Comment by malbs | Hacker News Reader

Comment by malbs | Hacker News Reader

My kids had this game on their ipad. They asked me to have a go at it, I had a look, started playing... 30 minutes later "Dad can I have my my ipad back". Seriously I was hating that game, but the desire to beat my kids score outweighed my frustration at some of those issues (hitbox of the pipes etc). I HAD to beat my previous score, I HAD to master the delicate touch required to precisely navigate those pipes. It's not even a new mechanic. It's the same as Jet Pack Joyride, so it's a copy of existing games, and it completely flogged Mario world graphics, possibly stole them as is and the guy might even have to answer to Nintendo.

It isn't on my list of games I've loved, but it was fun, in a completely infuriating way.

It's better than other games my kids typically play, ice-cream manufacturing/construction type games

Actually, the game mechanic is deceptively different.

It looks and feels like those previous helicopter games where you hold to accelerate up. But it's very different, in that, you top to give the bird a sudden impulse. This is much harder to control with precision.

That's where it's addictive nature comes from... It's deceptive as in "oh I know how to play this kind of game, I can do this!" but in reality it's way more difficult that you estimate it to be.

Jetpack Joyride has the exact same control idea when you're controlling the "Profit Bird" vehicle. So it must be a bird thing.

Interesting. It seems feasible that the cute graphics and memorable name play a role.

Hey, I just looked at it, and Jetpack Joyride does not have the same control scheme. It is the "hold button to accelerate up at constant acceleration" controls like other previous games, not the Flappy Bird's "tap to give a sudden impulse" scheme.

Edit: Actually, it's a combination of many schemes. There's a gravity suit that inverts gravity. There's jumping from the ground, which is impulse-based. But the generic jetpack flying is acceleration-while-holding-based. Bottom line, I would not say it's "exactly the same idea" as flappy bird at all.

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