Earlier this year, the free to download and play mobile game Flappy Bird was a phenomenon. The notoriously difficult game all about guiding a derpy looking, pixelated bird through a set a pipes blew up the mobile gaming charts, and was so addictive the game's creator pulled it from digital stores, leaving an army of clones in its wake. Now, the real Flappy Bird is back with a number of new additions, including the option to drag a friend along for the mind-numbing ride. Oh, and it is currently exclusively available on the Amazon App store.
Flappy Bird is basically the same game you remember from a few months back: flap, dodge pipes, die, flap, dodge pipes, die. The difference? Flappy Bird now supports both the Amazon Fire TV remote and a dedicated game controller, as well as includes a few new features. One new twist to the formula are annoying ghosts who try to get in your way and, just like the pipes, will kill you in one hit. A number of new playable birds are also available, and most importantly, the game features a two-player cooperative mode.
The best part about all of this? Flappy Bird is still completely free, not that the game's free nature in any way effects the amount of money game creator Dong Nguyen makes. It was reported around the peak of the game's popularity that Nguyen was making $50,000 a day from ad revenue. Nguyen pulled the game while it was still dominating the Google Play and iOS game charts in part because of its popularity, and along with it the attention that was suddenly directed his way.
"It happened to become an addictive product," Nguyen said at the time. "I think it has become a problem." He voiced his thoughts on Twitter as well, saying that after the media attention and sudden success of the game "My life has not been as comfortable as I was before. I couldn't sleep."
Nguyen said in May, after he pulled the game in February, that Flappy Bird would return in August. However, he vowed this time it would have "less addictive qualities." It looks like he made good on that promise, though what exactly makes this new and improved Flappy Bird less addictive is unclear. Maybe he means it won't be available to as many people due to its current Amazon exclusivity, and therefore unable to addict the mobile gaming masses. It looks like the legions of Flappy Bird fans that originally played on iOS devices may be out of luck.
