Graphic by Joaquin Dorado Mariscal

When the Flappy Bird app craze led too many students to be distracted by a yellow bird moving past green pipes, astronomy and geology teacher Andy Bricker took action. He offered his fourth hour students $1 if they could bring themselves to delete Flappy Bird off their phones, proving themselves to not be addicted.

“I heard that Flappy Birds was no longer being sold on the App Store. So I immediately began offering $1 to any students who would delete the game from their phones,” Bricker said. “Some students took the money and deleted the game. Others were too addicted to quit. Some demanded $2 or $3 before they’d delete their game. Either way, it was the best money I ever spent. Now they can get back to leading productive lives, and I don’t have to watch them stare mindlessly at their phones.”

Flappy Bird, which was released in May, briefly emerged as one of the more simple games you could play on your smartphone.

The objective of the game is to tap the screen keeping Flappy flying, then maneuver him through green obstacles, gaining one point each time you pass through an obstacle. The game doesn’t get harder or easier as you progress with your single life.

For junior Dearion Cooper, the minimalism of the game is what makes it so addictive.

“I think that it’s because it’s so frustrating, and it gives people a challenge,” Cooper said. “It keeps them somehow entertained even though there’s not much movement, or excitement. Still, you get close to your score, you get really excited, then you end up dying, and it frustrates you. You try to play again just to beat your high score.”

That addictive nature is also what led to the game being pulled from app stores on Feb. 9. Developer Dong Nguyen told “The Washington Post” he was worried the game had created an “unexpected addiction” and “negative effect” on players.

Yet, the removal of the game may have done the opposite of what Nguyen wanted. Flappy Bird downloads went through the roof after Nguyen warned he would remove Flappy Bird.

“I am sorry ‘Flappy Bird’ users, 22 hours from now, I will take ‘Flappy Bird’ down. I cannot take this anymore,” he tweeted on Feb. 8, drawing 145,534 retweets and 46,572 favorites.

For those with the app, the competition continues. While some players seem to be impressed with a high score in the 20s, Cooper, as of press time, held second place on Lawrence High’s leaderboard with a high score of 320.

There are many different perspectives on the game, but everyone seems to agree about its difficulty. For senior Abby Schmidtberger, that keeps her playing.

“It is just a really fun game,” Schmidtberger said. “Whenever I mess up, I want to keep trying. I really just like the concept of the game. It’s challenging, creative and requires focus.”

There doesn’t seem to be much of a strategy you could use to be more successful at Flappy Bird, so luck and good reaction time is all you need. At least, that was the case for Schmidtberger. She holds a score of 385, which is the highest amongst her peers currently.

“I’m not really sure how I got such a high score,” Schmidtberger said. “I don’t constantly play it, so it was kind of luck.”

With Flappy Bird off the market, smart phones with the app installed are now for sale on eBay, along with paintings and T-shirts. While, it’s possible the developer will bring the game back to the App Store, for now his other equally-challenging game “Super Ball Juggling” or other Flappy Bird imitated games like “Ironpants” will just have to do.

After paying students money to get rid of the app, Bricker states that he will be there for the addicted.

“If the problem persists, I’m thinking about starting an after-school Flappy Birds support group, for people who just can’t seem to get back to leading normal lives,” Bricker said.  “It’ll be a long, painful process I’m sure, but I’m hopeful.”