Flappy Bird tops 2014 Google gaming searches, Destiny and 2048 also make the cut

The most searched game of 2014

Games are now easier to access and build as independent developers take on the big studios. Seven years in development, Destiny made record sales upon its release, but despite ruling the second half of the year, it was outdone in total searches by Flappy Bird and 2048 – games made by one person in no more than three days.

Google, on Tuesday, published its annual Year In Review post, highlighting key trends for the year, and it showed that the mobile sensation Flappy Bird was by far the most searched games term. The search giant writes that at its peak in February, when the game rose to prominence only to be removed days later (it has since returned).

Flappy Bird's search trend was more than double that of Destiny. Bungie's latest shooter may have had the biggest budget of games released in 2014, but it was outperformed in terms of Google search trends by Flappy Bird and another small-scale title, 2048. To put Flappy Bird's enormous popularity into context, Google's global search trend results show that Flappy Bird was number six in the overall search for 2014. It even outpaced ISIS, Frozen, and the Soichi Olympics. Robin Williams was the top overall search trend of 2014.