Who Made the Original 'Flappy Bird'? Find Out Here

About 14 years ago, a British data journalist named David McCandless and a "programmer friend" created the low-resolution, Flash-based Helicopter Game within the space of a few days.

That app was a product of an inspiration McCandless got while running seethru.co.uk, which was the focus of BBC show 'Attachments'. The said show "was about an internet startup called seethru." It could be safely said it had a "reality show" format as the program was based on an existing site.

"We just did silly articles and quizzes and games," the information designer told Mashable. His experience writing about and playing video games helped him develop that nose for knowing what works and what makes a game "addicting," he related.

This "good feel" led him to design Helicopter Game's playing mechanics as this simple challenge of making a small helicopter avoid green, vertical strips by merely making it go up or down when necessary.

Sounds familiar?

McCandless said that his little game very gradually became a cult hit. "I never expected it to be a big craze," he added. "It never really occurred to me I could make it into a business or make it into a commercial product. I just created it because it was a cool, fun thing to do and it was fun to upload it and people liked it."

Doesn't that sound familiar too?

Since Helicopter Game became a hit, McCandless revealed that he had seen many other apps that operate on the same idea as his own game.

"When the App Store first came in [in 2008], somebody ripped it off, just completely ripped the whole game off, and sold it for like $2 and it was the seventh biggest selling iOS app for about three months. I was kind of incensed but I didn't have the funds or will to get legal on it," he said.

In recent months, McCandless once again saw his own game replicated via Flappy Bird. Mashable reported that its developer, Dong Nguyen, is taking in $50,000 per day for that game alone. However, this may change following Nguyen's decision to take the app down.

McCandless isn't bitter about the Vietnamese developer's jackpot, though. However, he has this to say to Nguyen:

"Dong, if you want to contribute some of your vast earnings to a charity [Ganet's Adventure School] of my naming in honor of your inspiration of my game I'd be very happy with that."

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