Flappy Bird was a massively popular game in 2013, so popular that the creator had to take it down from the play store because he said it was so addicting. Enter the era of blockchain technology and now, the people behind Fancy Games Studios are bringing back the familiar game with the added earning power of blockchain gaming! Will it be something entirely new or just an old game trying to claw its way back disguised in a fancier form?

Graphics/Artstyle

With the retro-arcade look that the original Flappy Bird game had, Fancy Birds continues with the aesthetic choices of the original by making it look like 16-bit, reminiscent of the Super Mario games however they replaced the large green pipes that our familiar fowl use to flap between with tree logs that send the bird to the home screen whenever you touch them.

There’s also an added element of a tractor that rolls around below the fledgling that cuts at the trees your bird has already passed through. I guess it helps bring a sense of urgency to the player and adds a little pressure to help give the feeling of blowing past the obstacles before the tractor catches you. 

It also wouldn’t be called Fancy Birds if the bird was not styled for its comeback. There are 8,888 different NFT birds, each with its own unique design. They are then bred to give birth to countless combinations of the original birds making sure that no two flappers look the same. 

Earning Mechanics

Fancy Birds works just like Flappy Bird but you get to earn coins as you reach milestones and complete quests in the game. Quests provide a varying amount of tokens depending on the quest, ranging from dailies and weeklies that reset as often as their name suggests. They have varying levels of difficulty like reaching a certain point or accumulating a requested score. Each quest will give you Fancy Game coins which is the token used in the game and the marketplace.

You can also breed the birds and create baby birds that can then be sold on the marketplace or rented out to other players. Giving you a portion of their earnings whenever they use your birds to play the game.

Final Thoughts

As someone who played a lot of Flappy Bird in the past, I felt a sense of nostalgia when I first saw this game. That might have influenced my first impression but at the end of the day, Fancy Birds is an endless runner/side scroller and hasn’t added anything new to the formula so I feel like it will feel rewarding at first, but I wouldn’t expect to get invested into it on the long run. I guess if you really find the birds cool and want to collect them, then you might find value in purchasing the NFTs. However, when it comes to gameplay, I think most will find it stale after a few weeks or months give or take. 

The only thing motivating players to keep on playing is the earning potential the game provides. However, in the crypto space, most coins often fluctuate in value and if Fancy Games coin finds itself in a bad spot, then I think players will quickly abandon the game. I hope the developers continue adding to the game and I suggest adding new game modes to extend the game's longevity and playability. 

Reviving old games that we once loved is a really interesting application of blockchain technology. It helps us get closer to understanding the intricacy of new information and familiarize ourselves with new ideas that may become the new norm for us. I just hope with the rising amount of competition in the Play-to-earn space, developers make strides to create new experiences for all of us to explore and not just a quick hit of nostalgia that old games with new tech may temporarily provide.