The last time London mayor Boris Johnson took to the skies, he was left dangling. Perhaps he should have flapped his arms a bit more. Now he has the chance.

Johnson is the star of the latest Flappy Bird clone game, Flappy Mayor, released this week for iPhone and iPad, putting Boris alongside Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus, who've also received their own flappy tribute games.

It's fair to say that the game's developer, Pranadev, isn't a paid-up member of the BoJo fanclub. "How to play? TAP TAP TAP TAP to make the mayor flap around a lot! (Like his day job)," explains Flappy Mayor's listing on Apple's App Store. The game also features the late RMT leader Bob Crow, as an obstacle for the flying Johnson.

The company's own website hints at distinctly less ambition than the game's subject, too, cheerfully admitting that "Flappy Mayor is a silly game". Pranadev has previously released one iOS app: a revision guide for anatomy and physiology students.

The original Flappy Bird game became a sudden global craze earlier this year, although its developer Dong Nguyen removed it from Apple and Google's app stores after complaining of the pressures caused by having such a big hit.

Since then, a wave of clones has been released by other developers, including the chart-topping Flying Cyrus, and a clutch of Justin Bieber tributes. Johnson isn't even the first city mayor to be given the Flappy treatment: controversial Toronto mayor Rob Ford stars in a number of examples including Floppy Ford, Farty Ford and Chubby Mayor – The Legend of Rob Ford.

In one 24-hour period in February alone, The Guardian counted 95 new Flappy Bird clones released for iOS. A poll in March, meanwhile, found 80% of British children citing Flappy Bird as one of their favourite apps.

The key question now: will Boris be playing Flappy Mayor on his own smartphone? Possibly not: "I'm not a great advertisement for apps myself," he admitted in March. "I used to know how to get the apps but it's something to do with my daughter's birthday and I've lost it."

Prime Minister David Cameron may be more likely to download the new game, having already professed his admiration for mobile games like Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja.

• Flappy Bird is dead, but brilliant mechanics made it fly