The messiah of Twitch Plays Pokemon has also become the hero of a new Flappy Bird clone.
Bird Jesus, also known as the Pidgey that miraculously evolved into Pidgeot on Twitch Plays Pokemon, has been dodging pipes recently thanks to Go Barcelona Startups SL.
The game has only been out for a few days, but even those unaware of Bird Jesus’ presence have flocked to the latest Flappy Bird clone. The smooth controls combined with the iconic Pokemon’s presence has grabbed many people’s attention, despite the recent onslaught of Flappy Bird copy-cats.
Jonathan Reich and his team from Zedge obtained information through their index of Android Apps, which highlighted the dramatic increase from 52 apps with the word “Flappy” in the title, to 687 during the month of February.
Clumsy Bird is one of the more successful Flappy Bird clones. With over 10 million downloads, the game successfully combines the visual design of Angry Birds with the feel-good controls of Flappy Bird, and boasts some minor customization options for your silly bird.
“Clumsy Bird has a strong monetization strategy that contributes to its gameplay.” explained Reich. “It is not a pointless marathon of tapping on a touchscreen.”
What’s also interesting are the highly successful titles that don’t have the word “Flap” in it, but still garner over 1 million downloads by simply adapting Flappy Bird’s basic gameplay formula. Floppy Bird is one those curiosities.
The twist it takes on Dong Nguyen’s original creation is the replacement of the bird with a floppy disk.
“Flappy Bird was like playing a slot machine you thought you could will to winning,” Reich said. “Maybe the nostalgic feeling of floppy disks that goes along with the retro notion of the original concept was all a successful clone needed to offer.”
Whether the connection Bird Jesus has to its Twitch Plays Pokemon audience results in a successful existence for the latest Flappy Bird copy-cat, it’s worth noting that despite the vast amount of Flappy-related games materializing in our digital marketplaces, they often do provide developers with a chance to showcase their skills, and create something else to go viral.
“These are games that are not particularly unique but are sometimes very engaging nevertheless,” explained Reich.
