If you look for mobile games in recent history, which cause rage, prevent sleep and are addictive, you do not need to look far. ‘Flappy Bird’ as it is known is a game, which boomed pretty much overnight, in an industry saturated with wannabe hits. In a matter of days the game had grown to the extent of becoming the Number 1 Game in the App Store.  But what can its’ success be attributed to?

 

One reason for its rapid success could be that it is something new. The simple mechanic of ‘Tap and Fly’ allows it to suck you into a vicious cycle of:

 

• Downloading

• Tapping

• Deleting

This cycle just repeated itself causing multiple users to become furious and consequently, smash their phones.  Its genius manipulative design creates a numbing difficulty level and if you are not tortured by the mocking nature of the game then you simply have not played it enough…

 

It is also likely that the “Sharability”[1] of the game gives it its success. The game born in the dark pits of the underworld by the social network demons and dead games, consists of two main genres:

• Massacre – A game that glorifies the idea of death, fear of error, challenge, pain and repetition to gain and maintain an audience.

• Endless runner – The genre that is pretty much self-explanatory: it has you playing for ever (which gives it the addiction needed to keep you interested)

This combination that has been broken down to its bare minimum is what has created a “just one more round and I will be done for ever, I promise” mentality, which causes players to compete with themselves and their friends (if they have any remaining at this point of the game) and then share their results.  This game is impossible to beat and the fact that you pretty much die 30 seconds into the game only adds to the rivalry and addiction

Basically the game is unbeatable; senselessly difficult; torturous and masochistic. The combination of two popular genres and new ideas gives a refreshing taste of misery.  It is now a game that is sadly (or for the best) no longer in the App Store as it was placing too much pressure on the creator. ‘Flappy Bird’ has created a new genre and is the beginning of the end. It is a revolting renaissance to the industry and has shaken us all to our core with its ingenious mechanic.

 

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/03/flappy-bird-success-mobile-game-viral_n_4717555.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flappy_Bird

https://twitter.com/dongatory/status/432227971173068800

 

 

 

 

[1] “Why the heck is everybody playing flappy bird” Huffington Post, January 2014.