Anyone with an iPhone knows what Flappy Bird is: an iPhone game that claimed its minute of fame only weeks ago. Its notorious yellow bird was found on phone screens everywhere, typically accompanied by a cacophony of curse words. Released in summer of 2013, it acquired fame in late 2013, becoming the most downloaded app of January 2014 on the App Store. It was released on Android only a week before removal on February 8.

The game’s developer, Dong Nguyen, created the game in a matter of days. He intended for it to be a time-passer, something that people would play if they had a free minute. When the game became a craze, he deemed that people were too addicted to it, and took it off e-shelves.

While its fame was undeniable, the actual quality of the game was questionable. The point of the game is to get your aviary companion through sets of pipes. The issue is that this bird is hilariously incapable of flying in a normal fashion, relying on an exceptionally clunky hop (triggered by tapping) to weave itself through the maze of bizarrely-placed plumbing. The game has been regularly panned by critics,  The game’s simple graphic design, clunky controls, and absurd difficulty lead it to be viewed as a terrible game. Even so, it became the app sensation of the month.

This screenshot to the right captures the game in its entirety.

An iPhone game does not need to be a quality game. In fact, quality typically hinders its success. An iPhone game needs to be short and simple, two things Flappy Bird excelled at. Flappy Bird was something anyone could pick up and play. Many would think that the game’s difficulty would make it unenjoyable, but, in fact, it increased the player’s urge to play it. The reason behind this is that the difficulty doesn’t appear to come from the game. The game is literally just a set of pipes. YOU are the one crashing into the pipes. If you lose, that’s your fault. You need to practice; you can’t blame the game. The fact that each game typically only lasts a matter of seconds also encourages replaying it.