Like a spontaneous flu outbreak, the smartphone application “Flappy Bird” swept through Rider in mid to late January.

Immediately following the discovery of the app, conversations where sparked over the new game.

“I heard about it Monday, and when I downloaded it, I played for an hour straight and didn’t even know,” freshman Kristen Lowery said. “I just looked up at the clock and thought ‘oh.’ I’ve probably already spent about three hours on it in just a few days.”

Other students seem to have no problem devoting much time on the app. Freshman Sheridan Proctor said she has spent “countless hours” on the application.

“I spent all day on it, and I’m not even kidding,” she said. “When you die, it makes you want to try again and not die. You have to think about something else while playing otherwise you get nervous, get close to your high score and die.”

Junior Garrett Gregg said the “simple concept” of the game captivates people because of the lack of skill needed. He himself has been caught up in the commotion stirred up by the game.

“The first time I played it, it was one in the morning, so I was already emotionally compromised, and then I played it six times and I never got passed two,” he said. “I cried. Literal tears.”

“My high score is 38, and I keep trying to get to that again, but I can’t,” he said. “But then I tell myself ‘KEEP GOING! DON’T GIVE UP! YOU GOT THIS!”

As for a teachers perspective, Algebra II teacher Chrystal Miller is not entertained and bluntly describes the game as “stupid.”

“It’s impossible to do anything and y’all are obsessed with it,” she said. “You are all obsessed with a game that has a flying bird that you tap. And there aren’t even levels; it’s just one little pipe!”

But no matter the frustration, students continue to attempt to top their last score.
Freshman Savannah Fleetwood has had many violent instances with the game.

“I threw my phone across the dance room,” she said. “I also punched the wall.”

Freshman Kylie Garretson said she has thrown her phone against the wall after failing to overcome her high score.
Another student, junior Brian Woodward, got so mad that he said he threw his tablet against the wall, nearly breaking it.

“I deleted it after that,” he said. “I’m a hard core gamer, but I’ve only played two games that were more frustrating than it.”

People insist on playing such frustrating games “because of the challenge” they present, senior Juan Rodriguez said.

“It’s irritating,” he said. “We like irritating things to occupy our attention. I think it’ll last about a month like it did with ‘Temple Run.’ ”

Freshman Taylor Wilson said people all over social media are constantly in contact with one another, therefore the process of sharing ideas and trends isn’t far fetched.

“People play it because they see others playing it.” she said. “We are friends through ‘Flappy Bird’”.

Freshman Trisha Nicolas simply said that through the game “you lose your grades, your friends, your life.”
Each year spurs a new season for trends, and Rodriguez thinks this game might be the newest.

“It might be this years thing,” he said. “Everyone likes it now, but then they think it’s been here for too long and will get rid of it.”

Woodward agrees with the idea. It will end soon because of the way things trend.

“All the games waste peoples time,” he said. “People play them for a while and uninstall them just as quickly and move on with their life. It’s a common pattern in everything.”

However, game creater Doug Nguyen removed the game from the App Store and Google Play store Sunday Feb. 9 stating that he “cannot take this anymore.”

“It is not anything related to legal issues,” he stated. “I just cannot keep it anymore. I still make games.”