# Flappy Bird

> Flappy Bird is a 2013 mobile game by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen with deceptively simple graphics and mechanics that sparked a global rage epidemic and addiction meme phenomenon.

Flappy Bird is a mobile game created by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen that became one of the most viral apps of early 2014, despite being released in May 2013. The game's punishing difficulty, dead-simple mechanics, and sudden removal from app stores turned it into a massive internet talking point, spawning countless memes about rage, addiction, and the absurdity of its overnight success.

## Origin
Dong Nguyen, a developer from Vạn Phúc, a village near Hanoi, Vietnam, grew up playing Super Mario Bros. and started coding games at age 16[4]. He found that popular iPhone games like Angry Birds were overly complicated, and wanted to build something simpler for people on the go[4]. Working under his indie studio.Gears (originally styled as dotGears), Nguyen built Flappy Bird in just two to three days[2]. The bird character Faby was actually recycled from a cancelled 2012 platform game, and the gameplay was inspired by bouncing a ping-pong ball against a paddle[4].

The game was originally called "Flap Flap" before being renamed and released on the iOS App Store on May 24, 2013[4]. Nguyen initially made the game much easier, but found it boring and tightened the difficulty before launch[4]. He described the free-to-play model with in-game ads as "very common in the Japanese market"[4].

- **Platform:** iOS App Store (original release), Reddit / YouTube (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Dong Nguyen (developer)
- **Date:** 2013 (released), 2014 (viral)

## Overview
Flappy Bird is an arcade-style side-scrolling mobile game where the player taps the screen to keep a small pixelated bird named Faby airborne while navigating between pairs of green pipes[4]. That's it. No power-ups, no story, no second chances. Each pipe cleared earns one point, and touching anything kills you instantly. The game's retro pixel art, reminiscent of early Nintendo titles, belied a brutally unforgiving difficulty curve that turned casual players into rage machines[2]. Getting a score in double digits was considered an achievement, and the internet had a field day with the shared suffering.

## How It Spread
Flappy Bird sat in obscurity for months after its May 2013 release. The first notable mention came on November 17, 2013, when a Redditor included it in a list of "masochistic" iOS games on r/iosgaming[3]. The app started showing unusual upward movement in download charts around early December 2013, breaking out of its typical rise-and-fall pattern[2].

On January 17, 2014, a Reddit post urged people to "help Flappy Bird take off" on r/gaming[3]. Ten days later, PewDiePie uploaded a gameplay video that pulled in over 5.4 million views and 45,000 comments within a week[3]. The game hit the Google Play Store on January 30, 2014, and by the next day it sat at number one on both Google Play and the Apple App Store[3]. Nguyen told TechCrunch the game was pulling 2-3 million downloads per day across both platforms[2].

By early February 2014, Nguyen's other titles "Super Ball Juggling" and "Shuriken Block" had climbed to #2 and #6 on the App Store respectively, riding Flappy Bird's wake[2]. The game was earning an estimated $50,000 per day from in-app advertising[4]. Reddit users started comparing it to the classic flash Helicopter Game, with one such post racking up 14,600 upvotes on r/gaming[3]. Meme content exploded: Nyan Cat-themed texture swaps, image macros reading "You don't win / You just eventually delete the app," and thousands of lengthy, tongue-in-cheek App Store reviews describing ruined lives and broken relationships[1].

Then came the twist. On February 8, 2014, Nguyen tweeted: "I am sorry 'Flappy Bird' users, 22 hours from now, I will take 'Flappy Bird' down. I cannot take this anymore"[1]. He clarified it had nothing to do with legal issues[3]. The announcement itself went viral, with a screenshot hitting r/gaming for over 18,800 upvotes and 3,800 comments in 48 hours[3].

On February 9-10, 2014, Flappy Bird vanished from both app stores[1]. The removal triggered a media frenzy covered by CNN, CNET, IBI Times, and dozens of other outlets[3]. Phones with Flappy Bird pre-installed appeared on eBay at prices up to $1,499 or more, with some bids exceeding $90,000 before eBay pulled the listings for violating factory-reset policies[4].

## How to Use
Flappy Bird memes typically follow a few common formats:
1. **Rage and addiction jokes**: Screenshots of low scores paired with captions about life being ruined, marriages ending, or phones being destroyed. The humor comes from the contrast between the game's childish appearance and the genuine frustration it caused.
2. **"You don't win" format**: Image macros using Flappy Bird gameplay screenshots with defeatist captions about the futility of playing.
3. **eBay/removal humor**: Jokes about the absurd prices phones with Flappy Bird were listed for after the game's removal.
4. **Skin swaps and remixes**: Players and modders often replaced the bird or pipe textures with other meme characters (Nyan Cat, Doge, etc.) and shared the results.

## Cultural Impact
Flappy Bird landed at the intersection of gaming, social media virality, and a growing conversation about app addiction. The game's $50,000-per-day ad revenue and overnight success made it a case study in mobile app economics[4]. Its removal was covered by every major tech outlet and mainstream news organizations including CNN and Forbes[1].

The saga raised real questions about what happens when a solo indie developer accidentally creates a global hit. Nguyen's discomfort with fame and his decision to walk away from enormous daily revenue was almost without precedent in the app economy[2]. His story became a cautionary tale discussed in game development circles about the human cost of viral success.

The flood of clone games that followed Flappy Bird's removal was so severe that both Apple and Google had to actively police their stores[4]. The coin-operated arcade version by Bay Tek Games gave the brand a physical afterlife in bars and arcades[4].

## Fun Facts
- Nguyen had three apps in the App Store top 10 at the same time, a first for an indie developer, and none of them cross-promoted each other[2].
- The game had over 771,000 combined ratings across iOS and Android app stores before its removal[1].
- The bird character Faby was designed in 2012 for a completely different game that was never released[4].
- The original working title was "Flap Flap" before Nguyen changed it[4].
- eBay had to pull listings for Flappy Bird phones because sellers weren't factory-resetting the devices, violating platform policy[4].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Flappy Bird?
Flappy Bird is a mobile game where players tap the screen to guide a pixelated bird through gaps between green pipes. Released in 2013 by Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen, it became the most downloaded free app in the world by January 2014[4].

### Where did Flappy Bird come from?
It was created by Dong Nguyen, who runs an indie game studio called.Gears in Hanoi, Vietnam. He built the game in two to three days and released it on the iOS App Store on May 24, 2013[2].

### What does Flappy Bird mean as a meme?
As a meme, Flappy Bird represents the absurdity of gaming addiction and shared digital suffering. The jokes revolve around rage, impossibly low scores, and the game's bizarre rise and sudden removal from app stores[1].

### How do you use Flappy Bird memes?
Most Flappy Bird memes involve sharing low scores with dramatic captions, joking about the game ruining your life, or referencing the eBay phone listings and the developer's decision to pull the game[3].

### Is Flappy Bird still popular?
The original game is no longer downloadable, but Flappy Bird is a well-recognized piece of 2014 internet culture. A revised version called Flappy Birds Family was released for Amazon Fire TV in August 2014[4].

### Who created Flappy Bird?
Dong Nguyen, a 29-year-old developer from Hanoi, Vietnam, created it as a solo project under his studio.Gears[2].

### Why was Flappy Bird removed from app stores?
Nguyen tweeted on February 8, 2014 that he could not handle the pressure of the game's success. In a Forbes interview, he said it had become "an addictive product" and he felt guilty about its overuse[1].

### How much money did Flappy Bird make?
At its peak in early 2014, Flappy Bird was earning approximately $50,000 per day from in-app advertising[4].

### Did Nintendo sue over Flappy Bird?
No. Rumors spread that Nintendo pressured Nguyen over the game's pipe designs resembling Super Mario Bros. pipes, but a Nintendo spokesman officially denied any legal threats on February 10, 2014[3].

### How many downloads did Flappy Bird get?
The game was getting 2-3 million downloads per day on iOS and Android combined during its peak in late January and early February 2014[2].

### Why were phones with Flappy Bird selling for thousands on eBay?
After the game was removed from app stores, devices with it pre-installed were listed on eBay at hugely inflated prices, with some bids exceeding $90,000, though eBay eventually pulled the listings[4].

### Did Flappy Bird ever come back?
A revised version called Flappy Birds Family launched on Amazon Fire TV in August 2014. Nguyen had hinted at a return with multiplayer features in interviews with Rolling Stone and CNBC[3].

### What made Flappy Bird so hard?
Nguyen initially made the game much easier but found it boring. He deliberately tightened the difficulty before release..Gears' own website described their design philosophy as "extremely hard and incredibly fun to play"[2].

## References
1. [Developer yanks ‘Flappy Bird’ after game soars to success | CNN Business](<https://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/09/tech/flappy-bird-removed-from-app-stores/>)
2. [Want to Make Your Version of Flappy Bird - Quick Guide](<https://www.thechocolatelabapps.com/how-to-make-flappy-bird>)
3. [Developer Behind "Flappy Bird," The Impossible Game Blowing Up The App Store, Says He Just Got Lucky | TechCrunch](<https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/01/developer-behind-flappy-bird-the-impossible-game-blowing-up-the-app-store-says-he-just-got-lucky/>)
4. [Flappy Bird - Know Your Meme](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/flappy-bird>)
5. [Flappy Bird](<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flappy_Bird>)
6. [Flappy Bird - Urban Dictionary](<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Flappy%20Bird>)

---
Source: https://meme.com/memes/flappy-bird
Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library