8 ms·

The phenomenon of this game absolutely boggles my mind. I've read all the articles about this game, and just can't seem to get how it got so popular so quickly.

The phenomenon of this game absolutely boggles my mind. I've read all the articles about this game, and just can't seem to get how it got so popular so quickly. I feel like it's a just a giant troll or something, although I know that's not the case. Also, I still haven't understood the whole "Super Mario World" graphics rip of it?

modsrm 13y ago
Welcome to the Internet!
thejosh 13y ago
Well everyone was like "Wow this game is frustratingly stupid, what score have you got to so far?" Then the roll-on effect happened where everyone starts using it to brag about their scores :).
- 31reasons 13y ago
  I think in the universe of difficult games, not all frustratingly difficult games would become successful. For example, Mensa puzzle game would not be successful. Its the seemingly simple and stupid nature of it that compels people to try again and again..
xsace 13y ago
Ever played Yeti sport?
- bluetidepro 13y ago
  That's a valid point. I would be a liar if I said I did not love those Yeti mini games back in the day. The Flamingo Drive one always cracked me up. Ha
zipdog 13y ago
As there's more choice, people seem to be more interested in what others are doing, so when something gets some traction it can grow very big very fast. (And this game had some help at the start, it seems). If it wasn't Flappy Bird, it would be something else. But this game does have the key elements: simple, accessible, shareable.
graedus 13y ago
> just can't seem to get how it got so popular so quickly The #1 most subscribed-to youtuber[0] (PewDiePie) did a video on this game right around the time its popularity skyrocketed. [0] http://www.statsheep.com/pewdiepie http://www.statsheep.com/pewdiepie
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
- arn 13y ago
  your timeline is wrong. pewdiedie did it well after it was the #1 app on the app store.
GhotiFish 13y ago
it's simple, accessible, difficult, and lets you go again fast. It's "I wanna be the guy" for people who don't like video game culture and immaturity. If you're fine with both of those, however, go play "I wanna be the guy"!
apitaru 13y ago
I think Flappy Bird is a wonderfully well-tuned game. I've yet to see a clone that implements the finer details which made the original shine. Many games introduce difficulty through complexity. Here's a game that's simple to grasp, hard to play, yet not boring or frustrating. I wish this was acknowledged more often, as it might have made the developer feel more comfortable being associated with his game's meteoric success.
- adam12 13y ago
  Not frustrating?
  - apitaru 13y ago
    By making the collision predictable [edit: interestingly, larger than I would have imagined needed], the gamer knows exactly why he/she failed. There's 'honesty' in the directness that most games lack (and therefore gamers crave). And then - by allowing a quick restart, any frustration is overshadowed with the desire to try again. There are other interesting fine-details. For example, notice when the bird starts to dive (an experience game developer pointed it out to me). It happens when the bird goes under the last flap-point. This allows for a much deeper control system than the one-switch interaction suggests. This depth is intuitively grasped by the gamer on some level, providing more fuel to try again.
- mey 13y ago
  How is this game not frustrating? The hit box on the bird is the size of the moon, making it very hard to determine where you will "collide" with the pipes.
  - drcode 13y ago
    Every time the user dies they know it's their own fault.
    - phaus 13y ago
      As the commenter you are responding to mentioned, the hit-box is much larger than the bird. If your hit-boxes aren't the same size as your sprites, players are frequently going to die when they didn't even appear to hit the pipes. So no, it isn't always the user's fault.
soldier 13y ago
It's like the Gangnam Style of games.
127 13y ago
Why is simple pop music popular? It is the same question. The answer: because it makes the consumer feel good.
DanBC 13y ago
Flappy Bird, and the other apps made by the same developer, are perfectly tuned single mechanism games. These are not new. Nintendo Game&Watch games were very simple and could keep people playing for hours. Mario Party (in all its many versions) featured similar micro games. People love the idea of a game that has almost zero controls, with perfect tuning, and a simple to share high score. Flappy Bird is also hard - I am hopeless at it. I love it for exactly that reason. I'm not great at games so if I can power through some levels I know the devs have just stuffed some easy content in there. The problem now is in finding these apps. The tuning is tricky to do. The market will be flooded with poor quality clones. It'd be really tempting to allow IAP power ups - "hit one pipe without dying!"

modsrm 13y ago

Welcome to the Internet!

thejosh 13y ago

Well everyone was like "Wow this game is frustratingly stupid, what score have you got to so far?" Then the roll-on effect happened where everyone starts using it to brag about their scores :).

31reasons 13y ago
I think in the universe of difficult games, not all frustratingly difficult games would become successful. For example, Mensa puzzle game would not be successful. Its the seemingly simple and stupid nature of it that compels people to try again and again..

xsace 13y ago

Ever played Yeti sport?

bluetidepro 13y ago
That's a valid point. I would be a liar if I said I did not love those Yeti mini games back in the day. The Flamingo Drive one always cracked me up. Ha

zipdog 13y ago

As there's more choice, people seem to be more interested in what others are doing, so when something gets some traction it can grow very big very fast. (And this game had some help at the start, it seems). If it wasn't Flappy Bird, it would be something else. But this game does have the key elements: simple, accessible, shareable.

graedus 13y ago

> just can't seem to get how it got so popular so quickly The #1 most subscribed-to youtuber[0] (PewDiePie) did a video on this game right around the time its popularity skyrocketed. [0] http://www.statsheep.com/pewdiepie http://www.statsheep.com/pewdiepie

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
arn 13y ago
your timeline is wrong. pewdiedie did it well after it was the #1 app on the app store.

GhotiFish 13y ago

it's simple, accessible, difficult, and lets you go again fast. It's "I wanna be the guy" for people who don't like video game culture and immaturity. If you're fine with both of those, however, go play "I wanna be the guy"!

apitaru 13y ago

I think Flappy Bird is a wonderfully well-tuned game. I've yet to see a clone that implements the finer details which made the original shine. Many games introduce difficulty through complexity. Here's a game that's simple to grasp, hard to play, yet not boring or frustrating. I wish this was acknowledged more often, as it might have made the developer feel more comfortable being associated with his game's meteoric success.

adam12 13y ago
Not frustrating?
- apitaru 13y ago
  By making the collision predictable [edit: interestingly, larger than I would have imagined needed], the gamer knows exactly why he/she failed. There's 'honesty' in the directness that most games lack (and therefore gamers crave). And then - by allowing a quick restart, any frustration is overshadowed with the desire to try again. There are other interesting fine-details. For example, notice when the bird starts to dive (an experience game developer pointed it out to me). It happens when the bird goes under the last flap-point. This allows for a much deeper control system than the one-switch interaction suggests. This depth is intuitively grasped by the gamer on some level, providing more fuel to try again.
mey 13y ago
How is this game not frustrating? The hit box on the bird is the size of the moon, making it very hard to determine where you will "collide" with the pipes.
- drcode 13y ago
  Every time the user dies they know it's their own fault.
  - phaus 13y ago
    As the commenter you are responding to mentioned, the hit-box is much larger than the bird. If your hit-boxes aren't the same size as your sprites, players are frequently going to die when they didn't even appear to hit the pipes. So no, it isn't always the user's fault.

soldier 13y ago

It's like the Gangnam Style of games.

127 13y ago

Why is simple pop music popular? It is the same question. The answer: because it makes the consumer feel good.

DanBC 13y ago

Flappy Bird, and the other apps made by the same developer, are perfectly tuned single mechanism games. These are not new. Nintendo Game&Watch games were very simple and could keep people playing for hours. Mario Party (in all its many versions) featured similar micro games. People love the idea of a game that has almost zero controls, with perfect tuning, and a simple to share high score. Flappy Bird is also hard - I am hopeless at it. I love it for exactly that reason. I'm not great at games so if I can power through some levels I know the devs have just stuffed some easy content in there. The problem now is in finding these apps. The tuning is tricky to do. The market will be flooded with poor quality clones. It'd be really tempting to allow IAP power ups - "hit one pipe without dying!"