving the process of creating the artistic aspects for video games. Video game art design begins in the pre-production phase of creating a video game. Video game artists are visual artists inv ...
and
programmer
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
Dong Nguyen ( vi, Nguyễn Hà Đông), under his game development company
.Gears
DotGears Company Limited (trade name: .Gears) is a Vietnamese video game developer based in Hanoi that specialises in mobile game
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also ...
.
The game is a
side-scroller
''
A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller), is a game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling graphics ...
where the player controls a bird, attempting to fly between columns of green pipes without hitting them. Nguyen created the game over the period of several days, using a bird protagonist that he had designed for a cancelled game in 2012.
The game was released in May 2013 but received a sudden spike in popularity in early 2014 and became a
sleeper hit
In the entertainment industry, a sleeper hit is a film, television series, music release, video game, or some other entertainment product that was initially unsuccessful on release but became a success later on. A sleeper hit may have little promo ...
. ''Flappy Bird'' received poor reviews from some critics, who criticized its high level of difficulty and alleged plagiarism in graphics and game mechanics, while other reviewers found it addictive. At the end of January 2014, it was the most downloaded free game in the
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
. During this period, its developer said that ''Flappy Bird'' was earning $50,000 a day from in-app advertisements as well as sales.
''Flappy Bird'' was removed from both the
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
and
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...
on February 10, 2014, with Nguyen claiming that he felt guilty over what he considered to be the game's addictive nature and overusage. Its popularity and sudden removal caused phones with the game installed before its removal to be put up for sale for high prices over the Internet.
Games similar to ''Flappy Bird'' became popular on the iOS App Store in the wake of its removal, and both Apple and Google have removed games from their app stores for being too similar to the original game.
In August 2014, a revised version of ''Flappy Bird'', called ''Flappy Birds Family'', was released exclusively for the
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Fire TV (stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connecte ...
.
Bay Tek Games also released a licensed coin-operated ''Flappy Bird'' arcade game.
Gameplay
''Flappy Bird'' is an
arcade
Arcade most often refers to:
* Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine
** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware
** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board
* Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games
* ...
-style game in which the player controls the bird Faby, which moves persistently to the right. The player is tasked with navigating Faby through pairs of pipes that have equally sized gaps placed at random heights. Faby automatically descends and only ascends when the player taps the
touchscreen
A touchscreen or touch screen is the assembly of both an input ('touch panel') and output ('display') device. The touch panel is normally layered on the top of an electronic visual display of an information processing system. The display is often ...
. Each successful pass through a pair of pipes awards the player one point. Colliding with a pipe or the ground ends the gameplay. During the
game over screen, the player is awarded a bronze medal if they reached ten or more points, a silver medal from twenty points, a gold medal from thirty points, and a platinum medal from forty points.
Development
Dong Nguyen grew up in
Vạn Phúc, a village near
Hanoi
Hanoi or Ha Noi ( or ; vi, Hà Nội ) is the capital and second-largest city of Vietnam. It covers an area of . It consists of 12 urban districts, one district-leveled town and 17 rural districts. Located within the Red River Delta, Hanoi is ...
. He discovered video games by playing ''
Super Mario Bros.
is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). The successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series, it was first released in 1985 for th ...
'' as a child and began coding his own at age 16. At 19, while studying programming at a local university, he won an internship at
Punch Entertainment
Punch Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Palo Alto, California. Founded in 2005 by Tobin Lent, the company established a Vietnamese satellite studio that same year. In September 2011, Punch Entertainment sold off i ...
, one of the few video game companies in Vietnam. While using the
iPhone, he found that its most popular games such as ''
Angry Birds
''Angry Birds'' is a Finnish action-based media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment. The game series focuses on the eponymous flock of angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game ''Crush the Castle ...
'' were too complicated, and wanted to make a simpler game for people who are "always on the move".
''Flappy Bird'' was created and developed by Nguyen in two to three days. The bird character, Faby, was originally designed in 2012 for a cancelled
platform game
A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...
.
The gameplay was inspired by the act of bouncing a ping pong ball against a paddle for as long as possible.
Initially the game was significantly easier than it became in the final version, however Nguyen said he found this version to be boring and subsequently tightened up the difficulty.
He described the business plan of a free download with in-game advertisements as "very common in the Japanese market".
Nguyen believes that contemporary Western games are overly complex.
His company,
.Gears
DotGears Company Limited (trade name: .Gears) is a Vietnamese video game developer based in Hanoi that specialises in mobile game
A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also ...
, describes its games as "heavily influenced by retro pixelated games in its golden age. Everything is pure, extremely hard and incredibly fun to play".
Release
''Flappy Bird'' was originally released on May 24, 2013, with support for the
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
. The game was subsequently updated for
iOS 7
iOS 7 is the seventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 6. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 10, 2013, and was released on September 18 o ...
in September 2013. Although originally unsuccessful, the game received a massive influx of players after being reviewed by the Swedish YouTuber
PewDiePie
Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg ( , ; born 24 October 1989), better known as PewDiePie ( ), is a Swedes, Swedish YouTuber known for his Let's Play videos and comedic formatted videos and shows. Kjellberg's popularity on YouTube and extensive media co ...
. In January 2014, it topped the Free Apps chart in the US and Chinese
App Stores
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
, and later that month topped the same section of the UK App Store where it was touted as "the new ''
Angry Birds
''Angry Birds'' is a Finnish action-based media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment. The game series focuses on the eponymous flock of angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game ''Crush the Castle ...
''".
It ended January as the most downloaded App on the App Store.
The Android version of ''Flappy Bird'' was released to the Google Play store on January 30, 2014. In early 2014, Nguyen said in an interview with ''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'' that the game was earning around $50,000 a day in revenue through its
in-game advertising
In-game advertising (IGA) is advertising in electronic games. IGA differs from advergames, which refers to games specifically made to advertise a product.Matthew Yi (2005-07-25). "Advertisers pay for video games - Product placement tradition no ...
.
Discontinuation
On February 8, 2014, Nguyen announced on
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that the game would be removed from both
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
and
Google Play
Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store and formerly the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android (operating sys ...
, writing: "I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore." He went on to say that taking down the game had "nothing to do with legal issues".
The game was removed from both the App Store and Google Play exactly on time,
much to the dismay of many fans.
''Tuoi Tre News'', the English-language edition of the Vietnamese newspaper , reported from a local technology expert that ''Flappy Bird''s removal could have been due to a legal challenge from
Nintendo
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...
over perceived visual similarities to the ''Mario'' games. This allegation was denied by a Nintendo spokesman to ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''.
Lawyers in Vietnam also denied allegations that Nguyen had to remove the game due to violation of laws on Internet use in the country.
Following the removal, many media outlets reported that several merchants on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
were offering phones which had the app pre-installed for
US$1,499 or more, with some receiving bids of over $90,000;
however, the listings were removed for violating eBay's rule stating that smartphones must be restored to factory settings before being sold.
In an interview with ''Forbes'', Nguyen cited the game's addictive nature for its cancellation, stating: "''Flappy Bird'' was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed. But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it's best to take down ''Flappy Bird''. It's gone forever." Nguyen said that the guilt that he felt over the game was affecting his sleep and that his conscience was relieved after he took down the game.
In a March 2014 interview with ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'', Nguyen refused to rule out re-releasing ''Flappy Bird'', on condition that it would come with a warning to "Take a break".
On March 19, he announced via Twitter that the game will be rereleased onto App Stores, but not any time soon. On May 15, Nguyen told CNBC's Kelly Evans that the game would return in August, with multiplayer capability and will be "less addictive".
As Nguyen had promised, August 2014 saw a revised version of ''Flappy Bird'', called ''Flappy Birds Family'', released exclusively through the
Amazon Appstore
Amazon Appstore is an app store for Android-compatible platforms operated by Amazon.com Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.
The store is primarily used as the storefront for Amazon's Android-based Fire OS. including Amazon Fire tablets, a ...
for the
Amazon Fire TV
Amazon Fire TV (stylized as amazon fireTV) is a line of digital media players and microconsoles developed by Amazon. The devices are small network appliances that deliver digital audio and video content streamed via the Internet to a connecte ...
platform.
The new version also features new obstacles not in the original as well as an additional
multiplayer
A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
option.
Reception
''Flappy Bird'' received "mixed or average reviews" from critics, holding a
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
score of 52/100, based on seven reviews.
The app was criticized by the ''
Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'', which described it as an "insanely irritating, difficult and frustrating game which combines a super-steep difficulty curve with bad, boring graphics and jerky movement".
IGN
''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
gave the game a mediocre score of 5.4 out of 10, quipping that the game is as addictive as it was shallow. Despite criticizing its playability and its "no skill" requirement, IGN noted that the gameplay made it "an addictive short-term distraction" for the casual skill and score-obsessed players.
The game's difficulty has been a source of ire for many users, with one user stating that it took him half an hour to achieve a score of five points.
According to its creator, the game is slightly easier on
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
devices than on
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
.
Nolan Bushnell
Nolan Kay Bushnell (born February 5, 1943) is an American businessman and electrical engineer. He established Atari, Inc. and the Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre chain. He has been inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame and the Consume ...
, the creator of the video game ''
Pong
''Pong'' is a table tennis–themed twitch arcade sports video game, featuring simple two-dimensional graphics, manufactured by Atari and originally released in 1972. It was one of the earliest arcade video games; it was created by Allan Alcor ...
'', compared ''Flappy Bird'' to his own game by claiming that "simple games are more satisfying".
John Romero
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
, a co-creator of the classic first-person shooter ''
Doom
Doom is another name for damnation.
Doom may also refer to:
People
* Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed
* Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist
* Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher
* L ...
'', commented that ''Flappy Bird'' is "a reaction against prevailing design the way
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
was a reaction to
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
."
Controversy and criticism
When questioned at the time by Chocolate Lab Apps, a website for app developers, Nguyen claimed to have used no promotional methods in the marketing of ''Flappy Bird''. He credited the sudden rise in the game's popularity in early 2014 to possibly "luck".
However, online marketer Carter Thomas suspected that the developer had used bots to cause its success. When questioned on this by ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally.
It was fo ...
'', Nguyen said that he respected other people's opinions and did not wish to comment, adding, "I'd like to make my games in peace." When ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' inquired about the matter, Nguyen wrote, "If I did fake it, should Apple let it live for months?"
The game was criticised by
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
for what it claimed was open use of ''
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creat ...
''-style graphics,
referring to it as "ripped-off art". It later published a
correction
Correction may refer to:
* A euphemism for punishment
* Correction (newspaper), the posting of a notice of a mistake in a past issue of a newspaper
* Correction (stock market), in financial markets, a short-term price decline
* Correction (novel), ...
, clarifying that the game's green pipe was "a new albeit unoriginal drawing".
According to some Vietnamese newspapers, including ''
Thanh Niên
''Thanh Niên'' (Vietnamese: ''Báo Thanh Niên'' "Young People's Newspaper") is a Ho Chi Minh City-based newspaper in Vietnam. It was the second most circulated newspaper in Vietnam in 2009, with an average circulation of 300,000. ''Thanh Niên N ...
'' and BBC Vietnamese, ''Flappy Bird'' is very similar to a game released in 2011 (two years before ''Flappy Bird'') called ''Piou Piou vs. Cactus'', from the gameplay (by tapping on the screen) to the main character design (a small yellow bird with big red beak) to the obstacles (green cacti and pipes). It is reported that several French newspapers such as
''20 Minutes'' and ''
Metronews
Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the ''Metro'' newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first news ...
'' accused ''Flappy Bird'' of being a clone. The reporter from ''Thanh Niên'' Online tried playing ''Piou Piou vs. Cactus'' and confirmed that the similarities between the two games are astonishing.
The
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
developer of ''Piou Piou vs. Cactus'', known as Kek, told
Pocket Gamer
''Pocket Gamer'' is a video game website that focuses on mobile, portable and handheld games. The site launched in 2005 and is published and owned by UK company Steel Media Ltd. The site covers all major portable and mobile gaming formats, incl ...
that he, too, noticed that ''Flappy Bird'' is "very similar" to his earlier game, but when he contacted Nguyen about it, Nguyen claimed that he did not know anything. Technology editor Patrick O'Rourke of
Canada.com also charged that ''Flappy Bird'' is "almost a complete ripoff" of ''Piou Piou vs Cactus'', as well as that its primary gameplay mechanic is a "rip off" from a game called ''Helicopter Game'', and that it heavily borrowed sound effects from
''Super Mario Bros.'' games.
Legacy
Since the game's removal, numerous remakes and parodies have been spawned,
such as
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
's ''Flappy Bert'' and
Fall Out Boy
Fall Out Boy is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Wilmette, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago, in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Patrick Stump, bassist Pete Wentz, lead guitarist Joe Trohman, and drummer A ...
's ''Fall Out Bird''. ''Flappy Bird'' became one of the most
cloned games in Apple's App Store. At the peak of its popularity, over 60 clones per day were appearing on the App Store, prompting both Google and Apple to begin rejecting games with the word "Flappy" in the name.
CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
reviewed seven "Flappy copycats" for
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
two days after the original game's removal, describing the options as "pretty bleak", but singling out the underwater ''
Splashy Fish
''Splashy Fish'' is a 2014 mobile game for Apple iOS, Android (operating system), Android and Windows Mobile developed by redBit games. The object of ''Splashy Fish'' is for a fish controlled by the player to swim through as many obstacles as poss ...
'' as the closest approximation of ''Flappy Bird''.
Shortly after the game's removal, security researchers warned that some versions of ''Flappy Bird'' and its imitators available on alternative Android app stores have been found to contain
malware
Malware (a portmanteau for ''malicious software'') is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption to a computer, server, client, or computer network, leak private information, gain unauthorized access to information or systems, depri ...
that can lead to unauthorised charges to a user's phone bills. The number matching game ''
Threes
''Threes'' (stylized as ''Threes!'') is a puzzle video game by Sirvo, an independent development team consisting of game designer Asher Vollmer, illustrator Greg Wohlwend, and composer Jimmy Hinson. The game was released on February 6, 2014, for ...
'' has been compared to ''Flappy Bird'' because of the similarities between how people react to them and by the chain of clones that they are both respectively part of.
In February 2014, the non-profit computer science education organization
Code.org
Code.org is a non-profit organization and eponymous website led by Hadi and Ali Partovi that aims to encourage people, particularly school students in the United States, to learn computer science. The website includes free coding lessons, sounds, ...
unveiled a set of lessons that would allow the student to make their own ''Flappy Bird'' clone.
Nguyen's other games ''Super Ball Juggling'' and ''Shuriken Block'' ranked at 6th and 18th respectively on the
App Store
An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...
during early February 2014 on the back of ''Flappy Bird'' success.
He revealed in March 2014 that he is currently developing three other games, in similar formats to his previous releases.
One of those games was released in 2014 as ''
Swing Copters
''Swing Copters'' is a 2014 arcade game, arcade video game released for iOS and Android (operating system), Android on August 21, 2014. It was developed by Vietnamese video game developer .Gears, best known for ''Flappy Bird'' (2013). The player ...
'' and uses similar gameplay as ''Flappy Bird''.
An
Easter egg
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...
in
Android Lollipop
Android Lollipop (code name, codenamed Android L during development) is the fifth major version of the Android (operating system), Android mobile operating system developed by Google and the 12th version of Android, spanning versions between 5.0 ...
(version 5.0/5.1) allows users to play a modified version of ''Flappy Bird'', entitled "L Land", involving a flying Android and Lollipops replacing the pipes. It was revamped in
Android Marshmallow
Android Marshmallow ( codenamed Android M during development) is the sixth major version of the Android operating system developed by Google, being the successor to Android Lollipop. It was announced at Google I/O on May 28, 2015, and released ...
(version 6.0) as "Marshmallow Land", adding multiplayer support for up to 6 players.
On New Year's Eve in 2014,
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
displayed an animated
Google Doodle
A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...
featuring ''Flappy Bird'' as one of the year's most searched phenomena, alongside the
World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
, the
Ice Bucket Challenge
The Ice Bucket Challenge, sometimes called the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving the pouring of a bucket of ice water over a person's head, either by another person or self-administered, to promote awareness of the disease amyo ...
and the
Philae spacecraft. A similar game featuring Talking Tom was released as a mini-game for ''
My Talking Tom
''My Talking Tom'' is a virtual pet app released by Slovenian studio Outfit7 on November 11, 2013. It is similar to '' Pou'' and the fourteenth app of the ''Talking Tom & Friends'' series overall. It was the first Outfit7 game to feature the smo ...
'', called Flappy Tom, and the same game was featured in
''Talking Tom and Friends''.
In 2016, ''Flappy Bird'' was replicated within ''
Super Mario World
''Super Mario World,'' known in Japan as is a platform game, platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It was released in Japan in 1990, North America in 1991 and Europe and A ...
'' through
code injection
Code injection is the exploitation of a computer bug that is caused by processing invalid data. The injection is used by an attacker to introduce (or "inject") code into a vulnerable computer program and change the course of execution. The res ...
.
References
{{Portal bar, Video games
2013 video games
2010s fads and trends
Android (operating system) games
Fictional birds
IOS games
Video games involved in plagiarism controversies
Side-scrolling video games
Video game clones
Video games about birds
Video games developed in Vietnam
Video game controversies
Single-player video games