# Flappy Bird

> A solo developer’s game reached No. 1 before he withdrew it from the app stores.

- Owner: Dong Nguyen / .Gears
- Kind: Game
- Sector: Gaming
- Seed date: 2013-05-24
- Peak proxy date: 2014-02-09
- Date basis: Proxy date; not a directly measured attention peak.
- Spread Score: 44 (Notable, provisional), v1.2
- Mechanics: Shareable output, Underdog, Platform jump, Press loop, Dupe economy

## Summary

Flappy Bird topped the US App Store months after release amid score posts, complaints and YouTube reactions. Nguyen reported $50,000 a day in ads, then withdrew it on February 9, 2014, the reported search peak. Copycats followed.

## Timeline

- 2013-04-29 — Dong Nguyen (X) — Nguyen posted a splash screen for Flap Flap before renaming the game Flappy Bird.
- 2013-05-24 — Dong Nguyen / .Gears (App stores) — Nguyen released Flappy Bird for iOS and posted its App Store download link.
- 2013-11-04 — @alexisbaskervil (X) — The account posted a complaint later identified as the first non-owner tweet about the game.

The full timeline, metrics and sources are on the case page, or via the Pro API (https://howitspread.com/developers).

Canonical URL: https://howitspread.com/cases/flappy-bird

Cite as: How It Spread (2026). “Flappy Bird.” Case HIS-01343. Spread Score v1.2: 44/100. Updated 2026-10-22. https://howitspread.com/id/HIS-01343