The gay bird from Angry Birds turns out to be just an ally (and fans didn’t like it at all)

Since the beginning of the characters’ representations beyond the original games, Chuck, the yellow bird, has been portrayed as a gay or, at least, bisexual character.

You may have finished reading the headline thinking “But wasn’t Angry Birds that game where you throw birds with a slingshot at pigs?”. Since 2009, the saga has evolved a lot: it has already released 29 games, numerous comics, TV series, two movies, and even a crossover with ‘Transformers’. The fan base is wide, and Rovio should know what that means: don’t mess with the canon or you will suffer the consequences.

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Aliados enojados

Since the beginning of the representations of the characters beyond the original games, Chuck, the yellow bird, has been portrayed as a gay character or, at least, bisexual. For example, in ‘Angry Birds: The Movie’ he appeared fantasizing about another male character and in ‘Angry Birds Toons’, when the pigs lock him and Red up to “lay an egg”, he turns red and doesn’t seem particularly bothered about it.

It is the closest thing to an LGBT icon that ‘Angry Birds’ is going to have, and that is why it has been chosen by the game’s Twitter account to represent Pride month. Along with the text “Pride is not confined to just one month”, Chuck appears in front of a flag. Specifically, the heterosexual ally flag (black and white with a multicolored A in the center). As you can imagine, fans have not taken it well.

In fact, they have started posting images of Chuck but with the LGBT flag in the background or kissing Red, taking the opportunity to criticize the team. “He’s the straight friend who swears he’s straight but constantly does the gayest things possible”, said one Twitter user. “There’s no way Chuck isn’t pansexual, come on”, commented another.

There is currently no rectification: the creators only said that the interactions of the characters in the series and movies were not necessarily canon, but there are enough indications to say that, indeed, that flag should be changed. Justice for Chuck!

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Angry Birds Transformers arrives on Android

Rovio’s excellent Angry Birds Transformers has been released for Android, after its launch on iOS two weeks ago. It’s very different to earlier Angry Birds games, being a quasi-3D side scrolling shooter, rather than the normal catapult-bird launching action we’re used to.

The most impressive thing about Angry Birds Transformers is how it looks. There’s nothing lo-fi about it at all. It’s flashy, with excellent animations and effects throughout. Despite the different gameplay, it’s still ideal for playing in short bursts.

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The game sees the Angry Birds team up with the Pigs to fight the evil EggBots. In keeping with the Transformers theme (thankfully following the cheesy 80s cartoons, rather than the recent movie franchise), Angry Birds are now AutoBirds, while the pigs are DeceptiHogs.

Angry Birds Transformers is free to play. It has optional in app purchases, which allow you to progress more easily. Purchases range from $1.99 up to $99.99.

Download Angry Birds Transformers for Android, or iOS.

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Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @jonathanriggall

Retry, from Angry Birds creators Rovio, taps into Flappy Bird

Rovio has released its newest title, Retry, following last week’s Angry Birds Transformers. Its style and hardness are a nod to the viral hit Flappy Bird, and suitably, if you search for Retry in the App Store, the first results you’ll see are not Rovio’s Retry, but a stream of Flappy Bird clones.

Retry is played with taps. Tap the screen to make the plane take off, but if you hold, the plane will do a loop the loop, so you have to time your taps carefully to keep it going forwards, avoid obstacles, and land on runways. Runways are checkpoints, and at each one you can choose to buy Retry Coins–which allow you to retry the level from the check point– or earn one by watching an ad. You can also collect retry coins in-game, if you’re skilled enough.

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Retry does get the compelling ‘one more go’ thing right, and its controls are firm but fair. It’s not as tough as Flappy Bird at all. Landing is also pretty generous – you don’t need to be as perfect as you’d think! The free to play parts do get in the way a little, slowing you down, but not enough to be too annoying.

Download Retry for iOS and Android.

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Angry Birds Transformers out now on iOS

The Angry Birds franchise steam rollers on, this time with Angry Birds Transformers. But this game is radically different to others in the series, a pseudo 3D side scrolling arcade shooter, and it’s really fun to play.

Eschewing the seriousness of the Michael Bay movies, Angry Birds Transformers begins with an excellent homage to the opening sequence of the 80s cartoon series. The tone, with its tongue in cheek tagline ‘Birds Disguised as Robots in Disguise‘, is light and fun.

The game is easy to play, with typically well made tutorials. It’s free to play, meaning you can speed your progress with in-app purchases, but they are not necessary. Like the original Angry Birds, each level has a number of pigs (or Deceptihogs) to take out, by knocking down their towers. Instead of the catapult, you simply tap where you want your Autobird to shoot. The difficulty comes from the speed of the game – you have to pick your targets carefully for the most efficient hit, and time your transformations into vehicles to avoid falling objects.

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The graphics are flashy, and there are great touches like slow motion if you have a close call with a falling tower. Levels are short and sweet, maintaining the on-the-go mobile feel to the game.

Angry Birds Transformers is currently iOS only, but it’s coming to Android in two weeks.

Download Angry Birds Transformers.

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Angry Birds Transformers coming to iOS and Android this October

Rovio has released the first trailer for its upcoming Angry Birds Transformers game, which is quite a radical departure from its other games, as you can see in the video below.

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Angry Birds Transformers looks more like a 2.5D side scrolling shooter than it does an Angry Birds game. Featuring the ‘Autobirds‘ and ‘Deceptihogs‘, you run sideways while shooting targets in the background of the game. It’s a game of futuristic weaponry – there’s none of Angry Birds’ traditional catapult here. Players will switch between robot and vehicle too, as they attempt to get through the levels.

Angry Birds Transformers looks really polished, with lots of effects, and excellent character models that seem surprisingly expressive. The game comes out on iOS October 15th, and is followed up with an Android release on October 30th.

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Follow Jonathan on Twitter: @jonathanriggall

Angry Birds Stella out now for Android and iOS

Rovio’s Angry Birds Stella is out now and available to download free for iOS and Android with in-app purchases. It’s the first in the series to feature a female lead character and friends.

Angry Birds Stella has over 120 levels, six playable characters, and new superpowers to keep the gameplay fresh. It’s essentially still Angry Birds though, and will no doubt be welcome to its legions of fans. The story sees Stella and her ‘BFFs’ fighting against the evil Gale, a ‘bad princess who’s stolen their scrapbook and is destroying their home.’

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Angry Birds has a huge following of kids, so the in-app purchases could be a worry for parents. The game also features direct links that take players out of the game and open your browser, so children need to be monitored while playing.

Download Angry Birds Stella for iOS and Android

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Angry Birds Stella release date announced

Rovio’s upcoming Angry Birds game, Angry Birds Stella, has got a brand new trailer and official release date – September 4th 2014. Check out the trailer below.

Announced back in June, Angry Birds Stella will be released on mobile – most likely iOS and Android to begin with – and will be accompanied by a cartoon series beginning in November. The game looks like yet another spin on the Angry birds formula. Rovio are promising new powers for the birds, and ‘exciting gameplay features’ to make it challenging even for experienced players.


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Angry Birds Stella follows the adventures of Stella and her girlfriends battling Gale, a bird who has turned to the dark side and joined the Piggies. This is the first Angry Birds game with all-female characters, but it looks pretty stereotyped so far, with ‘cute and cuddly’ characters and plenty of traditionally girly colors. Will this capture the attention of female gamers?

Follow Jonathan on Twitter @jonathanriggall

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App of the Week: Angry Birds Epic [video]

Softonic’s App of the Week highlights some of the coolest, most unique, and biggest app releases for Android, iOS, and Windows. This week, its all about a couple of feathered friends and their green, googley-eyed enemies in the latest addition to the Angry Birds series, Angry Birds Epic.

The first RPG-style game in the series, Angry Birds Epic is set against a medieval backdrop, where you play as the angriest of angry birds to date. Check out the video below, where we’ll take you through the game and give you some tips to beat those bad piggies.

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If you want to try your hand at an RPG but don’t know where to start, Angry Birds Epic is the perfect place.

Make sure to check out some of our past App of the Week features:
KMPlayer for iOS and Android
Marco Polo for iOS and Android
Newsbeat for iOS and Android

Angry Birds Transformers features Autobirds vs Deceptihogs

Rovio is partnering up with Hasbro for the next Angry Birds game. Angry Birds Transformers will be a mobile game as well as a line of physical toys. The toys can be brought into the mobile game by scanning a QR code. This isn’t new as Angry Birds Star Wars 2 debuted with Telepod toys.

Rovio’s first franchise partnership with Star Wars was a great success and the company hopes to strike gold again with Angry Birds Transformers. “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!” says Rovio Chief Marketing Officer Blanca Juti.

The game will likely be free-to-play with Rovio’s most recent titles adopting the model. Angry Birds GO! was the first Rovio game to go free-to-play but disappointed fans with long wait times between races. Hopefully Angry Birds Transformers will be better.

Rovio did not say when to expect the game, other than it’s “coming soon.”

Source: Rovio

Follow Lewis on Twitter @lewisleong

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Angry Birds Epic: 8 basic tips for getting through the levels

Angry Birds Epic for iOS and Android is the first RPG of the saga. If you don’t want the evil pigs to take you out in the first level, then check out our expert tips.

No slingshot, no karts. The new game in the Angry Birds saga brings us an exciting new universe: an RPG turn-based approach. The good thing about Angry Birds Epic is that it’s very simple to play, so you don’t need to have tried Final Fantasy-style games to be able to pick it up.

That doesn’t mean, however, that Angry Birds Epic is a piece of cake and if you want to get easily from level to level then there are a number of things to consider. Today I took the time to look into it and I’ve rounded up eight strategies to allow you to master Rovio’s new game.

Before battle, check your inventory and create everything you can

Before each battle make sure you look over your inventory and see what objects have been collected at roulette or chests. With some of them you can create useful items like potions for restoring life.

Once you’ve checked the material you can make your way to the anvil or the magic cauldron to create new objects that will be available for your next fight.

Angry Birds Epic: consumables

Eliminate small enemies straight away

In many of the Angry Birds Epic levels you’ll be fighting multiple enemies at once. Your first instinct might be to take care of the most powerful enemy and leave the little guys to the end … do not do this, do the exact opposite!

Eliminate the little pigs first as they’re easier to kill and once you do you’ll have less plays where you’re attacked every turn. To do this, focus all your efforts on one enemy: always attack the same one and only move on to the next one when you have eliminated the first one.

Take out small enemies first

Take advantage of delayed enemies’ attack

But there is an exception to the rule above, and that’s with enemies who don’t attack at each turn. These pigs are characterized by a meter that fills up in parts. This means they don’t attack each turn – they have to wait until their attack bar fills, usually in two or three goes. Of course, when they’re ready to attack, they tend to hit hard.

Take advantage of the first few turns where they don’t attack you to attack them mercilessly, it will weaken them and might, hopefully, eliminate them before they’re able to attack you. And in the last turn when they’re not attacking, focus your energy on protecting the person who is their goal with your shield (their face is shown on the pig’s meter).

Delayed attacks can provide an advantage

Dominate with teamwork

The Red Bird is the first thing you control in Angry Birds Epic. Soon he’s joined by his yellow colleague. The red bird makes individual attacks while the yellow bird takes charge of group ones. Keep this feature in mind when you’re attacking.

With that in mind, try this: if there’s an enemy with a low life bar, attack with the bird who makes the group attacks first. That way you’ll finish him off and can start chipping away at another enemy with the individual-attack bird. This way you’ll get the best performance out of the abilities of each character.

Also, check out the different combinations with the various birds you’ll unlock in the game: each has abilities that make them more suitable for dealing with one enemy or another.

Teamwork will help you win

Keep your chilli for tricky moments

While you’re attacking or taking hits, the chilli fills up, which gives you a super attack when you activate it on a character. Even when it does fill up though, it’s better to wait until you have a really good reason for using it.

For example, use it to finish off enemies who have a full life bar or even to attack the biggest, most powerful enemy in the level.

Also note that if you use the chilli on more than one character who still has lives then the attack that’s created is more powerful, and will remain active on more than one character even if you haven’t activated the enhancer.

Save the chilli until you need it

Don’t waste potions and other special items

You’re halfway through a level, a character is about to die and the other one isn’t exactly full of beans. Should you use a potion to strengthen the weak one, or revive the dying one? Weigh up each situation, as often you’ll use the potion, but lose anyway.

Only administer potions in advanced stages of a battle and if you know you’ve got a high chance of winning. If not, you won’t lose a potion and anyway, you can always repeat the level.

The same for potions....

Move up levels by repeating past levels

Despite the tips we’ve given above, you’re probably not going to pass Angry Birds Epic levels on the first go. This doesn’t mean you’re not playing well, it’s just because the characters don’t have much experience. This is easy is fix: just repeat previous levels.

To repeat a previous level just to go to the island screen and select any completed level. As you’ve already done them it won’t be difficult to complete, plus your characters are already experienced and the enemies you eliminated before will be easier this time around.

Even if you don’t pass the level on your second go you’ll still be gaining experience, but of course, it’s better if you manage to pass it, as it’ll also bring you new rewards: the more stars you get, the more prizes you’ll win in roulette to add to your inventory.

Don't be reluctant to repeat levels

Repeat levels depending on the ingredients and resources you need

You can repeat old levels as you wish, or you can go a little further and repeat levels that are worth more in terms of rewards  – at each stage, you’ll be collecting one or more materials.

To know where to find each item or resource you just have to navigate the cauldron and anvil menus. Keep your finger on the picture of the object that interests you and a window pops up telling you where you can find it.

Then look for the areas on the map and you can repeat these levels as many times as you need.

Get strategic with your resources

Limitless play

Unlike other games, like Angry Birds Go!, there are no limitations on time or lives, you can play whatever way you want without having to wait. Take advantage of this sort of play and don’t worry about getting through the levels – just have fun!

Download Angry Birds Epic for iPhone

Download Angry Birds Epic for Android