Angry Birds

I’ve had Angry Birds on my iPod touch for a while now, probably about a year, as a matter of fact, and I just don’t get it. It’s made a gazillion dollars, has fans all over the world, has fans all over the world, is the top ranking game on iOS, Blackberry, WinPho7, Nokia, PSP, DS, Mac, PC, WebOS, Android and probably more.

But I just can’t seem to figure out why.

I mean, it’s a simple enough game in concept. You get a specific amount of birds in a specific order, each different colour of which has a different power, and you chuck them against some wooden planks in attempt to snuff out some stationary green pig circles. To this end, and for the first few levels, it’s kind of fun, because the game is simple, and levels appear to be one of those “easy to beat, difficult to master” type deals. Later levels completely eschew this however, in favour of making the levels reasonably difficult, and for the most part, trial and error. And the scoring system? It makes next to no damn sense. Beating a level with one bird might get you one star on a level, and the next might give you three if you barely squeak by. It’s baffling.

Of course, there is a lot of content for a buck, and it’s frequently updated for free. I particularly like the paid DLC that gets you the giant eagle, who can be used (quite effectively) on every already existing level.

So if it has a great content/dollar ratio, what’s the problem then? Quite simply, I don’t think it’s a great time spent playing/enjoyment ratio, so take that as you will. If you like casual puzzle type games, and even if you don’t, Angry Birds will probably keep you amused for a while.