Flappy Bird’s Impossible Rise, Even Harder Fall—and the Ad-Riddled Mess That Changed Indie Dev Forever

What happens when a game so simple it feels like a dare becomes an impossible, ad-riddled, cultural lightning rod—and then vanishes overnight?

Flappy Bird, a mobile game where players tap to navigate a bird between pipes, became a viral hit in 2014 despite its punishing difficulty.

Developer Dong Nguyen, unprepared for the game’s explosive popularity ($50K/day in ad revenue), removed it from app stores amid public backlash.

The game’s legacy includes clones and ongoing cultural references, though Nguyen’s actions remain a cautionary tale for indie developers. Nguyen’s decision to pull the game underscored the precarious balance between monetization and user experience in the app economy.