It would make sense to suggest there was only space for one avian-themed bird game on the iPhone, and that’s most definitely been snatched by the headline-making, genre-defining Angry Birds.
But for every Final Fantasy, there’s a Dragon Quest, Street Fighter had its Mortal Kombat.
There should be space for two mega-hits, and Tiny Wings is a likely candidate.
There’s no destructive tendency to this ickle bird, it’s just trying get over the next hill, and keep flying. An allegory for our daily lives, or a sweet little game that costs 59p?
If you’re good enough, the game can last forever. You control a bird’s tiny wings, hold on the screen, and the bird drops, let go, and it begins to flutter those wings.
Time your tapping with the undulating hills, and gain momentum, enough to flap over hills, speed up, jump into the clouds, collect coins and leap to the next island/level.
Hard to explain, but it’s really addictive, trying to maintain the bird’s journey, slow down too much, and night catches up and it’s game over. Or at least your bird falls asleep, ready to fly again at sunrise.
Painted in beautiful pastel colours, the flight path of the bird seems to hit the joy spot in our brain, and trying to upgrade our nests is becoming an obsession. You’ll need to collect a certain amount of coins, get in ‘fever mode’ several times, and achieve other targets to get a better nest- this just means a handy score multiplier, so you can get further into the game.
It’s a cleverly addictive system. It’s these addictive qualities that have sent Tiny Wings soaring to the top of iTunes paid-for apps. Not just the most popular game, the most popular app. And it’s only 59p.
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