5 ms·

If you look at the iOS App Store, all of these "clones" are in the top 15: 1. Ironpants 2. Fly Birdie 5. Flappy Bee 15. Flappy Plane I'm sure more will com

If you look at the iOS App Store, all of these "clones" are in the top 15: 1. Ironpants 2. Fly Birdie 5. Flappy Bee 15. Flappy Plane I'm sure more will come, but it's still crazy to me that there are 4 apps that all have essentially the same mechanics. It also makes me wonder how long the app store will ride out helicopter style games. I jokingly said to my roommates tonight, "we should just make a mini putt clone for iOS." Seems like I never have any idea anymore of which old arcade or flash based hit will pop up on my phone with a fresh look as the #1 app.

saimey 13y ago
http://i.imgur.com/37nIErT.gif http://i.imgur.com/37nIErT.gif
samstave 13y ago
Are you not aware that flappy birds is a clone of a game of nearly 10 years old??? And even that is a clone of older games?
- mcescalante 13y ago
  yeah, as ChrisClark mentioned, it was late and I decided to call them "helicopter style games", since I think the first one I ever played in this style was the helicopter one (I think on addicting games or something). Does anyone know the official name for this style of press / tap to play game?
  - waylandsmithers 13y ago
    I always thought it was Jetpack but maybe even that was influenced by something earlier...
- vidarh 13y ago
  Dragonsden on the C64, from 1983, is the oldest game I remember that relies on the "press something to move up a discrete amount" mechanic, though it would be totally unsurprising if there are older examples: http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Dragonsden http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Dragonsden
- ChrisClark 13y ago
  Yes, he must be, because he called them helicopter-style games.
geuis 13y ago
Ironpants was written by the same guy, if I'm not mistaken.
- rythie 13y ago
  Ironpants seems to be game for people who thought flappybird was easy. Also, making a game where you tap the screen and often puts adverts there, seems like a way to get a lot of click throughs.
  - andyhmltn 13y ago
    If you look, that developer has a bunch of similar applications that all use the same style. One of them was a soccer game where you tap two little people to keep the ball in the air.

saimey 13y ago

http://i.imgur.com/37nIErT.gif http://i.imgur.com/37nIErT.gif

samstave 13y ago

Are you not aware that flappy birds is a clone of a game of nearly 10 years old??? And even that is a clone of older games?

mcescalante 13y ago
yeah, as ChrisClark mentioned, it was late and I decided to call them "helicopter style games", since I think the first one I ever played in this style was the helicopter one (I think on addicting games or something). Does anyone know the official name for this style of press / tap to play game?
- waylandsmithers 13y ago
  I always thought it was Jetpack but maybe even that was influenced by something earlier...
vidarh 13y ago
Dragonsden on the C64, from 1983, is the oldest game I remember that relies on the "press something to move up a discrete amount" mechanic, though it would be totally unsurprising if there are older examples: http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Dragonsden http://www.c64-wiki.com/index.php/Dragonsden
ChrisClark 13y ago
Yes, he must be, because he called them helicopter-style games.

geuis 13y ago

Ironpants was written by the same guy, if I'm not mistaken.

rythie 13y ago
Ironpants seems to be game for people who thought flappybird was easy. Also, making a game where you tap the screen and often puts adverts there, seems like a way to get a lot of click throughs.
- andyhmltn 13y ago
  If you look, that developer has a bunch of similar applications that all use the same style. One of them was a soccer game where you tap two little people to keep the ball in the air.