Flappy Bird Developer Returns With Swing Copters

After a brief hiatus, Flappy Bird returned earlier this month in the Amazon Appstore, but developer Dong Nguyen has some more addictive gameplay up his sleeve.

Nguyen's latest app, Swing Copters, is coming soon to a smartphone near you. The game's 8-bit world requires users to tap the screen, which propels a bug-eyed creature through gates and swinging mallets.

Unlike Flappy Bird, players push the character upwards rather than side to side, and must avoid moving targets to earn points and clear levels. As described by TouchArcade, which got an early hands-on look at the title (video below), the game is hard.

'Just getting through the gates themselves would be tricky enough, but adding in the swinging hammer things below them is just ridiculous,' Eli Hodapp wrote. 'Particularly as you're desperately trying to control your guy as he wildly swings from one direction to the other.'

Swing Copters will launch on Thursday, with a 99-cent in-app purchase option to remove ads from the top of the screen. TouchArcade did not specify which platforms will offer Swing Copters, but Flappy Bird was released on iOS and Android.

Following unprecedented success for his Flappy Bird mobile game, Nguyen announced in February that he would remove the title, tweeting that 'I cannot take this anymore.'

Fans held out hope for the game's return, which came on Aug. 1 in the form of Flappy Birds Family. Featuring the same friendly birds and familiar green pipes, the new iteration also includes a two-player option. But for now, the is only playable on Amazon's Fire TV set-top box and the Fire Game Controller.

For more, check out some Flappy Bird alternatives in the slideshow above, and PCMag's reviews of the original Flappy Bird for iPhone and Android.