Flappy Bird is taking the mobile gaming world by storm. The app, made by indie developer Nguyen Ha Dong from Hanoi, Vietnam, is currently number one in the App store and just arrived on Google Play.
Flappy Bird features 8-bit gaming graphics and is absolutely maddening. The game appears to be relatively simple at first glance, but after a few minutes of playing, you will want to pull your hair out from frustration. The object of the game is to prevent your flappy bird from flying face-first into one of the green tubes that are all over the screen. All you have to do to navigate your bird is tap on the screen.
Sounds simple, right?
Wrong. Most gamers have been unable to get a score in the double digits after hours of frustration. Even getting five points is an incredible accomplishment. Many users say that the desire to figure out how to win the game is so strong, that they keep playing even though they know it's nearly impossible to improve your score over time.
The game basically has five buttons: start, score, pause, rate and share. The pause button will pause the game if you wish, but chances are the minute you restart the game, you'll fly straight into a green tube anyway. The rate and share buttons are much more popular. The share button allows you to vent all of your angst via Facebook, Twitter, email or text message.
Nearly 500,000 people have rated the game on the App store. Flappy Bird currently has a rating of 4+, but you'd never know it was so well-liked by reading the furious reviews posted below the app's description.
"Flappy bird is by far the most annoying game you will ever play in your life. It will make you so angry you will literally scream (I am not kidding you)," one user wrote, describing the game as "addicting."
"The only reason I have not yet deleted this horrid game is for the overwhelming sense of relief and accomplishment I feel when I finally beat a high score," the tortured reviewer continued.
Although many users are calling the game "impossible" to master, Dong, the creator of Flappy Bird assured TechCrunch that it is indeed possible to win the game.
"In all my games, the score of Platinum Medal was my best score when I released the apps," Dong said.
Dong has created many simple apps in the past, but has never achieved so much success before. Another app made by Dong, which is called Super Ball Juggling, is ranked second in the App store. His third game app, Shuriken Block, is currently ranked eighth in the App store.
