Here are some facts about Angry Birds, the massively popular video game franchise.
- Angry Birds started life as a video game app for Apple’s iOS. The game was created by Rovio (a company based in Finland) and was first released in December 2009.
- The game is now available for other smartphones, and it has also been released as a PC and console game.
- The game is based around launching flightless birds with a slingshot in order to destroy all of the pigs on the screen. There are a variety of different types of birds, and each type has a special ability (see below).
- From time to time, Rovio releases updates to the Angry Birds game, adding new levels and new birds. Some of the updates so far are: Mighty Hoax, Danger Above, The Big Setup, Ham ‘Em High, Mine and Dine, Birdday Party, Bad Piggies, Surf and Turf and Golden Eggs.
- Angry Birds Seasons is another Angry Birds game. The gameplay is based around exactly the same concept, but the updates provide seasonal and holiday levels, such as: Trick or Treat (Halloween), Season’s Greedings (Christmas), Hogs and Kisses (Valentine’s Day), Go Green, Get Lucky (St Patrick’s Day), Easter Egg (Easter), Summer Pignic (Summer), Ham’o’ween (Halloween), Wreck the Halls (Christmas), Year of the Dragon (Chinese New Year), Winter Wonderham (Christmas).
- Other Angry Birds games have included, Angry Birds Rio (based on the movie, Rio), Angry Birds Space, Angry Birds Star Wars (with the Angry Birds as the Rebel Alliance, and the Bad Piggies as the Empire).
- There is now a massive variety of Angry Birds merchandise, ranging from board games to clothing, from plush toys to soft drinks.
- On Christmas Day 2012 8 million Angry Birds games were downloaded.
- Apparently, the game took about £70,000 to make.
Different Species of Birds in Angry Birds
- Red Bird – no special powers (except in Red’s Mighty Feathers Exclusive where he can directly target pigs).
- Blue Bird – splits into three smaller and faster birds (effective at smashing glass).
- Yellow Bird – speeds up when screen is tapped (good at smashing wood).
- Black Bird – explodes.
- White Bird – drops egg bombs.
- Boomerang Bird – spins back like a boomerang.
- Big Red Bird – big, heavy and generates lots of momentum, casuing lots of damage.
- Orange Bird – expands to a large size, pushing obstacles away.
- Pink Bird – can trap objects in bubbles.
- Mighty Eagle – most powerful bird – can be used to complete a level.
