Submission + - Why Flappy Bird Is/Was So Successful And Popular But So Difficult To Learn (mauronewmedia.com)
efisher writes: This article presents a cognitive teardown of the user experience of the highly popular Flappy Bird game, covering how powerful the promise of simplicity in a UI can be, the man-machine interactive attributes that are correlated with highly effective motivational factors, and a discussion of the cognitive science behind concepts such as simplicity/complexity deceit, error tolerance, transfer of learning, and reward systems. The post ends with a round of applause for Flappy Bird creator Dong Nguyen, who succeeded in promising simplicity, delivering brilliant complexity, and sustaining player motivations beyond all reasonable expectations.