Angry Birds

It has recently been brought to my attention that the #1 paid app on the iPhone app store, Angry Birds, has over 60,000 ratings, 54,000 of which have merited 5 stars…and these numbers keep climbing. Ridiculous. Imagine — even though the app is only $0.99, if the people who actually took the time to rate and review it are only a fraction of the users out there, this app is making bank! So, of course, I just had to download the game to see why Angry Birds is causing such a fuss. And, naturally, I wanted so badly to defy the popular vote and dislike it; I couldn’t.

While I do not necessarily think Angry Birds is the best game out there, I can see why it is so popular. It is simultaneously silly and smart, and while the tasks it requires — such as slingshotting birds into the green monsters that stole their eggs — don’t seem so challenging (although they certainly can be), the game finds a way to make them incredibly entertaining and addictive. And, because of its premise and functionality, I can see how it would be appealing to a wide market. Furthermore, the designers behind the app are relative geniuses, as they made sure that all of the tasks accurately employ the laws of physics, making duties, like castle demolition, realistic and thus more fun.

A lot of the lure of the game also comes from the fact that you have to get through levels and segments to unlock more, ensuring that the users will never be able to put the game down. Additionally, for those that are all about Angry Birds, you can sign up for “Crystal,” which allows you to access leaderboards, compete against other Angry Birds players, and utilize social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter. While these options may not be so alluring in other apps, for a game that has tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of users, this opens awesome social potential.

In conclusion, I would like to congratulate Clickgamer, the creator of this amazing app. I can see how you have earned your status at #1. The birds might still be angry that their eggs got stolen, but at least now they’re rolling in dough and praise.

But now allow me to probe you other Angry Birds players — do you feel this is a top notch game?