Publisher: ClickGamer
Developer: Rovio Mobile
Genre: Puzzle
Release date: Available now

Sometimes the simplest of games can cause hours upon hours of what would be useful time to vanish. Simple concepts such as manipulating blocks falling from the sky or realigning jewels can eat up time like Pac Man, and now, using birds as catapult ammo joins the ranks.

Angry Birds is a very straightforward game with an unusual backdrop. It’s not really explained why, but pigs have moved in on a flock of birds’ turf. The birds seek to eliminate said hogs, and so they take to the skies to launch their attack, hurling themselves like projectiles at their foes. The mission is simple: destroy all the pigs, or die trying.

You control the slingshot by using your finger to pull back the band. Loaded into the slingshot is your bird, which, when released, flies across the board towards the stationary pigs. Now the pigs often times have barricaded themselves behind various materials such as wood, ice or stone, so great thought and care must be used in deciding how best to launch your fowl.

The neat part of Angry Birds is that there’s always more than one way to beat a level, and the game rewards you for creatively taking out the pigs by giving you a star value after each level is completed. Also, as the game progresses, different kinds of birds are added to the arsenal, making special attacks available. For example, one bird gets a burst of speed, allowing it to break through wood, while another splits into three birds for a multiple attack.

If there’s a downside to Angry Birds, it’s that the game is naturally repetitive. Each level is just slightly different than the last, and the puzzles get challenging rather quickly. I can see some players getting easily frustrated, since the game eventually calls for a high level of precision when launching the birds.

All in all, Angry Birds is a ton of fun. I found myself very, very addicted to it, and while the levels got harder, I still completed them in a reasonable amount of time after a few attempts. Angry Birds is a great little game for your iPhone. It’s something you can play fast and often to kill a few minutes (or hours).

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