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If you play this iOS game in public people will think you're insane
If you want to get some seriously peculiar stares from strangers you could do jumping jacks in a coffee shop, break dance in a grocery store, or, if you want to streamline your efforts, just play Yyaah! in any public place. Putting a clever -- if a bit obnoxious -- spin on the one-tap, Flappy Bird style games that have become so popular in the past year, Yyaah! requires you to guide a plane around obstacles by controlling its altitude... with your voice. The idea here is that you yell "Yyaah!" loud enough to get the plane to fly higher and cruise past buildings, helicopters, and other random objects that block your path. In practice, the microphone doesn't discriminate so any loud sound will work to give the plane a boost upward, but the game is pretty demanding in terms of what volume you'll need to reach in order to create lift. You pretty much have to yell in order to get a response, and since the volume itself doesn't actually control the speed of your plane's rise you need to either be screaming or go completely silent in order to get the plane to do what you want. It's a weird game, but it's actually kind of fun in a totally insane sort of way. I look forward to challenging my wife to see who can get their plane the farthest the next time we go out to eat, and I'll cross my fingers that we don't get kicked out for disturbing the peace. [Photo via Crosathorian]
Ascend to bird heaven in Frinkle
Frinkle takes players on a challenging journey from bird hell, climbing higher and higher, to bird heaven. Players control the adventurous bird's vertical migration by tapping to make it jump and control it's flapping while trying to land on moving platforms. Frinkle is compatible with iOS devices running iOS 4.3 or later. Think Doodle Jump meets Flappy Bird with a little Angry Birds thrown in for good measure. If players hit the bottom of the platform, the bird explodes in a flourish of feathers. Players can tap the bird character up to five times before it plummets toward the ground which increases the difficulty of progressing higher and higher. This means that players have to be deliberate in their movements and cautious about trying to jump two or more platforms above where they are. Getting high enough to get out of bird hell takes quite a bit of patience. Having to retry from the beginning is very frustrating and it is hard for players to get far easily. It takes a lot of dedication and a good competitive spirt to reach the earth level. There is a a competitive aspect to Frinkle and it does have an addictive feel to it. The character design and some of the background art in Frinkle also echos the art styles in games such as Flappy Bird and Angry Birds. There is a playful feel to the art style and the transition from bird hell to earth and then to bird heaven takes advantage of transitional shades of colors. In bird hell, the colors are much darker than they are in bird heaven and earth is a blend of the two. These color choices add up to a delightful journey from darkness to bright light. The further players get in Frinkle, the harder the levels become. For instance, in the earth level, the platforms will break if players land on them too many times which adds more for players to be cautious and strategic about. The competitive nature of Frinkle, with each level challenging players to push through and try to get a high score welcomes competitions with friends through Game Center. There is a banner ad at the top of the screen that pops up shortly after starting to play Frinkle, which detracts from the gameplay and is annoying to see in a game that already causes frustration for players by the sheer difficulty of the levels alone. The font size of the "score" and "high score" text on the game over screen could be bigger as currently it is hard to read. It looks weird that those words are really small compared to the game over text which is appropriately sized. Frinkle is free on the App Store and recommended for players who enjoy challenging and addictive games.
Flappy Bird maker ready to launch new Swing Copters game on Thursday
Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen confirmed that he has another game ready to launch on the iOS App Store. Similar to Flappy Bird, Swing Copters challenges the player to navigate a propeller-wearing character upwards through gates using taps to control the character's side-to-side movement. TouchArcade got an exclusive early preview of the new game and says it captures that same "can't put it down" gameplay that made Flappy Bird so popular. ...But, like Flappy Bird, I love it. It feels like it's got all the same qualities that made Flappy Bird so sticky for me. Once you see even the smallest bit of success in the game, you can't help but play again, and again, and again, always trying to (in my case, anyway) top that amazing five point flight. You can read the full review with video and browse through the screenshots on TouchArcade's website. The new Swing Copters game will debut on Thursday as a free download in the iOS App Store. An optional in-app purchase of 99-cents will remove the ads that ship with the free game.
Flappy Bird creator's new game is vertically challenging
Apparently solving the equation "Flappy Bird + Y axis," creator Dong Nguyen has unveiled the follow-up to his mobile phenomenon, and it's Swing Copters. As Touch Arcade reports, Swing Copters features the same visual style as Flappy Bird, but this time the idea is to move vertically rather than horizontally. You control another little critter, this time with a rotary wing attached to his helmet, and the aim is to float up into the skies. A tap sends your beady-eyed chopper left or right so you can avoid the girders and swinging hammers, and a single hit results in game over. If it sounds familiar, check out Touch Arcade's gameplay video below the break. Curiously, Swing Copters doesn't look like the "next game" Nguyen teased a few months ago, though he did say in March he had three different projects in the pipeline, so to speak. When Swing Copters launches on iOS and Android this Thursday, August 21, it'll be a free download with a sole in-app purchase of 99 cents to remove the ads. Whether or not it'll beat the clones to the chase remains to be seen.
Flappy Bird brings the whole family as it returns to Amazon
Like a phoenix from the ashes, viral sensation Flappy Bird has risen anew, just as the prophet (and game creator) Dong Nguyen foretold back in May of this year. The beast slumbered for a time, but has once again come to wreak havok on our productivity under the new title, "Flappy Birds Family." Actually, if we're using mythical beast analogies, the multi-headed hydra would be a more fitting creature to compare Flappy Bird Family to, as this new form features multiple flapping birds thanks to the addition of multiplayer. Yes. Flappy Birds Family, now available on the Amazon Appstore for Android - but curiously absent from iTunes and Google Play - is a cross between a phoenix and a hydra. A hydrenix (or phoendra), if you will. If you've got access to the Amazon Appstore, you can capture it free of charge.
The first Unreal Engine 4 mobile game is ... a Flappy Bird clone
The Unreal Engine has been known throughout its various iterations for pushing the limits of visual fidelity. High-definition textures, spectacular lighting, complex real-time physics, etc. You won't find any of that in the first mobile game created in Unreal Engine 4, though. What you will find is Tappy Chicken, a Flappy Bird clone. Tappy Chicken may not be a graphical powerhouse, but it's not supposed to be. Instead, the game is intended to be an example of how easy the newest iteration of the Unreal Engine can be to program - a lesson taught earlier this year at GDC. Tappy Chicken was created by a single artist using a scripting system called Blueprints, which is part of Unreal Engine 4. Game development was started and completed within the span of just a couple of weeks. Tappy Chicken is now available for iOS and Android devices, at the low, low cost of free. If its life story has inspired you to unleash your inner game developer, you can get Unreal Engine 4 for $19 per month. [Image: Epic Games]
Flappy Bird creator offers first glimpse of his next game
After removing his smash iOS hit Flappy Bird from the App Store, developer Dong Nguyen has remained largely quiet, though he recently broke his silence to offer his Twitter followers an image of a new game he's currently developing. "I am making a new game," Nguyen tweeted, alongside the image found in the gallery below. "So people can forget about Flappy Bird for a while." Nguyen offered no further explanation of the image, nor any information on the game itself. It appears that this new project shares a similar color palette to Flappy Bird, though any further conclusions we might draw are purely conjecture. Given that Flappy Bird was one of the biggest iOS hits in recent memory, why would Nguyen want people to forget the game? His full motivations still seem a bit murky, but according to the scant commentary Nguyen has offered the public, Flappy Bird was pulled because it had grown too addictive. Too many people were spending their time tapping on a crudely-animated bird, and this apparently bothered Nguyen. "I think it has become a problem," Nguyen told Forbes earlier this year. "To solve that problem, it's best to take down Flappy Bird. It's gone forever." Of course, in the gaming industry, "forever" rarely means "forever," and Nguyen has recently announced plans to revive Flappy Bird with new multiplayer game modes. [Image: Dong Nguyen]
The TUAW Daily Update Podcast for May 15, 2014
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get some the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the player at the top of the page. The Daily Update has been moved to a new podcast host in the past few days. Current listeners should delete the old podcast subscription and subscribe to the new feed in the iTunes Store here.
Report: Multiplayer Flappy Bird swooping, crashing in August
Dong Nguyen, the creator of viral sensation Flappy Bird, has reportedly told CNBC's Kelly Evans that the game will make a return in August, with new multiplayer-centric features. Evans tweeted the news earlier today, as did CNBC's social media team. Nguyen took Flappy Bird down earlier this year, claiming it was addictive. How the addition of multiplayer would help solve that is anybody's guess, but this isn't the first time Nguyen has considered reviving his flappy phenomenon. Back in March, when it was reported that 60 Flappy Bird clones were hitting the mobile market every day - that's 2.5 every hour, or one every 24 minutes - Nguyen said he would consider making the game available again, albeit with a warning that cautioned players to take a break from playing. [Image: Dong Nguyen]
Flappy Bird coming back in August with new multi-player support
Dong Nguyen made headlines earlier this year when his iOS app Flappy Bird, a rather basic yet exceedingly addicting game, shot to the top of Apple's App Store charts. As the spotlight began to shine brighter on Nguyen, not to mention all of the money he was raking in, he decided to remove the game from the App Store this past February. While speculation surrounding the app's removal spanned the gauntlet, Nguyen has always maintained that he removed the app because he felt uncomfortable with the fame and spotlight the game heaped upon him rather suddenly. Fans who never got a chance to download Flappy Bird can rest easy, though. CNBC's Kelly Evans tweeted out earlier today that Flappy Bird is making a comeback. Not only will it reappear in the App Store this August, but it's coming back as a multi-player game. Nguyen also explained during a CNBC interview that the new version of Flappy Bird will be less addictive. Not the best way to hype up an upcoming app, but then again, it's not as if Flappy Bird was ever lacking hype and attention.
Sega launches 'Rappy Bird' [April Fools!]
There's an element of cruelty to some of the most memorable April Fool's jokes, and Sega's prank this year is among the cruelest. Responding to years of Phantasy Star Online 2 localization requests from diehard fans, Sega has released Rappy Bird, an online clone of the mobile hit Flappy Bird starring Phantasy Star's iconic Rag Rappy character. Surely you remember Rappies -- they're those little bird guys that you slayed by the thousands in Phantasy Star Online. Rappy Bird itself is unremarkable, since it was obviously put together quickly and is too difficult to enjoy, but at least there's a 3D mode. Fans still hoping for a localized release of Phantasy Star Online 2 may want to keep an eye out for an upcoming English-language version hitting southeast Asian territories this year. The fact that Sega of America is acknowledging Phantasy Star after letting the series lie fallow for several years could be seen as a promising development, however. [Image: Sega]
Super Stickman Golf creators join the Flappy flock with Flappy Golf
Hoping that two wildly addictive tastes go great together, mobile developer Noodlecake Studios has debuted Flappy Golf, an iOS game that combines the deceptively simple Super Stickman Golf with mobile hit Flappy Bird. Flappy Golf borrows physics, basic gameplay rules and courses from Super Stickman Golf 2, but instead of carefully aiming a shot, players control a flapping bird that must languidly wing its way toward the hole. The goal is to make it through the labyrinthine courses using as few flaps as possible. That may seem overly simplistic, but Flappy Golf features 30 courses of nine holes each, and like Super Stickman Golf, the courses grow increasingly complex and bizarre, offering new challenges with each round. Best of all, Flappy Golf is available as a free download on the iTunes App Store. There are no microtransactions to be found in the mobile mashup, but players will occasionally see in-game advertisements. [Image: Noodlecake Studios]
Flappy Bird is coming back eventually, here's what we hope they add this time
On February 9 of this year Dong Nguyen, the creator of Flappy Bird, took his insanely addictive bird flapping game off of the iOS store citing concerns that players were too addicted to the title. A flood of imitators quickly took its place, leaving addicts with plenty of other options to fill their need. The marketplace is a harsh mistress for addicts in search of their next flappy fix. But there is good news for those Flappy loyalists who just want the real thing. Nguyen seems to have have had a change of heart, telling a twitter follower today that he will be bringing the game back to the App Store. Eventually, but "not soon." It's sad that we're going to have to wait for the coming return of Flappy Bird, but since the game was updated just days before it was pulled from the store it's obvious that Nguyen has a vision for a stronger Flappy Bird. Here's what we'd like to see in come along with the return of Flappy Bird. Increased difficulty Hear me out. As someone who has barely managed to get past twenty pipes I understand why adding this option won't appeal to some readers. But this isn't about you. It's about the insane, cocky people who have Flapped their way to scores in the hundreds. These monsters need to be taken down a peg. We would like to see the introduction of power lines, angry old men with BB guns, magic fireballs, or any other form of increased challenge to wipe the smug smile off the face of arrogant "Birders." More levels, all still with pipes Part of the charm of Flappy Bird is its simplicity. That shouldn't change, but it would be nice to have a few new levels every now and then. Right before the game was taken offline Nguyen added a night time level and more bird colors. We humbly suggest a level that takes place during a rain storm, perhaps adding the need to double Flap. But whether these levels take us through a raging storm or through space or to an alternate dimension where the air is made of love there is one constant that needs to remain. Pipes. The true enemy of the Flappy Bird; reenforced steel. It's part of the game's addictive and odd charm. We came for the bird. We stay because we love/hate the pipes. Power ups that are useless and cause you to die immediately Part of the charm of Flappy Bird is its joyful simplicity. The secret to the game is calm and planning, leaving gamers desperate for power ups to breeze them through the game flustered. We suggest giving this players power ups, but making it so the power ups instantly and graphically kill the player. People are already rage quitting the game because they can't figure out how to get in the groove. Giving these players a "rocket pack" power up that immediately blasts them into the nearest wall and certain death is just the sort of odd philosophical quirk that we'd like to see in a Flappy Bird power up. Punish the players who refuse to learn the game's secrets, while making everyone else laugh, and just wait for the YouTube videos to come rolling in. A dark gritty storyline Flappy Bird is already an existential tale of terror. A lone bird spends eternity trying to maneuver through a never ending series of tunnels. No matter how hard the bird works death is the only certainty. There is no reward, just flappy. Millions of people are playing out a candy colored version of the story of Sisyphus every single day. So why not add a little back story? Tell me how this Flappy Bird got into this fiendish hellscape of an existence. Extra points if you do this by tying the game in with a major motion picture like Darren Aronofsky's upcoming Noah. Maybe the bird is trying its best to make it to the boat before the world dies. Death is already all we know about Flappy Bird's world. How about giving death some gravitas?
Flappy Bird's coming back, but you probably don't care
This is the digital age of ADD, people, so let's be real about one thing: most of you probably don't care about the disappearance of Flappy Bird anymore, nor the fact that it's coming back. But for those of you that do still wish to tap that bird's flapping wings once more past Nintendo-ish green pipes, there's a ray of light ahead. Turns out, creator Dong Nguyen wants to see his mobile game return to the iOS and Android platforms that sent buckets of cash and internet vitriol his quiet way. Nguyen tweeted the news out, but didn't indicate when Flappy Bird would return as a downloadable free-to-play game on the App Store, saying only that it wouldn't be anytime soon. Which is even more reason to believe that when it does comeback for a second act, most of you will have moved on to some other fad or meme, or dogecoin-branded dating sim. The Horror! [Image credit: Getty]
WoW Moviewatch: Flappy Mounts
While I'm not sure World of Warcraft really needs this kind of feature, but I guess Ian Beckman thinks so. After all, what would add to the addictive nature of Azeroth like Flappy Mounts? I think what's more impressive than just the idea is how well Beckman translated the game into this machinima. This is actually a fairly convincing version of Flappy Bird, and would probably be a lot more fun than the dozens of rip-offs in the app stores. I guess if I'm going to play something derivative of the original game, I'd want to play it in WoW. Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Flappy Bird may return with a warning, dev has three games in the works
Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen said he is considering bringing his hit mobile game back to the market. While he's not actively working on a new version, it would come with a warning that asks players to take a break from the game. Nguyen said as much in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, one the first the indie developer conducted since he pulled Flappy Bird from Google Play and the iOS App Store last month, justifying the decision by deeming it too addictive. Nguyen said that messages he received from players accusing him of "distracting the children of the world" and that the game was "addicting like crack" reminded him too much of his own struggles in high school with Counter-Strike. Nguyen isn't done making games, however. He described three he's working on simultaneously, each with retro-style visuals and simple controls: a cowboy-themed shooter, a vertical flier named Kitty Jetpack as well as an "action chess game" called Checkonaut. The developer plans to launch one of the three games this month. [Image: Dong Nguyen]
Flappy Bird creator wasn't sued, threatened or murdered, you just played too much of his game
Enigmatic developer of App Store hit Flappy Bird, Dong Nguyen, has fallen out of the limelight in the days since he pulled his most famous creation from mobile marketplaces, and that's exactly why he did it. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the 28-year-old developer explains his motives for pulling the game, as well as the effect it has had on his life. Despite the ridiculous rumors that suffocated social media in the days following Nguyen's pulling of Flappy Bird -- which ranged from a Nintendo lawsuit to theories that Nguyen had taken his own life -- he is indeed alive and well. Nguyen explains the two main reasons he decided to take down the app: The media circus that had descended upon his "simple life," and the outcry from people who claimed the game was actually making their lives worse. Perhaps the most surprising revelation is that Nguyen hasn't ruled out a Flappy Bird return, though if he ever decides to make it happen he'll include a warning for people who might become addicted.
Report: App Store averaged a new Flappy Bird clone every 24 minutes
Flappy Bird clones reportedly rolled in to the App Store at a rate of 60 games per day over the course of four days, according to numbers crunched by Pocket Gamer. The data comes from an investigation into 300 games that were deemed rip-offs of Dong Nguyen's former tap-to-flap mobile arcade game, averaging out to 2.5 clones arriving on the App Store per hour, or one per 24 minutes. The data was pulled from games submitted between February 28 and March 3, and due to Apple's staggered release schedule, as many as 14 "Flappy" games arrived in the span of an hour at points. Pocket Gamer defined its use of the term "clone" in this case as "any game in which you guide some character through an obstacle course of pipes (or similar objects) hanging from the ceiling and sticking out of the ground." To be sure, Flappy Bird itself wasn't a particularly novel concept, but the rise in games that mimicked its exact style appeared to be unmistakable to the data gatherers. Nguyen announced plans to pull Flappy Bird from the Google Play and App Stores on February 8, and later rationalized the decision by deeming it an "addictive product." After Nguyen pulled the game, indie developers participated in a "Flappy Jam" development challenge, which included entries from the likes of Super Hexagon creator Terry Cavanagh as well as punk band Fall Out Boy. [Image: Dong Nguyen]
Monkey Boots is stealing my minutes and turning them into hours
Even before Flappy Bird turned the App Store on its head, there was a bit of a casual gaming renaissance taking place on iOS. When I say "casual," I mean games that are easy to learn, but not necessarily so easy to master. Monkey Boots fits perfectly into that category, and its single game mechanic can feel both subtly brilliant and frustrating at the same time, which is all the more reason give it a try. In Monkey Boots you play as a cute, cube-shaped monkey on the run from an endless herd of elephants. You auto-run by default, and the simple touch controls let you jump, pounce downward quickly, and slow your speed. As elephants come barreling across the screen it's up to you to dodge them. Getting struck by a scampering pachyderm means instant failure. The longer you last, the more points you gain, and bonus points are rewarded for bouncing on top of the fleeing elephants. Speaking of the elephants, the ponderous beasts come in all shapes and sizes, from ones just barely larger than your primate to massive wooly mammoths that require a huge jump in order to clear. Failing isn't the end of the world, though, and as soon as you find yourself trampled and dead, you can instantly start another round. This softens the blow a bit when you ruin an especially solid run and besting your previous run is always the "carrot on a stick" that keeps you pushing for one more try. If you're looking for a more personal incentive to repeatedly sacrifice your little friend, there's also a leaderboard to check how much better (or worse) you are than your friends. Monkey Boots is free and includes ads that occasionally pop up after a round has ended. They're not invasive and never appear on the screen during gameplay, so it's a totally reasonable trade-off. If you've become addicted to ultra-simple games as of late, Monkey Boots definitely deserves your attention.
Buffalo Wings is a Flappy Bird clone and 'a fun little family experiment'
After Dong Nguyen pulled Flappy Bird from the App Store, Tapity developer Jeremy Olson decided the time was right for him to learn how to produce a game and explore what makes Flappy Bird so popular. Instead of a solo project, Olson decided to make it a group effort and involve his family members in the development process. It was as Olson writes "an opportunity to take a break from our daily routine and do a fun experiment." After a few weeks of work, this experiment today launched in the iOS App Store as Buffalo Wings. Rather than duplicate Flappy Bird, Olson and Tapity UI Designer Christain Billings decided to replace the bird with an 8-bit buffalo character, which was whipped up by his ten-year-old brother in just ten minutes. The Buffalo Wings app shares the same gameplay as Flappy Bird, requiring you to tap on the screen to keep your buffalo from plummeting to the ground as you fly in between pipes. The mechanics are similar to Flappy Bird, with the jagged shape of the buffalo adding some challenge to the game. As work on the app progressed, Olson recruited his younger brother to help and taught him the basics of Objective C coding. His father provided the audio, while his sister researched the silly buffalo facts. Other family members were involved in the testing of the app, helping Olson tweak the physics so the game was hard, but not too hard. The challenge of the gameplay is where Olson nailed it. There's a nice balance in Buffalo Wings -- it's hard enough to be challenging, but not so hard that you throw your hands up in frustration (at least not all the time). As you make your way through the game, you are rewarded with silly buffalo facts that occasionally will make you laugh out loud. The graphics are polished for an 8-bit game, and the gameplay is every bit as addicting as Flappy Bird. Buffalo Wings is available for free in the iOS App Store. It is compatible with the iPhone and requires iOS 7.0 or later. There are in-game ads, but they are barely noticeable and don't interfere with gameplay.
