If you’re one of the millions who wasted days trying in vain to master Flappy Bird – swearing at your smartphone in public spaces and pulling out your hair till only a few strands remained in the process – then look out, a new game from the same developer has just launched for iOS and Android devices.
Called Swing Copters, Digital Trends can hereby confirm that the Flappy Bird follow-up is just as frustrating, just as annoying, and just as addictive. If not more.
Related: Flappy Bird creator says, ‘Please take a break.’
The game, developed by Vietnam-based Dong Nguyen, is basically a vertical version of its side-scrolling predecessor. Featuring a character that can best be described as a large pair of eyes in a “propeller hat,” the aim is to avoid swinging hammers as you attempt to fly higher and higher. Once again, Dong has kept things super simple – for proof, just take a look at the game’s to-the-point explanation:
Flying with a propeller hat is not as easy as it looks.
[HOW TO PLAY]
• Tap to change direction.
• Get 4 medals to unlock more characters.
Enjoy the game.
Prior to Flappy Bird going viral at the start of the year, Dong had, by all accounts, been enjoying something of a quiet life in his home city of Hanoi. But as the game’s success grew, the developer began to feel overwhelmed by all the attention coming his way. In fact, the situation became so intense for delicate Dong that he decided to pull the hugely popular game from all app stores, despite raking in a reported $50,000 a day through in-game ads.
Six months later, Dong’s back with another possibly life-disrupting (for him and us) game – Swing Copters.
You can grab it from the iOS store here, and from Google Play here. Incredibly, imitations already exist, so if you don’t use these links, be sure the listed developer is either Dong himself or .GEARS Studios, the name of his one-man startup. The game is free with ads, though they can be disposed of with a 99-cents in-app purchase.
Warn your partner, inform your co-workers, notify your friends. If Swing Copters has anywhere near the same impact as its predecessor, stress levels around the world are about to go through the roof. Again.