‘Flappy Bird’: The viral game that was taken down 11 years ago is making a comeback

It was 2013 when Dong Nguyen launched a game that was as simple as it was addictive: 'Flappy Bird'.

The mechanics of 'Flappy Bird' were very simple: the player controlled a bird that moved horizontally across the screen and had to avoid the pipes that appeared at different heights.

In 2013, the game was a bit of an underdog, but in 2014, when PewDiePie, a very influential YouTuber, recorded a video playing Flappy Bird, it quickly became viral.

In just a few weeks, the game reached 90 million downloads, helped by an iOS7 update that made it compatible with Apple as well. The fact that it was free helped its success further.

While millions played the addictive game, its creator, Dong Nguyen, earned $50,000 a day, as reported by 'The Verge', but even with the money pouring in, he was starting to feel uneasy.

Nguyen was worried sick about the addictiveness of his game. He reportedly couldn't even sleep at night thinking about its impact in the players’ mental health.

"The game was designed to be played for a few minutes when you're relaxed, but it's become addictive. It's become a problem, and the best way to solve it is to kill Flappy Bird. It's gone forever," he told Forbes in 2014.

But the popular game is not "gone forever", thanks to the Flappy Bird Foundation, a group composed of some of the game's fans, acquiring the official Flappy Bird trademark from Gametech Holdings LLC, according to a news release obtained by IGN and Engadget.

During its ten-year absence, several copies made an appearance, such as 'Fat Squirrel' or 'Flappy Bee'. However, the one and only ‘Flappy Bird’ is coming back to app stores this year, although the exact date is not yet known.

Photo: Flappy Bee

According to the Flappy Bird website, users will be able to play with brand-new characters, including a three-eyed bird named Trixy, a penguin named Peng, a bird with a unicorn named Quirky and a robot bird named Tekno.

Photo: flappybird.org

Moreover, the game will allow users to play different game modes, including a basketball shooting game, a more competitive mode and a practice mode.

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Photo: flappybird.org