Jacob Jardel
Staff Editor
With the touch of a screen and a scream of frustration, the mobile game “Flappy Bird” has tapped its way into the public consciousness.
However, creator Dong Nguyen pulled the game from app stores on Feb. 9, creating a crash to get the game before it made its way off the pipeline.
The game, which features a bird that users have to tap to keep afloat as it meanders through pipes, blew up to fad status when users took to the internet to proclaim its fun and its difficulty.
It trended for weeks on Twitter, garnering praise from fans. When Nguyen tweeted his intentions on Feb. 8 to take the game down within a day fans reacted even more.
“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users,” Nguyen said, “22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore.”
Many speculations arose upon this announcement as to why Nguyen came to this decision. For example, one potential answer was found in the numerous threats of violence and death for making a game difficult enough to evoke vitriol from those playing the game.
There are speculations that legal issues could have made this decision, since the environment of the game hearkens to Nintendo’s famous “Super Mario Bros.” franchise, with green pipes at the forefront of the screen. Nguyen denied this accusation on Twitter.
“It is not anything related to legal issues,” his tweet read. “I just cannot keep it anymore.”
Though the game was making Nguyen upwards of $50,000 per day, he still felt the compulsion to pull the game in the swift and unexpected manner it entered public vernacular.
Nevertheless, his tweets clarified his intentions to rid himself of the game and continue with other mobile game endeavors.
“I also don’t sell ‘Flappy Bird,’” Nguyen said, following up with “And I still make games.”
While Nguyen will not sell the game himself, many mobile gamers who have kept the game on their phones took to the internet to do just that. Phones with “Flappy Bird” installed on them have reached bids near $100,000 on sites like eBay.
Everything about “Flappy Bird,” from its popularity to the price people are willing to pay to play it, shared one characteristic: a sudden rise from out of nowhere.
But why?
Economics could explain the reasons for price jumps. Using the principles of supply and demand, the lack of the game on the market could have lead to the exorbitant demand and prices paid to get too the game.
Author’s Opinion
As for the game itself, from my brief time playing it, I can see how it can be addicting. The simple concept and design paired with the ease of jumping in and out could leave someone coming back to it, even after putting it down for an extended period of time.
Further, the concept of a high score gives a player a sort of incentive to keep playing. The phrase “If I could just get one more pipe” gives motivation to the player to strive further into frustration and eventual glory.
However, while I see its addiction factor, I do not find the appeal of it outside of the fun sound effects and interesting ways the bird can crash. Others, however, tend to disagree if the public uproar is indicative of anything.
Personally, though, I think part of the disappointment on the fun factor came from how much the Internet built it up.
As a frequent user of the social network Tumblr, I saw numerous memetic mutations of the game and the rancor it caused over its difficulty throughout numerous text posts and photo blocks. I guess my expectations were too high going into playing the game itself.
All being said, I can see why the game can be as addicting as it is and why people cannot seem to quit it. However, when it comes to the game’s popularity, I think the fad just flew over my head.