It’s been over half a decade since the brief mobile sensation ofFlappyBirdcaught the attention of many. While it first released in May 2013, the creator of the endless running side-scroller, Dong Nguyen, chose to remove the game entirely from digital stores the following February. WhileFlappy Birdreceived significant attentionat the time, it appears the rise of battle royale has inspired a new collaboration most people didn’t see coming.
Today, the beta version ofFlappy Royale, which combines the gameplay mechanics ofFlappy Birdand the competitive design of battle royale, released on mobile devices and PC. The premise ofFlappy Royaleinvolves players competing against 99 other opponents to see who can make it the farthest through the traditional obstacle course of pipes. For those who didn’t play the original game, players must tap the screen to ascend, and not touch it to descend. In each respective game session, everyone starts off by jumping out of a moving bus (a common battle royale feature), and all other players are visible on-screen. The beta can either be downloaded on Android and iOS devices, or via web browser at itch.io.
If one takes away the visuals of the other birds flying around and the concept of jumping out of a bus at the beginning,Flappy Royaleis basically the same thing asFlappy Bird.The new game however, wasn’t released by the original creator Dong Nguyen, but rather three different developers: Zach Gage, Em Lazer-Walker, and Otra Therox. Many may see this as another attempt atcloning the once-beloved endless runner, a long-existing issue that’s been frequently addressed following the original game’s permanent removal.
If history is to be of any indicator, thenFlappy Royalemay not be around for very long. Following the disappearance ofFlappy Birdin early 2014, bothApple and Google prevented clonesof the popular free-to-play game safe passage onto their respective digital stores. The idea that people were trying to take advantage of the phenomenon forced the hands of both giant tech companies, eventually causing creators to lose interest since neither Apple nor Google would budge whenever someone tried to create a game similar toFlappy Bird.
For anyone who’s interested inFlappy Royale, it’s probably best to download it now and give it a try. Since the game would have to rely on its online servers to offer a genuine “battle royale” experience, any action taken by Apple or Google against theFlappyBird -inspired mobile app could make it unplayable altogether.
Flappy Royaleis out now in beta for Mobile and PC.
