‘Flying Cyrus,’ a Flappy Bird Knockoff Starring Miley Cyrus, Is the No. 1 App for iPhone

Jason O. Gilbert
·Technology Editor

When it comes to knocking off Flappy Bird, it appears that developers can’t stop. And they won’t stop.

Flying Cyrus is the latest, and probably dumbest, copycat of Flappy Bird, iPhone and Android megahit game. Flying Cyrus is just like Flappy Bird, except the bird is replaced by the head of long-tongued pop star Miley Cyrus, and the green pipes have been replaced by wrecking balls and sledgehammers, two integral props from the music video for the Cyrus smash “Wrecking Ball.”

As of this writing, Flying Cyrus was the No. 1 free app in Apple’s App Store. Other apps in the top 10 included Splashy Fish, an aquatic version of Flappy Bird, and Dumpy Doge, a Flappy Bird replica that inserts the Shiba Inu from the “Doge” meme as the hero.

Let all of that sink in for a moment. OK, let’s continue.

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Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen removed Flappy Bird from both the Apple and Android app marketplaces early last week, claiming on Twitter that he was uncomfortable with how addictive his game had become. At the time, Flappy Bird was No. 1 on both stores; demand only increased once the app disappeared. Since then, Flappy Bird has inspired plenty of knockoffs, as developers rushed to cash in on the unavailable app. Those copycats had gotten so prevalent that Apple and Google both reportedly began rejecting apps with the word “Flappy” in them.

Flying Cyrus is the logical extension of this trend toward copycatting. And though Flying Cyrus does not have the word “Flappy” in it, it is, we think, pretty bird-brained. If you must, you can download and play Flying Cyrus for iPhone and iPod Touch right here. The game is free and twerks — er, works — on all iPhones with iOS 5 and newer.

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