For anyone living under a work for the last few weeks, the guy behind Flappy Bird, from 2013, Dong Nguyen, has released another frustrating casual title, Swing Copters. And, just as with Flappy Bird, the retro graphics have proved so easy to copy that a brace of clones have shot up for Windows Phone (a platform that Dong doesn't develop for, it seems). I had a look and this is the best - Swing Copters WP8.

From the minimalist Store description:

Swing Copters For Windows Phone

1.Tap screen to turn;
2.Avoid the hammer and obstacles;
3.Enjoy yourself,and share to your friends!

In action, the game is, of course, identical to the original, you try to control a rising helicopter alternating left and right flight by tapping, while trying to avoid swinging hammers and rigid platforms.

[The realist in me says that we should be told why the helicopter can't go straight up, why the hammers are there at all and why anyone would be willing to risk a million pounds of personal helicopter innovation every few seconds - but that's just me being grumpy, I think!!]

My high score, after half an hour, was only 6! See if you can do better.... You can download this free game (with no ads yet) here in the Store.

The Flappy Birds/Swing Copters phenomenon is unusual in many ways, not least that the games are so graphically and conceptually simple that they're trivial to copy, yet the developer chooses not to go after anyone producing clones. Maybe it's a cultural thing (Vietnam)? In any case, the cloning scene means that we get the title on Windows Phone, in essence, so I doubt anyone's complaining.