Less than a week ago, MrBeast— real name Jimmy Donaldson— announced to his more than 55-million YouTube subscribers that his beloved and lucrative game, Finger on the App would be returning after a nearly one-year hiatus. The game is simple: keep one finger on your device’s screen the longest, while moving your finger to designated areas within a quick 5-second period.
On March 20th, 2021, over 1.4 million people tried their luck on version 2 of the famed app hoping to win the $100,000 cash prize, including some of social media’s biggest stars. The DreamLA, one of Los Angeles’ well-known content houses, threw an impromptu collaboration of nearly a dozen creators, boasting a collective following of over 60 million.
TikTok stars Tyler Schrage, Nathan Piland, Shannon Baker, Danim, Ian Robert, YouTube sensation, Vardan Antonyan, and professional skateboarder Dakota Olave were just some of the celebrity creators hosted at the nearly 10,000 square foot hillside mansion. The creators were lavishly hosted in style, with a huge food and drink spread, and hostesses catering to their every need.
For nearly 4 hours, all members of the group circled their tired fingers back-and-forth across their device screens, when the game seemingly glitched, taking out several creators in succession within a 30-second period, despite them having all 3 lives prior to. MrBeast tweeted out that he was activating “bombs” that were intended to wipe out bots that were cheating the game, but it seems that this also wiped out a huge group of honest players as well. Hoards of game players immediately took to social media to express their frustration that they had been unfairly eliminated from the game after playing successfully for many hours.
MrBeast did address the glitch issue on Twitter, saying that app developers are “still investigating” the issues, and apologising if there was a “real glitch.”
In the end, over 900,000 fans of the collective watched their live stream coverage, but sadly, they could not pull off the win. The Playhouse LA’s Olave was the last of the group to lose the game, lasting nearly 7-hours, and placing in the top 4,000. “My finger stuck on the screen, and when I tried to move it, it hopped off for just a millisecond, and that was it,” lamented Olave.
“I honestly had so much fun,” said Schrage. “I would do it again in a second if he [MrBeast] comes out with another game. I got to eat good and hang out with my friends,” adding, “I think MrBeast needs to make sure he’s not killing off real players next time; maybe tweak that a little bit.”
More than 12-hours into the game, there are still nearly 1,000 people circling their tired fingers.
If last year’s players are any indication on how the game may go this year, it could be days before a winner is declared. One thing is certain, MrBeast knows how to create a game that is equally addicting as it is frustrating.