The Flappy Addiction

Sometimes, after a tiring and stressful day, when there are no pressing or urgent matters to attend to, playing computer games can be a good way to destress and unwind. In recent times, however, games are no longer played on expensive game consoles such as xbox or playstation. The advent of android phones has unleashed a flurry of games that are more accessible to many people. Filipinos are technology savvy and enamoured in cellular phones that even tricylce drivers and our everyday 'magtataho' do not go out without one. Recent study shows that todays Filipino teens embrace technology, particularly the cellular phones and social networking sites. Thus, the proliferation of android games in many a cellphone users is nothing to be surprised about. There are different types of games that one can play on the android phone or the smart phone. There are the zombie type games, the war type gun shooting games ala Counter Strike, there are the fantasy games RPG (Role Playing Games) like DOTA (Defense of the Ancients), there are the puzzle games like Candy Crush, and many more types of games. And then there is this:

Flappy Bird. This is a 2013 mobile game notorious for its difficulty level developed in Hanoi by Vietnam based developer Nguyen Ha Dong. It's a side scrolling game with the objective of directing a flying bird, which moves continuously to the right between each oncoming set of pipes without colliding with them, which otherwise, ends the game. And what's more, the graphics is so pro! (sarcasm intended). A 2D retro-style graphics reminiscent of Nintendo games.
Some may think or ask, what 's the big deal about an obnoxious little bird trying to weave it's way through pipes? Why, in god's name, would it be addicting? According to Huffington Post, "Flappy bird is an insanely irritating, difficult and frustrating game which combines super-steep difficulty curve with bad, boring graphics and jerky movement". Depsite this, however, many claim that the game is very addicting. Every gamer has experienced the thrill of winning and the agony of defeat. The question that arises, then, is this: what happens in our brains when we play, and why can't we stop playing even punishing games like flappy bird? According to the writer Greg Stevens, the focused feeling when playing addictive games is like the concept of flow, which was coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow arises 'when there is a perfect balance between stress and reward. If the task you're engaged in is too hard and you don't succeed, then you're emotions swing in one direction: anxiety, anger and frustration. If the task is too easy, you swing in the other: boredom and disinterest. When challenge and success are balanced, the result can be emotionally intoxicating. ' 

Flow is the creative process behind many inventors' and creative geniuses' works. Video games can also induce flow if they have that perfect mix of challenge and success. Besides that, playing them also increases the dopamine and adrenaline in our brains, which is why they can be so addictive. In the case of flappy bird, it may actually be a perfect mix of easy and difficult. The interface and gameplay is easy enough in that one just needs to tap to keep the bird in flight. However avoiding the pipes while keeping the bird in flight is actually difficult. Thus, the game can legitimately addicting for most. And here are some comments on just how this Flappy Bird phenomenon can be addicting:

So there we have it. People are indeed addicted to the game. However, some people have taken this addiction to whole new levels like the report about a boy who allegedly killed his own brother over a flappy bird score. This level of addiction may have been the impetus why the creator of the gave has already taken down the game. The mysterious of the worlds most popular free app, has told Forbes that Flappy Bird is dead. According to Forbes, Nguyen told them that "Flappy Bird was designed to play in a few minutes when you are relaxed, But it happened to become an addictive product. I think it has become a problem. To solve that problem, it’s best to take down Flappy Bird. It’s gone forever."
Of course, many Flappy bird addicts would not just sit by and watch this take place. When Nguyen decided to terminate the game, he received many negative responses, death threats, and suicide tweets. One woman even tweeted him a photo of a gun in her mouth, saying, “If you delete flappy bird, I’ll kill myself.” Even if a majority of these messages weren't serious, this gives you an idea of the massive amount of attention Nguyen was forced to endure during the game's sudden rise.
As for me, I would not harm myself or anyone for any games that I play whether it be addicting or not. I have played the famed game and I am about an inch close myself to getting addicted. I guess it was fortunate that Nguyen took it down.