Angry Birds – What the entire hubbub is about!

So, what’s so fun and addictive about a bunch of birds toppling stuff over? The answer to that is EVERYTHING is fun and addictive about it! Avid gamers will instantly recognize the block buster franchise I am referring to. Rovio, the Finnish developers came up with this outlandish idea of a bunch of angry birds seeking vengeance on a bunch of miscreant pigs that were foolish enough to steal their eggs and the rest as they say is gaming history.

So, apart from the unconventional plot of the game what else makes it so immensely popular? Angry Birds satisfies the demolitionist in me that’s my rationale for playing the game! (apparently the world also agrees with this rationale) 200 structures made of various materials ranging from rock, wood to glass are providing shelter to the pigs which a player must destroy with the aid of a sling shot and various birds. The mechanics of the game are kept fairly simple; just pull the slingshot loaded with the bird, set the angle and BOOM!! When the bird goes whizzing through the air decimating the hurdles and topples the pig, the feeling is completely satisfying and worth it.

To keep things interesting and from being monotonous, the levels are meticulously designed to present different variations of hurdles and structures the pigs are seeking refuge behind. Different kinds of birds possessing different qualities are put at the player’s disposal and it’s up to them how to best use each making full use of its inherent ability and qualities. There are birds that split into several mini versions of themselves in mid area which allow “Carpet Bombing” an area, black chickens which decimate structures by blowing up and birds which have the ability to drop “egg bomb” when in flight.

The most desired objective (other than toppling pigs over) is achieving three star ratings for finishing a level. This is done by obtaining a high score which depends on several factors:

• Least amount of birds used to complete a stage
• Most destruction wrecked (meaning completely obliterating the entire structure pigs were hiding behind) just to name a few.

The game has a sensitive physics engine imbedded in its architecture which gives different results based on different trajectories and areas where the birds land. The same system makes it near impossible to recreate the same shot which keeps things fairly interesting. The advantage of earning a three star is bragging rights on the online leader boards and later introduced by Rovio a content unlocking system. The content unlocking system makes available few levels and certain redeemable online items, which is a rather old but still nifty trait.

Newer editions of the game (needless to say also mega hits) include Angry Birds Seasons, Angry Birds Rio, Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Magic and my personal favorite Angry Birds Star Wars. Rovio people sure are good at coming up with appropriate editions and reinventing and reshaping their franchise to keep the audiences around the globe fascinated and glued.

To sum it all up, Angry Birds is extremely fun with its quirky, original and fun gameplay based on physics. Rovio continuously adds content and comes up with newer versions of the game. Angry Birds has so far sold 12 million digital copies and is one of the most phenomenal Apple iPhone app till now. It’s also been ported for other platforms and continues to be a mega hit with users and critics alike. The latest edition of Angry Birds (Star Wars) can be procured from the app store for $0.99.