Accidental viral indie hit,Flappy Bird, will bemaking a returnto mobile storefronts and web browsers (announcement via Wario64). It will be released in 2025, for some reason.
If you weren’t around at the time – and I hate that it is totally possible someone reading this wasn’t born yet –Flappy Birdwas released in 2013 before exploding in popularity in 2014. Why? Fucked if I know (sorry for my swearing, anyone younger thanFlappy Bird). If my research is correct, popular YouTuber Pewdiepie did a video on it, and then it spread like wildfire by word of mouth.
Did you knowthat legendary kusoge,Spelunker, actually sold really well in Japan, even though everyone apparently hated it? I think it’s kind of like that, but also some people really enjoyed it. I likeSpelunker, so there’s no accounting for taste.
Later that year, its creator, Dong Nguyen took it off storefronts, which probably just solidified its legend. At the time, he said, “I cannot take this anymore,” which in most situations is a glaring red flag. However, in this case, the fact thatFlappy Bird, in its own simple way, is quite addictive wasweighing on his conscience. The brief nature of its gameplay unintentionally rewarded players for replaying it repeatedly as they made small steps in progression.
Now, imagine if every time a developer created a game that was actually psychologically addictive, they had a crisis of conscience and removed their creation. Entire genres would disappear. Humans have always had a stimulus addiction, and we’ve gotten really good at feeding it to the detriment of our mental health, and it will probably be the inevitable (and very boring) downfall of us as a species.
To wit: taking downFlappy Birddidn’t change much. Hordes of clones came in the wake of its removal, including some that were functionally the same game. However, it could be argued that the removal of the center of the shitstorm shattered the social trend, so that it lost its core effectiveness and faded from fame much quicker. Without a unifier that social circles could connect through, it would have lost the impact of making people feel like they were part of a moment.
And since that moment is gone, it’s not really all that spectacular thatFlappy Birdis returning. Hilariously, Flappy Bird Foundation isn’t just bringing back the game as it was; they’re adding other insidious elements to support its addictive nature. This includes “new game modes, characters, progression, and massive multiplayer challenges.” You know, because simply relying on a player to keep repeating the same bit of game risks them growing bored. The answer: microprogression. The same thing that keeps you addicted to gacha games, open-world crafting games, and MMOs.
Benefit of the doubt: The Flappy Bird Foundation may just really loveFlappy Bird. It’s possible. But as Dong Nguyen andJurassic Parkhave proven, the road to hell is often paved with good intentions.
Flappy Birdis coming to iOS, Android, and web browsers sometime in 2025.
