5 ms·

I haven't played Flappy Bird, but it seems really similar to a helicopter game that was inordinately popular in my middle school 10-12 years ago. It looks like

I haven't played Flappy Bird, but it seems really similar to a helicopter game that was inordinately popular in my middle school 10-12 years ago. It looks like it's still up. http://www.addictinggames.com/action-games/helicoptergame.jsp http://www.addictinggames.com/action-games/helicoptergame.js...

MaybiusStrip 13y ago
Similar, but even less forgiving.
teej 13y ago
That's why Flappy Bird is so interesting. A lot of people have played the helicopter game or a variant of it. But despite its cheery exterior and familiarity, Flappy Bird is brutally difficult. That juxtaposition makes it surprising. The challenge makes it delightful.
napoleoncomplex 13y ago
I might be wrong on this one, but as far as I remember, the originator of this type of game is "The Infamous Worm Game": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjeFYNq05k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjeFYNq05k Sadly, the original site that hosted it just has a "Java Applet" placeholder there now: http://www.liquidcode.org/worm.html http://www.liquidcode.org/worm.html It had a very good balance between difficulty and frustration. Or in other words, I wasted a lot of time on it.
- bobbles 13y ago
  You can play it here: http://www2.sunflat.net/en/games/sfcave.html http://www2.sunflat.net/en/games/sfcave.html
  - TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
    I remember playing SFCave on my Palm IIIe. That was so much fun.
- smoyer 13y ago
  The flapping mechanic is very similar to that used in Joust (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joust_%28video_game%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joust_%28video_game%29), but without direction control, opponents or lava trolls.
  - nsxwolf 13y ago
    And without anything like the level of control and finesse of the flapping in Joust.
- jessriedel 13y ago
  SFCave is availabt on Andoid, and it's very satisfying.
greyfade 13y ago
This reminds me of a couple of games I had on the Commodore-64. One had a helicopter, but the other was Lunar Lander, which has a very similar mechanic. I can recall a few others with similar play style - Star paws and Zaxxon come to mind.
- jessaustin 13y ago
  Zaxxon! That's a blast from the past, and the only reason I ever knew for someone to be jealous of a ColecoVision.
  - drpgq 13y ago
    There were some decent ColecoVision games like some of the arcade ports. The joystick was murder on your hands though if you played long enough.
    - jessaustin 13y ago
      Fortunately that was back when I was very young, and had very small hands.
forrestthewoods 13y ago
There are roughly eleventy kazillion mobile clones of that helicopter game. However, Flappy Bird is the first one I've seen that has a constant difficulty. Most things start easy, get increasingly hard, and arguably at some point become impossible. High scores become primarily a function of the RNG at the skill ceiling. In Flappy Bird if you die it's 100% your fault all the time which makes it quite compelling to try again. Also it's a total Black Swan event and should be treated as such.
- Perseids 13y ago
  Not exactly a black swan (because afterwards you know of black swans and can anticipated them) but more a lottery ticket. There is no recipe or logic behind why Flappy Bird got immensely popular, just sheer luck.
kin 13y ago
Jetpack Joyride is a better example of the original helicopter game. Flappy bird is pretty much the Profit Bird in jetpack joyride but much more derpy, kind of like balloon fighter or joust.
- bentcorner 13y ago
  "derpy" is a good way to put it. I think it meets the sensibilities of many young teens who find the game stupidly fun and it doesn't take itself very seriously. There's probably an uncanny game design valley here. Abstract ideas that look stupid can be fun, as you iterate and add "polish" there comes a point when your polished game is just dumb and no-one will play it, so you need to add more game mechanics to it to give it more depth.
brador 13y ago
That helicopter game was originally created for BBC South Coast Diaries and was located here: https://web.archive.org/web/20020604072320/http://www.seethru.co.uk/zine/south_coast/helicopter_game.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20020604072320/http://www.seethr... The main site is now spam, so don't visit it, but archive caught the original and most of the diary pages, which are an interesting read.
merusame 13y ago
yea, you are right. Flappy Bird is exactly the same. I was addicted to the Copter game, prolly around 2007.. https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/copter-game/id433399893?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/copter-game/id433399893?mt=8

MaybiusStrip 13y ago

Similar, but even less forgiving.

teej 13y ago

That's why Flappy Bird is so interesting. A lot of people have played the helicopter game or a variant of it. But despite its cheery exterior and familiarity, Flappy Bird is brutally difficult. That juxtaposition makes it surprising. The challenge makes it delightful.

napoleoncomplex 13y ago

I might be wrong on this one, but as far as I remember, the originator of this type of game is "The Infamous Worm Game": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjeFYNq05k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OjeFYNq05k Sadly, the original site that hosted it just has a "Java Applet" placeholder there now: http://www.liquidcode.org/worm.html http://www.liquidcode.org/worm.html It had a very good balance between difficulty and frustration. Or in other words, I wasted a lot of time on it.

bobbles 13y ago
You can play it here: http://www2.sunflat.net/en/games/sfcave.html http://www2.sunflat.net/en/games/sfcave.html
- TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
  I remember playing SFCave on my Palm IIIe. That was so much fun.
smoyer 13y ago
The flapping mechanic is very similar to that used in Joust (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joust_%28video_game%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joust_%28video_game%29), but without direction control, opponents or lava trolls.
- nsxwolf 13y ago
  And without anything like the level of control and finesse of the flapping in Joust.
jessriedel 13y ago
SFCave is availabt on Andoid, and it's very satisfying.

greyfade 13y ago

This reminds me of a couple of games I had on the Commodore-64. One had a helicopter, but the other was Lunar Lander, which has a very similar mechanic. I can recall a few others with similar play style - Star paws and Zaxxon come to mind.

jessaustin 13y ago
Zaxxon! That's a blast from the past, and the only reason I ever knew for someone to be jealous of a ColecoVision.
- drpgq 13y ago
  There were some decent ColecoVision games like some of the arcade ports. The joystick was murder on your hands though if you played long enough.
  - jessaustin 13y ago
    Fortunately that was back when I was very young, and had very small hands.

forrestthewoods 13y ago

There are roughly eleventy kazillion mobile clones of that helicopter game. However, Flappy Bird is the first one I've seen that has a constant difficulty. Most things start easy, get increasingly hard, and arguably at some point become impossible. High scores become primarily a function of the RNG at the skill ceiling. In Flappy Bird if you die it's 100% your fault all the time which makes it quite compelling to try again. Also it's a total Black Swan event and should be treated as such.

Perseids 13y ago
Not exactly a black swan (because afterwards you know of black swans and can anticipated them) but more a lottery ticket. There is no recipe or logic behind why Flappy Bird got immensely popular, just sheer luck.

kin 13y ago

Jetpack Joyride is a better example of the original helicopter game. Flappy bird is pretty much the Profit Bird in jetpack joyride but much more derpy, kind of like balloon fighter or joust.

bentcorner 13y ago
"derpy" is a good way to put it. I think it meets the sensibilities of many young teens who find the game stupidly fun and it doesn't take itself very seriously. There's probably an uncanny game design valley here. Abstract ideas that look stupid can be fun, as you iterate and add "polish" there comes a point when your polished game is just dumb and no-one will play it, so you need to add more game mechanics to it to give it more depth.

brador 13y ago

That helicopter game was originally created for BBC South Coast Diaries and was located here: https://web.archive.org/web/20020604072320/http://www.seethru.co.uk/zine/south_coast/helicopter_game.htm https://web.archive.org/web/20020604072320/http://www.seethr... The main site is now spam, so don't visit it, but archive caught the original and most of the diary pages, which are an interesting read.

merusame 13y ago

yea, you are right. Flappy Bird is exactly the same. I was addicted to the Copter game, prolly around 2007.. https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/copter-game/id433399893?mt=8 https://itunes.apple.com/de/app/copter-game/id433399893?mt=8