So the story goes like this:
- Flappy Bird (free) makes lots of money via ads. When removed from the App Store by its creator, everyone went crazy.
- People started cloning Flappy Bird with new themes (or not even that) making lots of money via ads.
- Some people cloned the game for Flappy Jam (http://itch.io/jam/flappyjam), making their games free, no ads, either to support Flappy Bird’s creator or just for the fun of making a game.
- One of the games made for Flappy Jam is Flappybalt, by Adam Saltsman (you know, Canabalt’s creator, founder of http://finjigames.com/). The game is available online (http://adamatomic.com/flappybalt/). Adam released it on GitHub (https://github.com/AdamAtomic/Flappybalt), making no money out of it.
- Steve Richey made both iOS and Android ports of Flappybalt, free, no ads. He made no money out of them (Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.steverichey.flappybalt&hl=en / App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flappybalt-for-ios/id842888380?mt=8)
- Ketchapp (http://www.ketchappstudio.com/) made a Flappybalt clone called Don’t Touch The Spikes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dont-touch-the-spikes/id895942435?mt=8). Don’t Touch The Spikes was released on July 15, 2014. It is a reskin-clone of Bouncy Ninja (https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bouncy-ninja/id888923152?mt=8), a reskin-clone of Bouncy Bit (https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/id824900370?mt=8). Don’t Touch The Spikes (currently #6 in the US App Store) has ads and it’s going to make lots of money.
NOTES
- Ketchapp made a 2048 clone too. A clone of a clone of… yeah, you know the deal.
- Don’t Touch The Spikes source code is already being sold here: https://www.appsfresh.com/products/dont-touch-the-spikes-source-code-for-ios
