Angry Birds Breakdown

Angry Birds has stormed the indie games sales charts since its release on December 10^th 2009.  But what has made this game so incredibly popular?  I am now going to breakdown Angry Birds properties and uncover why it appeals to so many people.  Angry Birds has taken a simplistic concept and bolstered it in all the right areas to be as effective as it is.

Gameplay

The gameplay will now be analysed and picked apart in an attempt to uncover the contributing factors to the games success.

Simple concept

The games concept in essence, is aiming, and firing.  This helps to make the game almost innately easy to learn to play to all consumers.  Keeping a simple concept and doing it well can be extremely effective and this game pays dividends to this theory.

Short levels

The levels are short and snappy.  This ties in well with its chosen platforms, the mobile phone market.  With the levels being so short, people are able to play in short bursts in and around their busy lifestyles.  This makes the playability of the title much more appealing to people of all varieties of lifestyle.

Reward System

The game never fails to reward the player for doing well.  This is something that gives the player a feeling of satisfaction when playing and furthers their urge to play more.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, the player can receive poor results to persuade them to try harder and keep on improving their skill via playing.

Variation

Although the gameplay is simple, there are enough variations in the gameplay to keep the game feeling new and most importantly, unique.   The player can unlock the use of different types of bird with different abilities throughout the course of the game.  For example, there are bomb birds, fast birds, basic birds and more to use during gameplay.  This variation is perhaps the lynchpin of the Angry Birds fun gameplay.

Aesthetic

The aesthetics are smooth and sleek.  All assets are created with a simple yet effective cartoon themed flair.  The environments are different and smooth and the characters are funny, unique and interesting.

Pricing

The price is a huge factor in indie games success and Angry Birds is no different.  The game is sold for a price of £0.69 on the iStore, making it extremely easy to purchase.  It is also free on the android service.  This could lead to people telling their friends using an iPhone, prompting them to make the purchase they otherwise wouldn’t.