Angry Birds Space

''Angry Birds Space'' was a 2012 science fiction physics-based puzzle video game developed and published by Rovio Entertainment. The fifth installment in the ''Angry Birds'' video game series, it is the first in the series to take place in outer space, and had multiple partnerships with NASA.

The game was released worldwide across multiple mobile devices on March 22, 2012, and was discontinued in 2019.

Gameplay

As with its predecessors, ''Angry Birds Space'' is a side-scrolling puzzle game, with players using a slingshot to launch limbless birds. The objective is to take out the green pigs in every level, sheltered in structures made out of glass, wood, stone, and other objects such as explosive crates. The birds in this game are transformed versions of Red, the Blues, Chuck, Bomb, Terence, and Bubbles, all from previous games in the series. Chuck is now able to fly towards a set target; the other birds retain their abilities from prior games with few changes. ''Space'' also introduces Ice Bird, an alien who transforms blocks into ice upon contact. Upon beating a level, the player receives one to three stars based off their score; attaining three stars in all of the levels grants access to bonus levels, including mirrored, more difficult versions of the normal levels. Later updates introduced power-ups to enhance scores. One power-up summons clones of a bird, another inflates pigs, and another summons an egg that creates a black hole with the player's input.

Gameplay takes place across several episodes which are divided into 30 levels each and feature their own gimmicks: for example, one episode is food-themed, and another has radioactive rocks that take out nearby pigs. As per the name, the game is set in outer space: objects stay static in zero gravity environments and travel in a straight line when pushed. Most levels feature planets with gravitational fields, which attract nearby objects to the surface. At the end of each episode is a boss fight against King Pig, the ruler of the pigs. As with most other ''Angry Birds'' games, episodes were gradually added through updates. Through an in-app purchase, the player can access the Danger Zone, which works as the game's climax. Extra levels can also be accessed by finding hidden collectables that include NASA rovers like ''Sojourner'' and '' Phoenix''. Many of these levels are parodies of retro video games like ''Super Mario Bros.'' and ''Space Invaders''.

Development and release

In February 2012, Rovio announced a new game in the ''Angry Birds'' series titled ''Angry Birds Space''. ''Angry Birds Space'' launched on March 22, 2012, and features elements from the preceding ''Angry Birds'' games as well as new gameplay mechanics. The game initially contained 60 levels with additional levels available as free updates or with in-app purchases.
For the launch of the game, Rovio partnered with wireless carrier T-Mobile to erect a contraption, with a red bird resting in it at the Seattle Space Needle to make it look like a slingshot.

On March 8, 2012, new footage of ''Angry Birds Space'', presented by NASA astronaut Donald Pettit on board the International Space Station, was released. The video shows that the game's stage is no longer flat, instead comprising several different planetoids, each of which has its own gravitational field that affects the trajectory of the birds after launch. NASA states that such collaboration with Rovio Mobile may share the excitement of space with the ''Angry Birds'' community, educate users on NASA's programs, and create interactive educational experiences for the public.

Rovio also partnered with Samsung with the Samsung Galaxy Note for the game's release. The release included free Danger Zone levels and exclusive level for the Galaxy Note until June 21, 2012 for Samsung Galaxy users only when downloaded from the Google Play Store or Samsung Apps (now Samsung Galaxy Store).

The game features variations of the existing bird character and one new character that each carry their own unique abilities.
As of June 1, 2012, ''Angry Birds Space'' has been downloaded a total of 100 million times since launching on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac.

Discontinuation

The game was removed from both the App Store and Google Play in 2019 along with many other ''Angry Birds'' titles released before ''Angry Birds Transformers'', besides ''Angry Birds Friends''. The levels were remade as part of '' Angry Birds Reloaded'' in 2023.

Reception

The game has received generally favorable reviews with a Metacritic score of 83/100 based on 30 reviews. Justin Davis, writing for IGN, gave the game a score of 8.5/10, calling the pricing and physics disappointing but concluding that "neither issue detracts from the game's overall quality or fun factor." Harry Slater of ''Pocket Gamer'' thought the game was "as much fun as its predecessor" adding that it had "enough new concepts to keep even the hardiest fans entertained".

The game was downloaded 50 million times in 35 days. According to Rovio, this made the game the fastest-growing mobile game ever.

References

External links

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{{Rovio Games, state= expanded
2012 video games
Android (operating system) games
Space
BlackBerry 10 games
Delisted digital-only games
IOS games
MacOS games
NASA in fiction
Products and services discontinued in 2019
Puzzle video games
Rovio Entertainment games
Science fiction video games
Single-player video games
Symbian games
Universal Windows Platform apps
Video games developed in Finland
Video games set in outer space
Windows games
Windows Phone games