Angry Birds Seasons 3.3.0

[Cori Lenon]

Angry Birds Seasons was released as a paid app exclusively for iOS in October 2010 as Angry Birds Halloween.[2] In December 2010, the game would be updated as Angry Birds Seasons due to the adding of another episode, Season's Greedings, though the Halloween levels were kept in an episode called Trick or Treat. Angry Birds Seasons would also receive a free release on Android and Symbian devices, though with ads included in it. The game would continue receiving updates with new episodes that celebrated the seasons and festivities of the years, until 2016 with the addition of Ragnahog, an episode made to celebrate Christmas, set in a Nordic theme.

In April 2019, the game was unlisted in the app stores but came back and received a new update. Afterwards, it was then unlisted again in July 2019. Rovio Entertainment Corporation stated that they had removed the games for testing purposes, but never explained what the test was. Later, the statement was changed to say that the game was removed because Rovio did not want to keep updating the game[3], now it is only available to download in the Zimbabwe app store.

In June 2021, it was announced by Rovio on Twitter that efforts were going to be made to bring some of the original Angry Birds games back to online stores sometime in the future, including Seasons.[4]

During Halloween 2010, the Angry Birds are distracted by a pig covered in a sheet to look like a ghost. The birds scream and the pigs take off with the eggs. They retrieve their eggs several more times and later come across Bubbles, the Orange Bird who helps them from Halloween 2011 and on from there. After retrieving their eggs several more times, they meet Stella, the Pink Bird who helps them during the Back to School season in 2012 and on retrieving their eggs several more times till Christmas 2016.

Angry Birds Seasons is a puzzle video game with similar gameplay to that from previous Angry Birds games. In the game, the player takes control of a limited group of birds, who can be launched anywhere by the use of a slingshot. All levels have a series of pigs the player must pop by the use of their characters. These pigs normally appear sheltered inside of structures made of wood, glass, and/or stone, in addition of some additional objects, such as TNT. If the player fails to pop all the pigs in the levels, they will get a Level Failed screen, encouraging them to try again. If they manage to do so however, they will win and pass to the next level. Upon completing each level, the player will receive one, two, or three stars depending on the score received.

As with other Angry Birds games, Angry Birds Seasons is composed on several episodes; in this game, episodes are based on different holidays celebrated throughout the world. The Android version also has a "Continue Playing!" option in the main menu which takes the player to the last level they played. Most episodes have exclusive features used to celebrate the holidays they are based off; for example, Go Green, Get Lucky makes use of cauldrons filled with money, while Halloween-themed episodes often have jack-o-lanterns. Nevertheless, some episodes may have elements that were taken from past episodes, such as Ski or Squeal and Ragnahog making use of Tony, a character that first appeared in On Finn Ice.

Like other Angry Birds games, Angry Birds Seasons makes use of powerups, which are optional booster items the player can use to get a temporal advantage to beat the level with more ease. These powerups are limited and cannot be used if the player runs out of them; to compensate this, Angry Birds Seasons also makes use of Bird Coins, the game's currency, which allow the player to buy more powerups and unlock extra episodes. While Bird Coins can be obtained by collecting stars or by watching ads, the player is also encouraged to use real money to buy more Bird Coins with real money to use in gameplay.

Angry Birds Seasons has 29 main episodes released, starting with Trick or Treat in October 2010 and ending with Ragnahog in December 2016. Most episodes commemorate different holidays of the year. In recent updates, all episodes prior to Ham Dunk are locked, with the player needing to pay Coins to unlock them; the cost of each episode is 15 Coins per main level. Two extra episodes, Power-Up Test Site and Pig Days, are also available.

Quests tasks the player with finding certain objects in the levels. They can watch an ad to be taken to that level to find the object, or dismiss the task and get another one after thirty minutes. Once they find the object, they will have to wait fifteen hours (or pay with Bird Coins) to get another quest where they will have to find another object. When the player finds three objects, they will unlock a Bird Hat.

Both Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Halloween received generally positive reviews both by critics and fan alike. In Metacritic, it holds a user score of 6.9 for the iOS version based on twenty-two ratings;[5] a 4.3 score for the HD version of the game released on the same platform based on nineteen ratings;[6] and a score of 7.8 based on twenty-two ratings for the PC version.[7]

Reviewing the Halloween version of the game, one reviewer at Slide to Play said that the game was hard, and that they "wondered why the game was not an in-app purchase for the original game". When the game was updated to Angry Birds Seasons in December, he said that he liked the idea of the Season's Greetings levels being like an advent calendar, with one level being added per day. He concluded saying that the game was a "Must Have" and that people who liked the original Angry Birds will be "pleased with Angry Birds Seasons".[8] Similarly, Chris Buffa from Modojo rated the game 5/5 and wrote that "Angry Birds Seasons is both addictive and challenging, and you'd be crazy not to pony up the cash and download it ASAP".[9]

Just as in the original Angry Birds, players use a slingshot to launch an assortment of birds at nearby structures, with the intent of hitting targets located on or within them. The main targets are the pigs, and they can be defeated if directly fired at, or through other strategies, e.g.: the bird hits a structure that falls on the pig, defeating it. Small sized pigs are weak and easily defeated, while bigger pigs can sustain more damage. Each level pack represents a different "season", often based upon different themes and holidays. Different level packs have each unique theme and sometimes much different gameplay.

The first season began in October 2010, when Rovio released a Halloween edition.[1] Angry Birds Halloween, exclusive to iOS at the time and a separate game, included levels with Halloween-themed music and graphics.[1] On December 1, 2010, Rovio changed the name to Angry Birds Seasons to iOS, Android, and Symbian 3 devices.[2][3] Seasons introduced 25 Christmas-themed levels, one for each day leading to the holiday, similar to an Advent calendar.[2][3] All versions include the previously exclusive Halloween levels and are offered as separate, stand-alone paid applications, with the exception of the free, ad-supported Android version;[4] Angry Birds Halloween users on iOS received the Seasons levels as a free upgrade.[2] The Halloween version was given the episode title "Trick or Treat", while the Christmas episode was entitled "Season's Greedings". In February 2011, when Rovio released a Valentine's Day update to Angry Birds Seasons, entitled "Hogs and Kisses", complete with new themed levels and graphics, as well as the option to send Angry Birds-themed Valentine's Day messages through Facebook.[5] In March 2011, Rovio released a new St. Patrick's Day update, entitled "Go Green, Get Lucky";[6] followed by an Easter update, entitled "Easter Eggs", in April 2011;[7] and a summer update, "Summer Pignic", in June 2011.[8] In September 2011, "Moon Festival" was released in conjunction with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.[9]

The second season began in October 2011, we move on with the new season with another Halloween update, "Ham'O'Ween" was released and introduced a new orange bird, known as Bubbles.[10] In December 2011, "Wreck the Halls" was released with 25 Christmas-theme levels also arranged in an Advent calendar setting. In January 2012, when "Year of the Dragon" was released; it is about Chinese New Year. It features the replacement of the Mighty Eagle, the Mighty Dragon, that loops out the structures and defeats all the pigs; it is free to use. A Japanese Cherry Blossom episode was announced on February 28, 2012, with a release date on March 7, 2012. In June 2012, Angry Birds Seasons added their twelfth episode, Piglantis.[11] It was launched on June 14 and is the second summer based episode (the first episode being Summer Pignic). The main new feature in Angry Birds: Piglantis[12] is fluid physics: the birds, wood, and glass are buoyant in the water levels; however, the pigs and stone are too heavy to rise to the surface and sink down until they are defeated. In August 2012, "Back to School" was added, which introduces the pink bird, Stella and it's Back To School Day.

The third season began in October 2012 when Haunted Hogs was released and was the third Halloween episode in the series. It added ghost blocks, which is visible to all items except the birds and the pigs unless they are inside them. On December 1, Winter Wonderham was released and was the third Christmas episode in the series. Like the other Christmas episodes, it is set up as an advent calendar. It introduced slippery blue ice, that makes wood, ice, stone, birds, and pigs slip on contact. In May 2013, when Abra-Ca-Bacon based on World Circus Day was released; it has a magician theme and features magic portals, which can teleport materials, birds, or pigs from one portal to another.

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