Inspired primarily by a sketch of stylized wingless birds, the game was originally released for iOS and Maemo mobile devices starting in December 2009,[1][2] utilising touchscreen controls.

Angry Birds was very well received critically and commercially for its simple and addictive gameplay, comical style, and low price, turning into a mainstream phenomenon[7] during 2010 and 2011, and has been considered one of the greatest video games of all time.

[8][9][10] It led to the creation of the Angry Birds media franchise consisting of merchandise of its characters, feature-length animated films, and more.

[13] Rovio Classics was removed from Google Play on Android on February 23, 2023, and renamed to Red's First Flight on iOS on the same date.

[14] The player controls a flock of multi-colored birds on a mission to save their eggs after they've been stolen by a bunch of green pigs.

[15] In each stage of the gameplay, the pigs are sheltered by structures made of various materials such as wood, glass,[16] and stone resembling children's toy building blocks.

[17] The player must set the angle and force of the bird's travel by pulling back on the slingshot (using intuitive touch-controls in the mobile versions).

In various stages of the game, additional objects such as TNT crates and rocks are incorporated into the structures, and power-ups may be used to enhance the birds to attack hard-to-reach pigs.

One such proposal came from senior game designer Jaakko Iisalo[19] in the form of a simulated screenshot featuring some angry-looking birds with no visible legs or wings.

[28] Chillingo claimed to have participated in final game polishing, such as adding visible trajectory lines, pinch to zoom, pigs' grunts, birds somersaulting onto the slingshot.

In a March 2011 interview, Rovio's Peter Vesterbacka said, "You can't take an experience that works in one environment and one ecosystem and force-feed it onto another.

[33] The initial iOS version of the game, which soft launched in Finland on December 1, 2009, and released internationally 10 days later, included a single episode entitled "Poached Eggs" which contained three themed chapters, each with 21 levels.

[39] The Mighty Eagle is offered as a one-time, in-game purchase,[34] and was initially only available for iOS, as its App Store customers have iTunes accounts with pre-linked credit cards.

Rovio has begun testing an Android update called the "Bad Piggy Bank" with the Elisa wireless service in Finland and T-Mobile, which allows users to charge in-app purchases, such as the Mighty Eagle, to their mobile phone bills.

[51][52][53][54] On October 9, 2012, the final chapter of "Surf and Turf" was released, along with a new episode called "Bad Piggies" meant to advertise the new Rovio game of the same name.

On June 26, 2013, Rovio released a YouTube video, uncovering three new facts: the episode would be called Red's Mighty Feathers, the update would come in July, and the Angry Birds app icon would receive a new design.

[70][71] On December 10, 2016, in honor of Angry Birds' seventh birthday, 15 more levels were added to Birdday Party, although they couldn't be unlocked for 7 days.

Rovio complained that Microsoft had not asked permission to make such a statement, noting that at that time it had not committed to design a Windows Phone version.

Rovio would ask Microsoft to revise its site to remove references to the game,[83][86] a Windows Phone version was ultimately released in June 2011.

Barnes & Noble announced that a future update for its Nook Color e-reader will let the Android-based device run applications, including a port of Angry Birds.

The version includes offline playability and features 60 FPS gameplay with a selection of graphics settings to accommodate a variety of hardware capabilities.

[52] The Facebook version features weekly tournaments among your friends, with the top 3 winners earning free in-game "Bird Coins" which can be used to purchase power-ups.

[108] Bundled together as Angry Birds Trilogy, the games were built specifically for their respective consoles, taking advantage of their unique features, such as support for PlayStation Move, Kinect, high-definition displays, and glasses-free 3D visuals.

[110] On April 28, 2015, it was also announced that the game was also released on Tizen smartphones by running with OpenMobile's Application Compatibility Layer (ACL) emulation technology.

[111] In early 2019, several games in the franchise, including the original title, were unexpectedly removed from the App Store and Google Play without warning.

Responding to the campaign, Rovio explained the removal of the games in a blog post citing software rot and the expiration of licensing deals.

Chris Holt of Macworld called the game "an addictive, clever, and challenging puzzler,"[15] and Pocket Gamer's Keith Andrew said Angry Birds is "a nugget of puzzling purity dished out with relish aplenty.

"[17] Jonathan Liu of Wired News wrote that "going for the maximum number of stars certainly adds a lot of replay value to a fairly extensive game.

"[89] While giving the game a positive review, Miller concluded, "There's no denying that Angry Birds is fun, but it could use polish – such as sharper visuals, a better price and smoother action.

"[89] Damien McFerrin of British website Electric Pig reviewed the PC version, saying "the mouse-driven control method showcases many distinct advantages over its finger-focused counterpart.