Why Flappy Bird Became So Popular 2

I saw one of my friends playing Flappy Bird several weeks ago. It was a very primitive and simple game. I was surprised to hear that it was the #1 app in both android and iPhone apps at that time. Therefore, I did a small survey to find out why it has become this popular.

Let me explain the background, Flappy Bird was not the first game of that type. I myself have played a similar game in my low-end phone several years back. It is not the uniqueness. In addition, it does not have and crazy graphics for advance gameplay that can addict the gamers. I play games a lot but I do not like mobile games so I cannot imagine why it was so popular. That why I asked from other people. Take Survey

My survey (Only 5 questions, less than 1 min to fill)

1. From where did you get to know Flappy Bird
2. Why do you play Flappy Bird
3. Your best Score
4. Is there any friend of yours having a better score? What is that?
5. Rate Flappy Bird

You can take the survey from below link (help the process). Take Survey

Results (up to now)

First, I like to say most people (on average) rated this game with 3.5 starts (out of 5) so it is clear people don’t say “I love this game”. Still people like this game.

Fourth and fifth questions were asked to identify how competitive the environment is. 80% of the payers has mentioned knew whether they had a friend with better score and most of them knew the best score. This shows that people are trying to beat their friends or comparing themselves with friends.

Most of the people got to know about this from their friends but there is a larger portion, who got to know about this from the popularity of the application (from news and app markets). Some had installed it just because it was the #1 application. But after installing it they seem to like it.

Most people do not have a specific time or reason to play Flappy Bird. However, people played it whenever they were bored and while studying and some in lectures 😀

Analysis (up to now)

I think I have a clear idea on how it become so popular

1. You see your friend playing Flappy Bird
2. He can’t pass even level 2
3. You think “it is so simple and why he can’t do it”
4. So you try this, first in his phone/tab and then in your phone/tab
5. This is very simple and small game don’t take too much time to download
6. Almost all (even my mom) sees it as a playable game
7. This help the download counts in app markets
8. This make headlines and in return more users try this
9. The cycle continues, and you keep playing because you think you can improve your best score (and you can)

Do you agree with me?

This is what I inferred from the survey results. You might have a better reason; Leave your thoughts in the comments below.