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Interview With the Angry Birds Transformers Team

Posted by Nadia Oxford on October 20th, 2014
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: TRANSFORMED BIRDS :: Read Review »

Angry Birds Transformers recently transformed and rolled out worldwide. This run-and-gun title is a hit with young Transformers fans, but the ample references to classic Transformers fandom has also earned it a place in the hearts of long-time admirers of Optimus Prime. Nick Harper (Game Director for Exient Entertainment) and Mika Rahko (Executive Producer for Rovio) kindly took a few minutes to talk to 148Apps about the problems and inspirations that came to them while cross-breeding birds and robots.

Angry Birds are Crashing Puzzle & Dragons Next Week

Posted by Rob Rich on October 17th, 2014
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: TOASTY :: Read Review »

Next week, Puzzle & Dragons is getting a little angry. Because, you know, Angry Birds. It's a... a pun. I thought... never mind.

Anywhosits, starting next week on 10/20 and running through 11/2, Puzzle & Dragons will feature a brand new dungeon inspired by Angry Birds Epic. You'll be able to recruit the help of familiar Epic characters, as well as some classic birds for those who might have missed the last crossover event, and you'll of course be fighting some mean old piggies along the way.

You can download Puzzle & Dragons - and even Angry Birds Epic for that matter - off the App Store now for free.

Hit the Court with Angry Birds Seasons and the NBA

Posted by Jessica Fisher on October 9th, 2014
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad

After conquering Rio and Space, where could those Angry Birds go next? The NBA, apparently. In the next episode of Angry Birds Seasons, NBA Ham Dunk!, Rovio Entertainment sends the birds to take the pigs to the court. The update will have 15 free NBA-themed levels and 30 NBA team levels available for purchase.

“Get ready to hit the court with your favorite NBA team, and start dunking birds and bashing piggies for extra points,” said Pekka Rantala Chief Commercial Officer of Rovio Entertainment. “We are really pumped to offer this fun mash-up to Angry Birds and NBA fans.”

You can grab Angry Birds Seasons on the rebound for $0.99.

Angry Birds Stella Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on September 8th, 2014
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: THE SAME
A few tweaks to the familiar format, Angry Birds Stella will appeal to fans, but will also infuriate at times.
Read The Full Review »

Pirate Bash Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Nadia Oxford on September 2nd, 2014
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: BAD PIRATES
Pirate Bash's turn-based battles add an intriguing twist to a typical physics game.
Read The Full Review »

Swing Game Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Nadia Oxford on August 5th, 2014
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: ROUND AND ROUND SHE GOES
Swing Game is a goofy physics game that challenges the player's brain as well as their reflexes.
Read The Full Review »

Ex-Angry Birds Developers Release Monsu Teaser Trailer

Posted by Jennifer Allen on July 23rd, 2014

Finnish developer Boomlagoon has released a teaser trailer of their forthcoming side-scrolling action platformer, Monsu.

Looking like a pretty cute auto-runner, Monsu has another trick up its sleeve, courtesy of the many cards that you can collect as you play.

Coming from some of the minds behind Angry Birds, there will be dozens of customizable characters to get to know, with the hope that Monsu is more character-driven than most running platformers.

A series of online tournaments besides the rich single-player world should ensure there's plenty of fun to be had when Monsu arrives on the App Store later this summer.

Check out the trailer below to see just what to expect very soon!

A Beginner's Guide to Angry Birds Epic - Tips, Tricks, and Pig-Walloping Strategies

Posted by Jennifer Allen on June 24th, 2014
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: SIMPLE RPGING :: Read Review »

In some cases, Angry Birds Epic is going to be many players' first encounter with a turn-based RPG. While it might not be the deepest of experiences to old-hands at the genre, we felt it was the perfect time to provide you with some helpful hints to start you off, as you work towards wiping out the evil pigs yet again.



Basic Battle Strategies


Regular RPG players will tell you that there are a few core principles that apply no matter what game you're playing. Angry Birds Epic is no different in that respect.

  • Knowing your enemy is always key in these kind of instances. Angry Birds Epic makes it simple with holding a finger to each pig - enabling you to see what abilities they possess, so you know exactly what to expect.

  • There's no penalty for exiting to the map at this point so you can easily do that to change birds or hats (special abilities), so that you're at your strongest for each fight. Remember: different classes work better in different situations!

  • Generally, you should always focus on healer pigs or ones that can resurrect other downed pigs. There's no point inflicting plenty of damage on other enemies if the healer can undo your good work with one spell!

  • Some pigs are immune to certain statuses, so consider that before you make your move. A pig that can resist poison? Well, don't bother trying to poison it then! It's a simple idea, but one that can easily be forgotten about in the heat of battle.

  • There's nothing to be gained from weakening multiple pigs at once, so always focus on one pig at a time. Ideally, and assuming there aren't healing pigs to pick on, you should go for the weaker and smaller prey first before taking out the big brutes.

  • After you've built up a sufficient number of attacks, you can use a rage chilli to perform a special attack that relates to that character's abilities. Use it up whenever possible. They don't carry over between battles so there's no point letting it go to waste! The only exception here is when dealing with wave battles as it's better to save the chilli for the start of a new wave. They replenish frequently so you can often use a couple during a series of battles.

  • Unlike in other RPGs, using a health potion doesn't take up a turn. It's a small yet significant thing to consider, given it can make all the difference in battle.

  • Struggling to defeat a particularly tricky foe? Watch the videos that Rovio keep offering. These give you a 20% increase in health and attack power. They're limited in number so try to save them for a special occasion. They can really make all the difference.

  • Always have a healer in your party. Attacking like crazy is all well and good, but it's pointless if you get wiped out too soon. Healing helps. A lot.



    General tips

  • Equipment is key throughout Angry Birds Epic. It's simple enough to craft from pieces gained during battle, but there are some useful ways to make it all the better.

  • Replay missions often for more items and loot that can then be used elsewhere. Plus, aim for those magical three-star victories. These are based upon how much health you have at the end of a battle so heal up just before the end for the maximum chance of three stars.

  • Check the scavenge points every day for new loot to be acquired. It can be pretty profitable.

  • Similarly, daily dungeons unlock after a certain point and these are invaluable.

  • Get friends involved as they can enable you to re-roll when crafting equipment. Re-rolling dictates whether you get the fabled 3 star piece of equipment or a weaker 2 star one.

  • Save up for a Golden Anvil. It's not cheap, needing Lucky Coins to buy one, but keep leveling up and play naturally for a week or two and this should be possible. A Golden Anvil means better gear, which makes all the difference in battle.

  • This Week at 148Apps: June 16-20, 2014

    Posted by Chris Kirby on June 22nd, 2014

    Shiny Happy App Reviews


    The App Store can be a daunting place. What to try? What to buy? How do you know? Thank goodness the review team at 148Apps is here to save the day. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

    Angry Birds Epic

    Proving to be quite a departure from the usual Angry Birds motif, Angry Birds Epic feels more like an introduction to the RPG genre than anything more substantial. There’s potential there, but all too often it isn’t fully exploited, which seems a shame. While technically there’s a storyline in there somewhere, progress is solely dictated by a map screen in which one follows the game along from fight to fight, rather than anything more interesting or exciting. Occasionally there will be other paths to take but it’s still mostly linear. Combat is fortunately more interesting, offering a surprising amount of depth for such a simple idea. --Jennifer Allen


    Kiwanuka

    Kiwanuka is a game that curiously eschews many of the trappings of modern mobile gaming. It’s a game that could easily use things like a star system, like seemingly every other game, but it stands out because of the lack of such modern trappings. Players control a Kiwanuka shepherd who must lead a group of followers to an encased shepherd in the level who has become trapped within a prism. Forming chains of followers with the lightning staff to navigate around the levels is necessary: they can swing in a circular motion, and create bridges and ramps when attached to another point. The game becomes about figuring out when and where to create the chains to properly navigate to where the trapped Kiwanuka follower is. However, there’s no limit to how many chains of followers can be used, or timers, or anything: beat the level and it’s beaten, and the next one is unlocked. --Carter Dotson


    VVVVVV

    VVVVVV doesn’t look particularly inspiring, does it? For those who grew up during the home computer era of the Spectrum and Commodore 64, it’s the kind of look that can be forgiven more easily than for the younger gamer, but it’s still hardly a looker. Get past that shallow thinking though, and one will find that VVVVVV is exceptionally good – albeit ridiculously frustrating in equal measures. Previously a PC release, some players including myself will have enjoyed the suffering that VVVVVV has provided in the past. It’s tough and sometimes deeply infuriating, but thanks to some clever placement of checkpoints it’s also the kind of game that will keep players coming back until they’ve beaten it. --Jennifer Allen


    Soccer Stars

    Despite the name, Soccer Stars owes a lot more to Billiards than it does to Soccer. Rather than conventional ball-kicking skills, the key to Soccer Stars is to be able to bounce the solid orbs that represent the players around the arena and hopefully towards the goal. It’s a different mechanic than most but it mostly works. Soccer Stars focuses very much on online competitive play, although an offline mode does exist. A mixture of one on one sessions and tournaments, the point of the game remains the same – score 2 goals before the other player. Each team is made up of five orbs that can be bounced around in numerous ways. One drags a finger behind the orb in order to push it towards the objective. They’re pretty sensitive so they can bounce off of other orbs, as well as the walls surrounding each pitch. Given the drag mechanics, when near the edge of the screen an extra finger is needed to cover for the missing space. That can make things awkward, but it mostly just about works. --Jennifer Allen


    Broken Age

    In this new age of game design, projects have found countless ways in which to spring to life. In the case of Broken Age, Double Fine’s first uber-successful Kickstarter venture, the masses spoke with their wallets loud and clear, showing an undying support for the long-languishing adventure game genre. So, does the first half of this quest live up to the title’s impressive budget and hype, or will the unfinished storyline leave players craving more? One fantastic aspect of adventure titles are their emphasis on building a cohesive and compelling narrative. Broken Age tells the seemingly disparate story lines of Shay and Vella. In a neat move, typical of Double Fine’s outside the box thinking, the plot can be consumed any number of ways, allowing the player to switch back and forth between characters at will. Though both Shay and Vella exist in two seemingly different worlds, as one might expect, their stories eventually converge. Ultimately this ends up fleshing out a much larger universe than would be achievable through a single through line. --Blake Grundman


    Toca Town

    Toca Town is Toca Boca’s new highly open-ended digital toy, bringing dollhouse play to iOS devices. Toca Town allows children of all ages to manipulate a very nice selection of Toca characters around six locations that include a park, restaurant, family home, apartment, grocery store, and police station. Characters can be moved around within each landscape as well as transported to new areas of this app easily, including any object they may be holding at the time, making transitions between areas simple and intuitive. Objects like foods, books, or other more specific items such as keys found at the police station can also be held as children drag figures around the screen while acting out their own stories, much like one would with a classic dollhouse in real life but without the little pieces that parents need to keep track of. --Amy Solomon


    Other 148Apps Network Sites

    If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

    AndroidRundown

    Cow Dash

    Cow Dash is a charming entry from Retroid Interactive that is able to swaddle retro-looking graphics in the familiar, tried-and-true frame of an arcade adventure. The controls are deceptively simple, and almost conceal the challenge of the game. Almost. The travel-happy cow starts off in a outdoor naturescape environment set in deliberate platforms of differing heights. The cow moves on its own when a tap is administered to start the level; it continues moving in a set direction until it is impeded by an object, at which point it turns on its heel and goes in the opposite direction. --Tre Lawrence


    Drive In The Line

    One of the new fads on Google Play of this moment, are games where players need to guide a something between lines. In this game, it’s a car between both sides of the deserted road. If players fail… Well, then the car explodes. So, yeah. There is something about games that are very simple and really hard at the same time. Drive in the Line is one of those games. In Drive in the Line, players drive their way through an endless desert apocalypse. Somehow, the driver of the car is stranded somewhere on earth where there is nothing but an endless, ever changing road that leads to virtually nowhere – with only one goal in mind: just keep in driving and don’t look back. Now, a premise like this surely sounds interesting, and it is in its own way. Players take control of the driver’s car and need to help him navigate the endless road ahead of him. Since this is a high score based game, and games are generally short by nature, this game soon went from ‘this is nice’ to ‘I need to set a new high score’. Because, when one plays this game, it is something that will play in their minds. Mainly because players know they can do it. --Wesley Akkerman


    Hazumino

    Often videogames get criticized for retreading old ground. People will complain that ‘they’ve played it before’ but sometimes revisiting old ideas that you get new ones. Hazumino goes back in time to visit both Tetris and Canabalt and by doing so comes back with something new yet reassuringly familiar. The reason that Hazumino‘s goal will be instantly clear is because of the world famous shapes that occupy the right-hand side of the screen. These ‘tetrominos’ need to be rotated and shifted up and down before being launched to the right. The reason why you’re placing these shapes is because you need to form a bridge of sorts. --Matt Parker

    Autobirds Roll Out! Rovio has Announced an Angry Birds/Transormers Crossover

    Posted by Jessica Fisher on June 16th, 2014

    Rovio Entertainment and Hasbro, Inc. are combining one of the most downloaded games world-wide with one of the most cherished 80s cartoon classics. Angry Birds Transformers roll out! The Autobirds will face-off against the insidious Deceptihogs. From the video it looks like we can look forward to seeing characters like Redimus Prime and Chucklebee.

    Blanca Juti, Chief Marketing Officer of Rovio, said “We’re really excited to combine the iconic Transformers universe with the quirky world of Angry Birds. This mash-up is going to appeal to those who grew up with the brand in the 80s, as well as fans of the brand today. People are going to love it!”

    Later this year they will also be introducing Angry Birds Transformers TELEPODS. The toys will allow players to add characters and upgrade powers in the game.

    Look out for these ro-birds in disguise later this year.

    Angry Birds Epic Review

    + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
    By Jennifer Allen on June 16th, 2014
    Our rating: starstarstarblankstarblankstar :: SIMPLE RPGING
    Providing a basic introduction to the humble RPG, Angry Birds Epic is sometimes fun but often a little too keen for your money.
    Read The Full Review »

    Turns Out Angry Birds Epic isn't Just Angry Birds in Medieval Times

    Posted by Rob Rich on March 12th, 2014

    9to5Mac has gotten the low-down on Rovio's newest Angry Birds title, Angry Birds Epic. And it seems as though it's not the sort of game we were expecting.

    Rather than giving players something akin to Angry Birds in a medieval/fantasy setting, Angry Birds Epic is going to be a turn-based RPG with a crafting system of sorts. Color me intrigued. No, seriously, it sounds far more interesting than yet-another physics puzzle game.

    Angry Birds Epic will be "soft launching" in Canada and Australia soon.

    Image Credit: 9to5Mac

    The Angry Birds Go! Community launches

    Posted by Jeff Scott on February 28th, 2014

    If you're obsessed with Angry Birds Go! then our pals at Pocket Gamer have just the site for you: The Angry Birds Go! Community.

    This dedicated space for fans of the game to gather, meet, and even improve how they play the game is jam-packed with detailed toy guides, character profiles, strategy guides, achievement listings, community screenshots, fan art, and much more besides.

    Best of all, it's a space that's shaped by you, the fans, giving everyone the opportunity to help build the greatest Angry Birds Go! site ever made.

    So stop stalling, and race on over to The Angry Birds Go! Community now to see what everyone's talking about.

    Angry Birds Creator Rovio Announces Kid-Centric Publishing Initiative

    Posted by Jeff Scott on February 27th, 2014

    Makers of the two billion times downloaded Angry Birds series of games, Rovio, have announced via sister site Pocketgamer.biz that they are opening up a publishing division focusing on fun learning apps for kids 3-12. The goal being to take learning games in a whole new direction. Rovio is looking for developers in this space that can help them in this quest. The first chance to talk to them about it will be at our Big Indie Pitch event during GDC week in San Francisco.


    "When kids are bored, their learning plummets," detailed the Finnish firm in a statement given to PocketGamer.biz.

    "When they're engaged, anything's possible. So we're looking for new game ideas to entertain kids and motivate them to learn. Games that parents can also feel good about."

    Rovio Announces Angry Birds Stella - and That's Pretty Much it

    Posted by Rob Rich on February 13th, 2014

    Today Rovio has pulled the curtain back on their latest project to reveal... another curtain. Angry Birds Stella is going to be a game set in some area of the Angry Birds world we've yet to see, and it's going to be spread out over several different forms of media. We're talking games, cartoons, toys, etc.

    About the only other bit of info that can be gleaned from the announcement is that Rovio is trying to up the serious in this one. “Angry Birds Stella is breaking the mold by introducing strong, passionate characters who really stand for something, while adding plenty of action and reality into the mix," says Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Entertainment, in the press release.

    I dunno, it sounds kind of like The Real World: Angry Birds to me.