Flappy Bird Creator Releases Cute, Frustrating New Game

The creator of Flappy Bird, Dong Nguyen, is back after over three years with Ninja Spinki Challenges, which was made in conjunction with the publisher Obokaid’em Games. The new game is absolutely adorable. It’s also very hard.

Like Flappy Bird, Ninja Spinki Challenges works with limited controls to create surprisingly complex puzzles. But instead of just one kind of challenge, you’re tasked with surviving six game modes for as long as you can. You’ll tap behind Spinki the ninja to throw shurikens, swipe to dodge fruit. You start out each challenge with a goal of lasting 10 seconds, and despite the simplicity actually lasting that long is real hard. The room that Spinki has to move around in is pretty small, and it’s easy to overshoot where you need to be as you’re swiping and tapping. I have been thwarted by falling bananas so many times.

An endless mode for each type of challenge can be unlocked, as well as modes that task you with surviving for longer and longer. At this point, 10 seconds each is enough for me. The game is available for free on Android and iOS.