Entry updated · Sources & corrections policy
2013 - 2014
Flappy Bird
“Score: 0. Best: 3.”
- Birth year
- 2013
- Shutdown year
- 2014
- Lifespan
- 1 years
- Peak era
- 2014
- Company
- .Gears
- Category
- Games
0 people remember this
Log in to leave a flower
What Was It?
Flappy Bird asked one thing: tap to keep a small bird flying between green pipes. It was punishingly hard, endlessly repeatable and, for a few weeks in early 2014, the most talked-about game in the world.
Vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen made it in a few days and released it in May 2013. It sat unnoticed for months, then exploded, becoming the most downloaded free game on the App Store by the end of January 2014 and reportedly earning around $50,000 a day from adverts.
On February 10, 2014, Nguyen removed it from both app stores, saying he felt guilty about how addictive it had become. Phones that still had it installed were briefly listed online for remarkable prices.
Things You Probably Forgot
- Tapping too hard and too often
- Screenshots of personal bests
- Phones listed for sale because they still had it installed
- A wave of clones the week after
The Story
- 2013 Flappy Bird was released on iOS in May.
- 2014 It became the most downloaded free game in January and was pulled on February 10.
How It Died
Developer Dong Nguyen removed Flappy Bird from the App Store and Google Play on February 10, 2014, citing concern over its addictive nature.
What Replaced It?
Memories
Log in to add a comment and share your memory.
Loading comments…