The unexpected success in 2014 has turned Nguyen Ha Dong into a star of Vietnam’s startup scene in recent years. Just one week after its debut, the latest mobile game from Nguyen Ha Dong, the creator of Flappy Bird, has become the new addiction of many people around the world.
The fast-paced Ninja Spinki Challenges has won many positive reviews from users on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Staying true to the familiar 8-bit style found in Flappy Bird, it requires game players to have a good mix of dexterity and fast reactions to tap and swipe through levels.
Flappy Bird was released in May 2013 with little fanfare. By February 2014, the sleeper hit topped the charts in more than 100 countries and had been downloaded more than 50 million times. Dong reportedly earned an estimated $50,000 a day.
The Vietnamese government has seen successes like Flappy Bird as an encouraging sign. It is trying hard to cultivate a startup scene where tech entrepreneurs can create products and services that will go global.
The overnight success of Flappy Bird seemed to overwhelm its creator, who later decided to pull the game from the app stores.