Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen is apparently ready to have his life ruined again as the Vietnam-based app developer gears up to launch his follow-up mobile game, Swing Copters.
According to a pre-launch video (below) from TouchArcade demonstrating the game, it looks rather like a vertical version of Flappy Bird. Equally frustrating, as well as equally blocky, the game looks set to drive millions mad as they attempt to steer the copter character skyward, avoiding swinging hammers as it goes.
Related: Big challenges face indie app developers
As with Flappy Bird, Swing Copters will be offered for free – with ads – when it launches Thursday, while an ad-free experience will be offered for 99 cents.
While Swing Copters is expected to launch for the iPhone this week (TouchArcade focuses on iOS gaming), there’s no word yet on whether an Android version is also ready for release.
$50,000 a day
Flappy Bird, which launched in May 2013, went viral at the start of this year, flying to the top of mobile app charts around the world and at its peak generating a reported $50,000 a day for developer Dong.
However, the 28-year-old Hanoi resident became overwhelmed by all the sudden attention, causing him to pull it from app stores in early February. “I cannot take this anymore,” Dong tweeted at the time.
Little did Dong realize that pulling the game would only serve to fuel the Flappy Bird phenomenon, with a $10,000 “RIP Flappy Bird” T-shirt hitting an online clothes store, and iPhones with the game still loaded landing on eBay for $90,000 and $100,000.
Crude clones
Meanwhile, developers around the world hoped to cash in by filling the space once occupied by Dong’s game, with thousands of crude clones (Flapping Ninja, Flappy Kitty, Floppy Spongy, and Flappy Beard Hipster Quest among them) launching on iOS and Android in the weeks following Flappy Bird’s demise.
Simple to play, impossible to master, and annoyingly addictive, Flappy Birds hit the spot for millions of mobile gamers looking for an easy way to kill some time. Looking at the video demo of Swing Copters, Dong may have another hit on his hands – especially now that he’s made a name for himself – though whether he’ll be able to handle all the attention this time around is anyone’s guess.
