It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No! It’s Wingman! Wait, so it is a bird?! If you compete in the weekly Angry Birds Friends on Facebook tournaments, a significant update has landed that contains a bunch of tweaks. This update, v1.9.0, contains no new episodes, but does usher in a new tournament format, adds coins, and a new Power Up Bird called, “Wingman”.
The Wingman
Foremost, we are introduced to the “Wingman”, an immensely-strong helmeted Big Brother bird that can be summoned at will. We have seen similar Power-Up Birds before — such as in the Winter Tournament — but now it seems to be a permanent feature. The Wingman is only available from within the tournament and can only be used once per level. In addition, just like other Power-Ups, you only receive a finite number, so use him wisely or you’ll be off to the store to purchase more. Lastly, be sure to send gifts to you friends, as occasionally a Wingman or two might show up (they’ll also probably gift you back!).
Bird Coins
If you’ve played Angry Birds Star Wars on Facebook Bird Coins will be a familiar site. If not, well, let us quickly explain. Basically, Bird Coins are the new currency in Angry Birds Friends. They can be used to unlock Tournament levels, purchase Power-Ups, deck out your avatar, and more. Bird Coins can be earned, gifted, and/or purchased with real money. Below is a bit more detail, which has been transcribed from the screenshot above:
- Earn Bird Coins by playing in Tournaments, getting gifts and collecting your Daily Rewards.
- Bird Coins can be exchanged for Power-Ups, Avatars, and Avatar Items in the shop.
- Due to popular demand we’ve introduced Wingman to the Tournaments and you’ll get some to try out right away.
- Go to the Bird Coin shop now and collect your FREE bundle of Bird Coins.
New Tournament Format
The new tournament format is bound to be what most people notice first. The most noticeable difference is that now there are now six levels instead of the normal four. I am no math genius like @amslimfordy, but that basically equates to one level per day. More levels, more fun! Similar to Angry Birds Star Wars on Facebook, it looks like you eventually have to use a certain number of Bird Coins to unlock each one. It’s also unclear at this time if the levels will unlock on their own after a certain date and time.
Good news! Rovio was kind enough to clarify the tournament structure. Below are the details:
- The new tournament levels are NOT unlocked one-by-one (like in Angry Birds Star Wars Facebook). In other words, each time a new tournament starts ALL the levels are unlocked and ready to play.
- It will NOT cost any Bird Coins to unlock them. The coins underneath each level simply indicate that you can win coins for competing in tournament levels. Awesome!
Why do we know so little? Well, this first week seems to be a sort of introductory period, so all the levels are unlocked. We will keep our eyes out for more info and update this section as we know more about the format.
Cool idea with the bird coins. They should be added to the mobile games.
Looks interesting !!!
@cc-jolly it is power up and I hope it wouldn’t be in ABO,
Yes you’re right @cosmo2503 but i think we will see it also in ABO :-( In future i think we will see PUps everywhere :-(
I like the idea of Bird Coins better than paying with real money because now everyone is able to purchase power-ups and other items that used to require a payment.
Those virtual coins do cost money ;)
But there is a nice twist to this, I just got my daily reward, and it seems that the rewards are all coins this week.
It is very likely that “bird coins”will be part of all AB games, sooner or later. When that happen I will probably stop playing them. It wouldn’t be practical that points could be changed for coins, but it would be interesting to see if people would share their high scores strategies if that happen.
I enjoyed the simple fact it pays homage to the Batman TV series from ages past.
I’m not so sure about having to pay to unlock the levels every week (like in the Star Wars Tournament)… If the last two levels keep being old ones then none will spend coins to unlock them. So we can hope that they remain like that. :)
@teogeo This was a presumption by us that turned out to be false. We’ve updated the post above with specific details. Bottom-line, it won’t cost anything to unlock levels. The coin icon beneath each level indicates that you can earn coins.
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Activision has announced that Angry Birds Trilogy will be coming to Wii U and Wii sometime later this year. That’s the best news I have heard this year! (Should make up for no updates to Seasons).
Wait, what? Did you read a rumor or is it official?
It’s more than a rumor: http://www.engadget.com/2013/02/15/angry-birds-trilogy-wii-wii-u/
(issue with the threads on this page, reply doesn’t work cc: @AMslimfordy )
Glad that the tournament doesn’t use Crystals or similar thing that limits the gameplay. I hope they remove that system from ABSW:FB.
Yah really. I hate those crystals. That was a bad idea. The coins are ok, I guess.
I agree @hydayat1999. I’m hoping they remove the Crystals requirement too especially since I find quite a few of the ABSW facebook levels quite difficult to 3 star let alone get a high score. I’m still trying to pass each level without PUPs but had to break my golden rule on one level a while back!
I don’t exactly understand the point of the ABSW crystals. What are they there for exactly? They serve no purpose other than to limit players.
okay I’m bit confused. i didn’t get my reward for being first in previous tournament which i always got, 6 PU pack. after this latest change took place i didn’t get reward. is this happening to everyone???
No it was 200 coins instead (100 second place and 50 for third).
but i didn’t get that. after playing and 3* all 6 levels, i have 600 coins. i got a free coin bundle. what to do? did you need to claim the coins like you had to claim reward of 6 PU before?
Yes you do need to claim them. I remember the exact same screen as the old one but with coin rewards instead of PU bundles…
@teogeo if i contact rovio that i didn’t get 200 coins gift, will i get 200 coins back?
I saw your tweet asking them but I really don’t know… :S
Man, Terrence has invented some wardrobe now!
Is the wingman limited edition? I don’t want to waste bird coins on it.
The Wingman is a permanent feature.
The coins are a nice addition, maybe they could pop in the levels and you could collect them through the birds, or the blocks.
Is it just me or are the daily rewards starting over every 5 days? In the past if I collected for 5 days, on the sixth,seventh, eighth,ect. days i would still recieve 5 power ups. Now it goes back to one. I think with the coins they should at least give you enough to purchase a power up every day. The way it is now will really limit inexperienced players.
I agree! You used to get a power-up every day. Now, you get a couple of coins that are not enough to purchase a single power-up. The upside is that you can buy whatever you want, instead of getting whatever randomly-generated power-up the program gives you.
The Wingman! A.K.A Terence with another hat!
I think it is really good that Rovio did not put in crystals to ABfriends. Because I really hate crystals. And good that it is not one level each day. But now one thing: The special tournaments (Halloween tournament and Christmas tournament) are not going to be so special now when there is always 6 levels each week. Like the Valentine´s tournament is not very special now.
@birdleader @amslimfordy Check out AB Facebook page. Is it possible they are going to make an Rock “n” Roll version of Angry Birds (I know they did the Green Day Facebook levels)? Slash and the curious question make it a possible scenario. That would be the coolest, for us old folks anyway. Also, could you do a topic of wishes for new games (i.e. Angry Birds Avengers or other themes similar to Star Wars). If we are lucky Rovio will be watching and listening for ideas.
We saw the mention of Slash and Rovio on Twitter, but we don’t have any additional info at this time.
Do they have a plushie of him?
Dr. Omega made it (check it on the forum, “wingman appreciation thread”)
Everyone needs a reliable wingman to keep them out of harms way – even when playing AB! :-D
I am just wondering if it’s possible to “gift” coins or powerups to someone? Would be a great idea :)
You can do that via the inbox button.