Viral one-tap mobile game about guiding a bird through gaps between pipes; removed by Nguyen in February 2014.
~$50K/day in ads at peak
diff ~/p/dong-nguyen ~/p/zach-gage
Dong Nguyen vs Zach Gage
Products, revenue & stack compared side by side.
DN
Vietnamese developer who made Flappy Bird, then pulled it at the height of its fame
@dongatory Vietnam
New York game designer behind SpellTower, Really Bad Chess, Good Sudoku and Puzzmo
@helvetica United States
Dong Nguyen vs Zach Gage at a glance
Dong Nguyen and Zach Gage are both indie makers listed on IndieMakerList. They overlap in Indie Game Makers and Mobile App Makers. Dong is based in Hanoi, Vietnam, Zach in New York City, United States. Dong Nguyen has 8 products listed on IndieMakerList vs Zach Gage's 8. Zach has sold 1 product. On X, Dong has about 102K followers and Zach about 54K.
Side-by-side comparison
- Based in
- Dong Nguyen: Hanoi, Vietnam
- Zach Gage: New York City, United States
- Started
- Dong Nguyen: 2012 (14 yrs indie)
- Zach Gage: —
- Revenue (self-reported)
- Dong Nguyen: Not public
- Zach Gage: Not public
- Products listed
- Dong Nguyen: 8
- Zach Gage: 8
- Product status
- Dong Nguyen: 7 active · 1 shut down
- Zach Gage: 6 active · 1 acquired · 1 shut down
- X followers
- Dong Nguyen: 102K
- Zach Gage: 54K
- Categories
- Dong Nguyen: Indie Game MakersMobile App Makers
- Zach Gage: Indie Game MakersMobile App Makers
- Style
- Dong Nguyen: bootstrapped
- Zach Gage: exitedserial maker
- Courses & resources
- Dong Nguyen: —
- Zach Gage: —
Revenue figures are self-reported by each maker and not audited; dates and scope differ. Highlighted categories are shared by both.
Top products
Swing Copters
dotgears.com
Even harder follow-up one-tap game where a propeller-hat character climbs between swinging hammers.
Flappy Birds Family
dotgears.com
Updated multiplayer version of Flappy Bird released exclusively for Amazon Fire TV.
Shuriken Block
dotgears.com
Reflex game about blocking incoming shurikens that charted alongside Flappy Bird.
Daily puzzle site with crosswords, SpellTower and new puzzle games, co-founded with Orta Therox and acquired by Hearst Newspapers in 2023.
S
SpellTower
stfj.net
Word-finding puzzle game, his best-known title.
R
Really Bad Chess
stfj.net
Chess variant where each player starts with a random set of pieces.
G
Good Sudoku
stfj.net
Sudoku app with tools that teach advanced solving techniques.
Tech stack
No tools in common in their publicly listed stacks. See the indie maker tech stack.
No stack shared publicly.
No stack shared publicly.
How they build
- Simple one-tap mechanics with high difficulty can be deeply compelling.
- Build small games quickly and release many of them.
- Personal wellbeing matters more than chasing a hit's revenue.
- Avoid the spotlight and let the games speak for themselves.
- Make deep games that are easy to get into.
- Change one thing about a classic game and keep the rest.
- Respect players' time; avoid dark patterns in monetization.
Dong Nguyen vs Zach Gage FAQ
Who makes more money, Dong Nguyen or Zach Gage?
Neither Dong Nguyen nor Zach Gage has publicly reported a revenue figure that IndieMakerList tracks, so it's not public.
Who has built more products, Dong Nguyen or Zach Gage?
Dong Nguyen has 8 products listed (including Flappy Bird, Swing Copters and Flappy Birds Family); Zach Gage has 8 products listed (including Puzzmo, SpellTower and Really Bad Chess).
Where are Dong Nguyen and Zach Gage based?
Dong Nguyen: Hanoi, Vietnam. Zach Gage: New York City, United States.
Who has been an indie maker longer, Dong Nguyen or Zach Gage?
Dong Nguyen started in 2012 (14 years indie); Zach Gage's start year isn't listed.
Are Dong Nguyen and Zach Gage bootstrapped?
Dong Nguyen is listed as bootstrapped; Zach Gage isn't tagged as bootstrapped on IndieMakerList.
Full profiles
Read the full story, timeline and links on Dong Nguyen's profile and Zach Gage's profile.
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