A Lesson In Growth Hacking – How Did Flappy Bird Become #1?

If you haven’t heard of Flappy Bird I will apologize right now to exposing you to a game that will most likely frustrate you to no end. It’s a simple game, with incredibly basic graphics that makes the original Mario Brothers look futuristic. Oh and there’s only one move, click the screen to cause the tiny pixelated bird flap it’s wings.

flappy-bird-growth-hacking

The game has risen to meteoric success and now enjoys the top spot as the #1 game in the iOS and Google Play app stores. It has been covered by VentureBeat, Time, Forbes, and the list goes on. Yes, the game could have been developed and run fine on an Atari twenty years ago.

Ever heard of the old saying “keep it simple stupid?” Well they did, and it worked. However 99% of all simple games like Flappy Bird never make it, Flappy Bird used some pretty slick growth hacking techniques to get the notoriety it now sees. From fake user reviews, fake tweets, and “promotion bots” they pulled-out every stop.

I think this game really illustrates how growth hacking can be applied to make just about anything popular. While huge game studios dump millions into marketing Flappy Bird shows us that growth hacking can beat even the biggest budgets.

Want to learn more about how Flappy Birds growth-hacked its way to success, feel free to read below.

Flappy Bird’s Smoke & Mirrors – Is Something Fishy Going On?

Developer Behind “Flappy Bird,” The Impossible Game Blowing Up The App Store, Says He Just Got Lucky

Want to be a world-class growth hacker? Then get out of the building!

Want to give it a shot? You can play it right now:

Now the magic question, what’s your high score on Flappy Bird?

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton