Will Flappy Bird come back to the App Store or not? Dong Nguyen, creator of the addictive mobile game, raised eyebrows this week when he told people to “forget about Flappy Bird ” and instead showed off a screenshot from an entirely different game that could see release even before the hit time-waster makes its return.
Flappy Bird debuted last year and languished in the App Store until suddenly taking off, having captured the attention of game-playing masochists across the globe. The Bird perched atop both the Android and iOS app store rankings for weeks, only to be yanked from the stores by its creator, who claimed that its success – which was bringing in $50,000 a day for Nguyen – had “ruined” his simple life.
Recent weeks have seen reports that the king of frustratingly simple games would soon return to the Google Play and iOS App Stores, and Nguyen seemingly confirmed Flappy Bird ‘s imminent return in a recent interview. This week, though, a tweet from Nguyen threw Flappy devotees for a loop, as the game developer posted a screenshot from a different game he has been working on.
The new game apparently boasts a pixelated style somewhat similar to Flappy Bird , and it may be an endless runner in the vein of Temple Run, Canabalt, or other similar titles. Nguyen’s core constituency, though, might be a bit miffed: There are no birds to be seen, flappy or otherwise.
Despite Nguyen’s earlier claims that a new Flappy Bird was in the works with added multiplayer, this new, non- Flappy game may have pushed the Bird’s return back some. Nguyen didn’t seem like he was too keen on pushing out Flappy Bird ‘s return any time soon in the tweet that accompanied the screenshot.
“I am making a new game,” Nguyen said. “So people can forget about Flappy Bird for a while.”
Ominous words indeed for the nine people who haven’t already tried out the game.
There’s no word on when the Flappy Bird redux or Nguyen’s as-yet-untitled follow-up will hit app stores. In an interview with Rolling Stone ‘s David Kushner, Nguyen said he had regained his game development motivation recently, so that burst of interest may explain why he’s working on a new game instead of tweaking older material.
When Flappy Bird does come back , though, it will apparently sport a number of new features, including a new art style and asynchronous multiplayer. Nguyen also said that the new Flappy will have new characters, new environments, and new obstacles. He will also apparently tweak the game in order to add a “cooling down system,” which would only let players play a few rounds in a row. This latter feature would be aimed at cutting down on Flappy Bird addiction, which ranks up there alongside eating couch cushions and huffing gasoline among the dumbest addictions we’ve ever heard of.