App Study: Why Is Angry Birds So Successful?

In a sea of apps, there are a select few that rise above and see some serious success (a.k.a $$$).  One of those happens to also be one of my current favorite game apps, Angry Birds.  I have it for iPhone & iPad, it's excellent on both, but extra excellent for iPad.  So what is it that makes this app so popular and insanely successful? 

First a quick summary if you don't know about this game. At it's core, the game concept is simple. You have some cute angry birds, that you shoot with a slingshot to demolish the piggies who are protected by various structures. From there we get many levels of complexity with different types of birds who can do different things, and the structures get more and more crazy. 

So, why so addictive and fun? Let's dissect the pieces...
 

1. High Production Value

Let's face it, there's nothing worse than putting out a cheap looking app. Quality design for apps can be one of the factors that help it stand out from the crowd.  Even if the app does amazing things, if the production value is cheap it's going to be hard to rise in the charts.  Angry Birds has done a great job of coming up with characters that are simultaneously unique, cute, and angry, appeals to both male & female demographic, and creates environments with high quality illustration and detail. Truly a well made app that was thought out from all angles.

2. Quality Sound Design

Another tell-tale sign of a cheaply made app is the sound design.  You know, the free midi files someone downloaded off a horrible site with hundreds of free sounds.  We don't want that, we want to hear original sounds that are pleasant to the ear.  In the case of Angry Birds, they have carefully thought out all the sound effects.  Since the game involves launching birds at solid structures, we get total satisfaction with the sound effects through that whole process:  Slingshot sounds, bird flying sounds, contact sounds, and broken structures.  All this gives the end-user instant satisfaction and feedback, even if you totally miss.  The sounds really help make the game FUN.

See the trailer to get a sense for the awesome noises in the game!

3. Endless Interesting Levels

I know there must be an end to this game, but seriously there are so many levels that it feels like endless play. It goes on and on and on.  As if that's not enough the publisher keeps putting out updates with new levels!  It's not enough to just put out more of the same though, what makes this work is that new levels come with new stuff... different kinds of birds, structures,  challenges, environments.  So it stays interesting and new.

4. Easy, Yet Challenging

Perhaps the most important ingredient the game has mastered is that it is easy enough to do well, especially in the first dozens of levels, so you get immediate gratification.  Yet it has a slow building difficulty curve which keeps you challenged and dying to beat that level!   Also there is no learning curve, nothing to figure out before you play. You just dive in and start shooting those birds.  Some levels really are very difficult, but because you've built up the skills early on, it keeps you working to beat yet another level.   A very delicate balance between success, fun, and challenge, which the game gets exactly right.

The quick rising popularity of the game is due mostly to the game mechanics & design, but I can't help but wonder if part is just good luck, getting featured by Apple, etc.  Probably a combination of all stars aligning just right.  Whatever the reason, a good model to look at in terms of successful mobile games.  And fun to play!