The Flappy Bird App was released on May 24th 2013 by Dong Nguyen but received a sudden rise in popularity in early 2014. The game, which involves tapping your device’s screen to propel a small bird through a series of strategically placed pipes, was criticised for its level of difficulty and alleged infringement of copyright in graphics and game mechanics as well as its highly addictive nature. At the end of January 2014, it was the most downloaded free game in the iOS App Store and Dong Nguyen was earning around $50,000 (£30,482) a day just from in-app advertisements.

Unfortunately, it was removed from the Apple Store and Google Play Store on February 10th 2014 by the creator Dong Nguyen because of guilt of the App’s addictive nature. After its removal Nguyen’s Twitter feed received abuse from fans unhappy at the decision, who threatened to murder him or commit suicide. As a result of the removal of the game, prices of phones with Flappy Bird pre-installed soared and many people created different versions of the game like Fall Out Bird. However, in a recent interview Dong Nguyen has admitted he has considering relaunching the app but if it was to happen the app would contain features telling the user to “take a break.”