Flappy Bird copycats take flight on app stores

Following the decision by its creator to take down Flappy Bird, a wave of imitators have emerged on mobile app stores.

Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen pulled the title yesterday after announcing over the weekend "I cannot take this anymore", in relation to the close scrutiny of the title. The developer was also later the subject of numerous death threats.

Other game developers have now taken advantage of the situation by releasing their own titles, some featuring similar tap mechanics, pipes as hurdles and a bird as the main character.

One example is Fly Birdie – Flappy Bird Flyer, which is currently ranked the number two free app on the App Store. The title also includes an in-app purchase of 69p for three extra lives.

Other examples include Clumsy Bird, Flappy Bird 3D, Flappy Chicken not Flappy Bird, Flappy Flying, Not so Flappy Bird 3D and Flying Bird 3D not Flappy Bird.

Phones with the original Flappy Bird have been spotted for sale on Ebay, some in excess of thousands of dollars.

An iPhone 5 currently has a bid of $90,000 with 15 hours still to go on bidding.