Case Study #1: Angry Birds

“The largest mobile app success

the world has seen so far.”

“One of the great runaway hits

of 2010.”

“One of the most mainstream

games out right now.”

The story goes that a designer working for

the Rovio company saw the Pixar animation

For the Birds and doodled some ideas on the

back of an envelope during a lunch-time

meeting.

At the time Rovio were close to bankruptcy,

but they decided to take a chance on this

iPhone app idea and developed Angry Birds.

First released December 2009

Original version downloaded over 12 million

times

All versions downloaded over 2 billion times

Feature film due 2016, (but has been

delayed several times)

Originally designed as an iPhone app, but

since rewritten in Android and Symbian

versions – now available for consoles and PCs

The highest downloaded “freemium” game

of all time

A pricing strategy by which a product or

service (typically a digital offering such as

software, media, games or web services) is

provided free of charge, but money (a

premium) is charged for advanced features,

functionality or virtual goods.

Easy to learn and pick up – quick play

Addictive gameplay – engagement / endless

interesting levels / achievement

Comical style of design yet high production

values

Quality sound and music design

Low price of initial app.

Regular updates / versions to keep concept

fresh

Players use a slingshot to fire birds at pigs

who are stationed on or within various

structures.

The idea is to destroy all of the pigs and

buildings on the playing field within a limited

number of attempts.

As players advance through the game levels,

new types of bird become available, some

with special abilities which can be activated

by the player.

Seasons – originally Hallowe’en and

then “holiday” versions

Rio – tie-in for animated film

Space

Star Wars and Star Wars II

Friends

Go! – kart racing

Bad Piggies – spin-off, but so far not

hugely successful.

What makes for user engagement, is adding

more detail at just the right time.

Angry Birds’ simple interaction model is easy

to learn because it allows the user to quickly

develop knowledge about how to play the

game, strategy and scoring processes.

The Company

Finland!

Here’s the money!