"There's this old wisdom: It has to be easy to pick up and play but hard to master."
-Rovio CEO Mikael Hed-
That was exactly what the Angry Birds game achieved. Mikael Hed, CEO of Finnish game studio Rovio, (Rigney, 2010) states that the nature of the game is simple, but it still has depth making the game addictive with players often seen returning to the game over and over again. The objective of the game is simple - you are given a variety of birds and a slingshot to aim at a number of pigs that are scattered around ramshackle structures. You may ask, why are these birds angry and why are they trying to kill the pigs? Well, it is because the green pigs apparently stole the birds' eggs and they are trying to retrieve it. Hence, the name 'Angry Birds' was given.
source: online.wsj.com
The game is currently the best-selling applications for Apple's iPhone and is leading the charts by miles with more than 12 million copies being sold worldwide since its inception. It has been a success with players of all ages appealing kids and even adults. Wingfield (2010) explains that the Angry Birds game is categorized as a 'physics-based' game, whereby basic actions like falling and ricocheting can be seen as part of the game besides adjusting the tension and angle of the slingshot loaded with a bird using players fingers on the iPhone or iPad's touch sensing screen. This probably explains why it appeals the adults as well as the kids that enjoy playing the game with cute colourful characters. Angry Birds growing popularity sees the game playable on multiple platforms and the characters are also made into soft toys. It is simply just not a game, but also a multi-million franchise that is only at its beginning of a promising journey.
References :
Wingfield N, 2010, Why can't we stop playing?, Wall Street Journal, viewed on 11 June 2011 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703945904575644940111605862.html
