A couple of weeks ago, Flappy Bird was the sensation. It was everywhere – from snatching the top app spot in must-have app round-ups and social media mentions, to news reports about how much money the creator of the game was making every single day.
For those who’ve been living under a rock, Flappy Bird was a mobile game app that was reportedly making its creator Dong Nguyen, $50,000 each day in revenues. Yes, you read it right – $50,000!
The whole point of Flappy Bird was to keep a small, very non-aerodynamic bird airborne by tapping on your screen. Tapping your screen lifted the bird up. Hesitating for even a split second, sent the little guy shooting beak-first into the ground.
Players also had to avoid pairs of closely-spaced pipes that looked an awful lot like the ones from classic Mario titles. Even the slightest bump, and the bird is toast.
Then, the creator of Flappy Bird decided to take it down from Apple App Store and Google Play, due to overwhelming success of the game. The Vietnamese developer removed the game over the weekend, complaining on Twitter that ‘I cannot take this anymore’.
After the game was withdrawn, several copycat games seem to have sprung up on Apple App Store and Google Play, vying for the top spot and make more money. So, here are the eight Flappy Bird alternatives you could try out:
Ironpants
Ironpants is free on both iOS and Android, and replaces the bird with a caped superhero. The controls are even twitchier than Flappy Bird, if such a thing is possible, but the relatively slick presentation ensures it’s likely to do well. The app however, does have a habit of bombarding your screen with ads that you have to click to remove.
Copter Classic
When Flappy Bird started to gain popularity, plenty of people pointed out that the elements of its gameplay were very similar to classic helicopter games that have been around for a long time. There are a lot of free versions of copter games on both Apple’s App Store and Google Play with the same basic layout. As you may expect, you’re a helicopter, and you’re trying to avoid obstacles that will turn your aircraft into a smoking mess. Players tend to be scored on distance, rather than number of obstacles avoided in helicopter titles, but they’re just as unforgiving and difficult as you may want them to be.
Flappy Wings
This Android app features graphics that are almost identical to the original Flappy Bird. It claims to improve on the original formula, by which it means it’s easier and the bird keeps pooing everywhere.
Clumsy Bird
This Android game takes Flappy Bird and changes the bird to look like a cruder version of red bird from Angry Birds. The game is also loosely based around the Rovio-esque premise of nasty dragons stealing the eggs of Clumsy Bird. It allows users to buy overpriced packs of crystals to save themselves from death.
