Flappy Bird lives again as coding eduction tool

Finally, Flappy Bird has a use outside of causing phones to be smashed. Coding site Code.org has taken the skeleton of Flappy Bird – an endless runner which was unusually popular — and turned it into a simplified coding education tool. Suddenly, the opportunity to create your own Game of Thrones-themed Flappy Bird becomes a palatable reality.

“Anybody can learn” says Code.org’s blog post. It’s also the sites one-year anniversary so a dose of popular gaming can’t go amiss with coders eager to learn.

It takes the form of a drag-n’-drop tutorial, comprising eight steps. Once finished, you can share your Flappy Bird clone with the world. The best part of the Code.org process is that step-by-step moments are seen as little puzzles. In order to advance to the next section of the coding exercise, puzzles such as “guide the bird to the goal by implementing the correct code” appear. It’s extremely simple with the underlying structure firmly set to “fun”.

The look and feel of the coding lessons are Lego, or modular in nature. Coding bricks are attached to commands and if the lines of code are successfully assembled, it’s on to the next lesson. Is this what they would call, “Flappy Code”? It’s basic, but opens up coding in a fun and meaningful way. Who ever though that Flappy Bird would be more than a waste of valuable internet real-estate? Finally, here’s our version, “Flappy Unicorn” filled with lava, lasers and a golden horse.

Click to play Flappy Unicorn.