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Flappy Bird is gone forever, so play one of these better games instead

Adam Rosenberg
By
flappy bird gone go play five games instead best alternatives badland threes hundreds hoplite nightjar

Flappy Bird is no more. Dong Nguyen’s controversial mobile gaming hit was officially pulled from the iTunes App Store and Google Play this week. You can probably still find it for your Android device due to the more open nature of Google’s app offerings, but it’s not something you can get on an Apple device anymore. At least, not unless you’re willing to pay $100,000 for it on eBay.

Take heart. Don’t look at the demise of Flappy Bird, with its stolen artwork and uninspiring cloned design, as a bad thing. Now that it’s gone, you’re free to play all manner of other games. Better games. In some cases, even the exact same game, but with more going on. Flappy Bird is an addiction, and this is your support group. Any of these five iOS games (some also available for Android) will help to wean you off your flapping bird habit.

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badland

Badland

Available on: iOS, Android

Why waste your time on Flappy Bird when you can play the real thing? Badland features the same sort of tap-to-fly gameplay, only it’s got more layers to the gameplay and some beautiful art design. Frogmind Games released this little gem in mid-2013, and it’s been one of our go-to recommendations ever since. The game’s customer review rating hovers around five stars, and – in a cheeky twist – Frogmind is running a $2 sale for it right now “in the memory of Flappy Bird.”

You rascals.

THREES

Threes!

Available on: iOS

Freshly released in the iTunes App Store just last week, Sirvo’s simple, little puzzler Threes has already generated a lot of attention. It’s easier to understand once you play it, but the basic premise involves sliding numbered tiles around on a 4×4 grid. With the exception of 1 and 2, which can be added together to create a 3, tiles can only slide on top of each other when they share the same number. Doing so doubles the number displayed on the tile and raises your total score. A round ends when the board fills up and there are no moves left. Like some of the best mobile games, it’s easy to learn, difficult to master.

hundreds

Hundreds

Available on: iOS, Android

Another wonderfully minimal math-tastic puzzler that’s easier to play than it is to explain, Semi Secret Software’s Hundreds is similar to Flappy Bird in the sense that it’s a game built around precision screen-tapping. Number-filled circles float and bob around on the screen. You’ve got to tap and hold to “fill” them up, increasing both their size and the number at their center. The goal is to get the numeric sum of all the circles up to 100, a goal that is often complicated by a variety of obstacles.

Hoplite

Hoplite

Available on: iOS, Android

Douglas Cowley’s Hoplite is a relatively recent mobile release that mixes turn-based tactical strategy with the sort of procedural generation you’d expect to see in the roguelike genre. To play, you move your troops around on a hex-based grid as you fight against the obstacles that spring up in front of you. Levels are completely random, so you’re never sure of what’s coming next. Don’t let the simple, retro-style graphics fool you. There’s a robust game here, and one with endless play potential thanks to the procedural level generation.

Nightjar

The Nightjar

Available on: iOS

Which would you rather do: tap furiously to keep a suspiciously Nintendo-ish wing-flapping bird aloft or grope blindly around a doomed spaceship while Benedict Cumberbatch’s soothing voice attempts to help you? You get the latter with The Nightjar, an iOS-exclusive audio-only game from Somethin’ Else. The premise is simple: your spaceship is without power and caught in a deteriorating orbit around a sun. Everyone is either dead or on an escape pod. Well, everyone except you. And alien invaders that want to kill you. Fortunately, Benedict Cumberbatch is going to save the day. Just listen to his instructions and follow the audio cues and you’ll get to safety. Maybe.

 

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Topics
Flappy Bird creator pulled hit game from app stores
flappy bird creator pulling hit game app stores

The simple, addictive and hugely frustrating Flappy Bird has sat atop the Google Play and iTunes App Store charts for many a month, but now creator Dong Nguyen has had enough of the attention it's attracted: "I am sorry Flappy Bird users, 22 hours from now, I will take Flappy Bird down. I cannot take this anymore," he tweeted on Saturday.
Updated by Jeffrey Van Camp on 2-10-2014: The game has been pulled. In related news, iPhones with Flappy Bird installed are now going for $100,000 on eBay. And judging by how well these terrible ripoffs of Flappy Bird are charting on iTunes, the end of days may be near. If you want to play some real games before the world goes bird crazy, check out this list of Flappy Bird alternatives that don't suck. 
After confirming that the decision is nothing to do with legal issues, that he isn't selling the game, and that he intends to continue developing titles, Nguyen has been silent. If he follows through on his promise, you have about five hours left to download Flappy Bird before it disappears.
There's nothing notable about the game apart from its runaway success. In an interview with the Verge, Vietnam-based Nguyen said that the free app was earning him $50,000 every day in advertising revenue. Flappy Bird has been downloaded over 50 million times across Android and iOS, leaving tens of thousands of positive and negative reviews in its wake.
Part of the appeal of the app — which launched way back in May 2013 — seems to be how easy it is to learn and how difficult it is to master. In recent days it has attracted a huge amount of interest from the tech and gaming press as an example of a viral hit that has no logical or obvious explanation behind it.
If Nguyen does remove his app, you will still be able to play it on your phone or tablet but it will no longer be available to download for new users. Are you a Flappy Bird addict or do you fail to see what all the fuss is about? Let us know in the comments.

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The Angry Birds finally get a BlackBerry, as popular game lands on the PlayBook

It may seem as if Angry Birds is available on just about every platform known to man, however up until today they hadn't made it on to Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices. But before all you Curve, Bold and Torch owners go rushing off to the AppWorld, the Angry Birds have so far confined themselves to the PlayBook.
While this will upset legions of fans, those who do own the BlackBerry PlayBook will be pleased to discover it's not just the original game that's available, but all three titles. The first Angry Birds has all 288 levels of catapult fun, while Angry Birds Seasons contains 205 levels including the most recent Halloween update, although there's no mention of this year's Christmas-themed levels out now for other platforms.  Finally, there's Angry Birds Rio, Rovio's film tie-in which takes an ever-so slightly mixes up the standard formula.
All three games are priced at $4.99, which is more expensive than the HD versions for the Apple iPad, and considerably more than the free versions available for Android tablets. The PlayBook editions aren't blighted by any in-game advertising though. A total of $15 may sound quite a lot for three mobile games, but with more than 600 levels to play through in total, there's a lot of fun to be had.
The Angry Birds franchise celebrated its second birthday earlier this month, announcing the game had topped 500 million downloads, and a company valuation of more than $1 billion.

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Resident Evil 4: how to solve the Cave Shrine puzzles
A series of symbols in a circle.

There are a lot more optional -- and mandatory -- moments of exploration available to plyers in the Resident Evil 4 remake. One of the best examples comes in Chapter 4 when you are given the ability to move about the lake freely on your boat. Whether you found it by accident or got stuck while going along the main path, you will eventually have to solve two Cave Shrine puzzles in order to get your hands on the Church Key you need to move the story forward. If you found the altar the key is held on, you are likely at a loss as to where to go or what to do. There aren't a ton of places around the lake you can visit, but you can save a lot of time by letting us navigate you to the correct spots and lead you through these Cave Shrine puzzles in Resident Evil 4.
How to find and solve the Small Cave Shrine

The first location you're going to is at the far northeast end of the lake and is called the Small Cave Shrine. Make your way inside and you will come across a panel with a circle of buttons with unique symbols. Your goal here is to figure out which symbols to press, and in what order, to unlock the way to the key item you need.

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