How to cheat at Flappy Bird for Android

By Jerry Hildenbrand
last updated

Victory is just a root away — and anyone can cheat at Flappy Bird.

God I hate this game. Flappy Bird is simple, and you can easily cheat at Flappy Bird. I just want it to be done so it can go away. Hats off to the developer who figured out how to make a few dollars from endless frustration and a couple hours of coding, but Flappy Bird needs to die.

It hit me this afternoon — the best way to stop playing a game is to cheat so hard you'll never be able to match the result by normal means. After that, you never want to play again and don't care when everyone else talks abut playing it.

Luckily, Flappy Bird is as easy to cheat at as it is to die flapping.

Got Root?

Like most things that break and ruin other things on Android, you need to be rooted to do this. So go hit the forums and see how to root your phone or tablet so you can beat Flappy Bird. The rest is easy as pie.

Install Flappy Bird if you haven't. You'll find a link at the top of this post. Then install ES File Explorer (opens in new tab). Any root aware file explorer will work, but ES is free and the one everybody seems to like best. Just shut up and install it.

  • Open Flappy Bird and play at least one time. Probably the only time you'll want to play. God I hate this game.
  • Close it. Actually go to your app multitasking space and swipe it away. 
  • Open ES File Explorer, and swipe right to open the left-side menu. Tap the "Tools" line item and make sure "Root Explorer" is turned on.
  • Then tap the "Local" line item, and choose "Device." This puts you in the root of the System, and it's where you need to start.
  • Swipe the left menu away, and tap the folder named "data". Look for another folder also named "data" and tap to open it.
  • Scroll down to find the folder named "com.dotgears.flappy" and open it.
  • Open the "shared_prefs" folder, and tap the FlappyBird.xml file. You'll get a choice of ways to open it, choose ES Note Editor.
  • Tap the three dots in the upper right, and choose Edit.
  • The fourth line is what you need to change. Set the <int name="score" value ="your_shitty_score" /> to something like <int name="score" value ="999999" />. Don't boher trying to set a low number to try and fool anyone, because we all know that every score higher than 20 is totally a cheat. Go big or go home, son.
  • When you're done changing it, hit the back arrow in the upper left and save the file when prompted.
  • Close ES File Explorer and open Flappy Bird. Play until you die, and you'll see your new high score.
  • Take a screenshot and share with all your friends and on Google+ and Twitter, so people know you beat this awful game and can now move on to more fun things, like passing kidney stones or watching paint dry.
Jerry Hildenbrand
Jerry Hildenbrand
Senior Editor — Google Ecosystem

Jerry is an amateur woodworker and struggling shade tree mechanic. There's nothing he can't take apart, but many things he can't reassemble. You'll find him writing and speaking his loud opinion on Android Central and occasionally on Twitter.

88 Comments
  • Wow Posted via Android Central App
  • http://sploid.gizmodo.com/how-to-beat-flappy-bird-a-video-tutorial-15185...
  • So, the S Hammer method is off the table? Posted via Android Central App
  • Nope, that's right after you share the screen shot.
  • My high score is 71. No cheats.
  • My highscore is 143. Have you seen the global highscores? It's a shame the game has been hacked, I would love to see Real scores. The first one I think is about 9 thrillion. That's impossible.
  • I got a 36 without cheating. And that was after playing it for only 10 minutes :)
  • f_ing LOVE IT !!!! People at work will be so jealous of my super high score!!!
  • I love how when people say, "No cheating" or "without cheats" they think we'll believe them..
  • Or care... "Oh my, you got 53 without cheats, can I be your friend?!"
  • Why are you mad? There is no reason to be mad.
  • No anger, only sarcasm. Don't get your flappy wings in a bunch. :)
  • I like to flap the bird as much as the next guy.
  • This sort of thing makes leaderboards pointless.
  • ikr
  • FUCK THIS GAME! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Posted via Android Central App
  • I can't believe this This is an acceptance of defeat lololol
  • It's a triumph over defeat.
  • I would have expected this post over at imore, but not here... :)
  • Dont think you can root a Apple device so this hack is not possible there.lol Posted via Android Central App from Nexus 7 2013
  • Huh? Of course you can. You must be new to the Internet.
  • What do you think jailbreaking is?
  • I've got 46 legit. Google Play Games says so. But somehow people have been able to upload their hacked results to Play Games -- not sure how you can do that.
  • Et tu Jerry? Then fall Flappy Bird Posted via my G Pad which is much better than some silly Nexus
  • 297. No cheat. On YouTube for proof Posted via Android Central App
  • Yea ... Well... I got 4... in a row... so suck it! Lol B-) Posted via Android Central App
  • same game or 1 on 4 consecutive games?
  • Lol, valid question... same game. Many 1s .. Many 0s... followed by frustration and pure hatred towards the developer.. finally high score of 4.. immediately uninstalled.. now less at risk of going on a murderous rampage.. win for everyone. Posted via Android Central App
  • Sucks to be you Nexus 4 - CM10.1.3
  • My friend actually got 83 without cheating... I don't actually waste time on stupid games...
  • 87 here, I don't really understand the giant frustration around this game.
  • My high score is 98 with no cheating. My brother is at 88
  • ,,every score higher than 20 is totally a cheat,, well not every score, i have 98 and its not cheat, so there are people that have 20+score and are not cheaters.
  • Lmao this is ridiculous! Anything over a 20 is a cheat? Loved the guide. Thanks a lot for the heads up. Did you come up with it all? Must've taken some time and patience to know what to do to get there.
  • For people who supposedly hate this game, you guys sure spend a lot of time talking about it. 3rd post today? Ya, sure you hate it, riiiight Posted using my Galaxy Note 3 via Android Central App
  • Just like you did not write all the comments, I did not write all the posts. We are people. Not a Mobile Nations borg.
  • Maybe not, but resistance IS futile Posted via my G Pad which is much better than some silly Nexus
  • But Phil has posted several lol
  • Exactly Posted using my Galaxy Note 3 via Android Central App
  • I guarantee figuring out how to hack the score with root was more fun than playing the actual game. ಠ益ಠ
  • Someone is obsessed. Posted via Android Central App
  • Not just one person. Phil would've made this post himself, but he's too busy crying in a dark room, trying to hit 20.
  • IKR. Phil's gonna need a 12 step program soon Posted via my G Pad which is much better than some silly Nexus
  • I don't understand the hate coming from the editors here. Sure, you don't like it. We get it AC, congratulations. It's a fun little time waster. Posted via Android Central App
  • It's funny to make fun of popular things.
  • Yeah, it's funna do bad things.
  • Everytime I get to around 40 something my concentration gives out. I know I could get higher, but my "I don't care enough" factor kicks in hard.
  • Works for me...
  • Your profile picture is creeping me out... lol.
  • I have made it past the first pole from time to time.
  • That developer just makes me so jealous lol Posted via Android Central App
  • But then you don't get the satisfaction of your high score Posted via Android Central App
  • So that explains the ridiculous scores on the Google Play leaderboards.
  • Omg I love Flappybird Central Posted via Android Central App
  • Good. Now can we stop talking about it?
  • But why cant i upload my new and improved score to google play... Also would like to say hats off to the dev of flappy bastard bird i love/hate what you did there... Posted via Android Central App
  • LOL This is full of win..thanks for the laugh Jerry!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD-nzHy2DdU
  • Quit trying to be like Armstrong.
  • 40 here, no cheat. Cheating makes no sense here unless there's a contest to win a prize. Posted via Android Central App
  • God I love this article.
  • Man, this article have me a good chuckle! :)
  • " move on to more fun things, like passing kidney stones or watching paint dry." Love it! Passing kidney stones. Bahahaha!! Jerry you're half the reason I love this place. Posted from my Nexus ecosystem.
  • Lol. Just so you know, I got 33 genuinely. It seems like it took my whole life to do it. The worst part? Because of this cheat my score means nothing. God I hate this game Posted via Android Central App
  • Ahhh! This game needs to die a horrible death lol Posted via Android Central App
  • "Install flappy bird if you haven't" worst piece of advice I've ever seen on this site. For serious, I do wonder how much wedge the guy has coined in from this piece of terrible. Posted via Android Central App
  • He wasn't actually suggesting that people should install Flappy Bird, only that they would have to in order to complete the steps. Little bit of difference there. Especially since Jerry made *zero* effort hide his contempt for this game. lol
  • This article highlights the bigger issue it's still far too easy to cheat and pirate android apps will this ever change? Posted via Android Central App
  • It will always be relatively easy to pirate and cheat at games that are not written to make any effort to prevent it on any operating system. The alternative is an OS so "locked down" that we won't be able to get anything done with it. And, even then, there will be cheaters and pirates. It's the nature of the beast. How much time, energy and money has the PC software and console game industry spent trying to stop piracy? And yet you can still pirate just about any game. It's the nature of the beast with the way software works. It will *always* be out there to some extent. Do the best you can to make it difficult (without making the software difficult to use for the people who actually paid) and then just try not to worry about it. The dirty little secret: most people who pirate software wouldn't have paid for it in the first place, even if they hadn't been able to pirate it.
  • Tip: if you want to make it obvious that you've cheated, you can also choose 1337 as score instead of 999999. :D
  • I made a how to video for this method, feel free to check it out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCULgkJvAvc Posted via Android Central App
  • Over 20 is a cheat? Really? I just scored 34, maybe just my luck but it's not impossible. I did play on my N7 so it's a bit easier. Posted via Android Central App
  • Everyone knows the red bird is the best. My high score is 3. Suck it. Posted via Android Central App
  • Here's the quickest way to beat flappy bird https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToRC3YWtsAQ
  • How to beat Flappy Bird:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FavB4NusrE
  • Wow, so flappy bird developer's really shutting down the app... That sucks http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yPZei-84W4g
  • I installed to just do this.
  • i'm at 7 no cheat take that
  • working cheat for flappy bird you can find it on
    cheatscodesdownload.com webpage
  • "ES is free and the one everybody seems to like best" Speak for yourself there buddy... I personally hate ES file explorer, and have gotten many friends to switch as well after trying Root Browser (heck I even use it and I have had a paid version of root explorer since the OG Droid) If I happen to flash a Rom with ES on it, it is the very fif st thing I end up deleting.
  • Cheating sucks...the game is made so hard that it isnt easy to get a high score...if you hang in there you are getting better...I hate cheater because they take away the fun of a game for others they play without cheats. Its so frustrating to see all these fucking cheated scores...hate you...fucking cheaters
  • I made my own cheat that works great, check my video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFARSjVd3Ws
  • Hi, I use a hack for Flappy Bird which made by bird invincible, removed all pipes and ads, and let me edit my score. Here it is:
    http://andrways.blogspot.com/2014/02/download-game-apk-flappy-bird-most....
  • That's not easy enough, can you make a hack that just says "you win" when I touch the screen and gives me the infinity symbol for my score? Then I'll feel good about myself.
  • download cheat for ios & android http://adf.ly/dwoNT
  • I don't get why people feel the need to cheat at every single game.
  • Really, dude? You think any score over 20 is "totally a cheat?" You must really suck, I just topped 26. Still, gonna take a while for me to top that one guy at over 5 quintillion.
  • I scored 157....no cheats
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