Flappy Bird beat the likes of Instagram and Minecraft to be titled as the most favorite mobile application among kids.
The popularity of the screen-tap bird flying game is no hidden secret. According to a March 2014 report published by The Guardian, 80 percent of children chose the short-lived mobile game over all other applications and games on smartphones. The survey was conducted by marketing firm SuperAwesome, which questioned 881 British children between the ages of six and 18 about their favorite apps. The other choices included Instagram, YouTube, Minecraft and Facebook (in no order of preference).
The survey also revealed that 70 percent of children surveyed use YouTube to watch video on demand, ahead of the 32 percent using BBC iPlayer, 17 percent watching Netflix, 13 percent on LoveFilm and 11 percent watching videos on their Xbox or PlayStation consoles.
Forty two percent of children of 8-16 year-olds said they see YouTube as "the future of TV", while 26 percent cited Netflix. Meanwhile, 26 percent of 8-14 year-olds said they had written code in some form.
Flappy Bird was a simple graphic game that users played by tapping the screens of their phones. Gamers needed to cross as many pipes possible to achieve the highest score. While the game appeared to be a simple one, it was extremely difficult to master. After being dormant for almost five months, Flappy Bird quickly rose to the number one spot on both mobile app stores and was reportedly generated $50,000 every day in ad revenue.
Dong Nguyen, the creator of Flappy Bird, suddenly removed the game from iOS and Android app stores last month. The move was criticized by millions of user, but for Nguyen, it was a relief from all the massive media attention he and his game got. After a month of silence, Nguyen told Rolling Stone in a multi-page interview that he is considering bringing back the widely popular and highly addictive smartphone game, but with a warning to "take a break."
