Are you ready to join the birds and the pigs as they head back to school! I hope so, as the birds need your help take back the playground from those not-so-menacing pigs. After a short wait we are excited to report that the Angry Birds Seasons Back to School update (v2.5.0) is now available for iOS, PC, Mac, BlackBerry Playbook, and Android via Google Play and Amazon Appstore! This update includes a bunch of stuff and lifts the veil of secrecy surrounding the brand new pink bird, which we reported about last week. We’ve outlined below what we know so far about the pink bird, her power, and this update in general:
Note for PC users: Some people have not been notified by the in-game updater. Instead, go to download.angrybirds.com and click on “Download Free Demo” on Seasons to get the newest .exe file. If you are worried about your progress, check out our Ultimate Backup Tutorial.
The pink bird first appears on level 1-5. Her power is the ability to blow bubbles, which can trap blocks and — you guessed it — pigs. Once trapped the bubbles rise slowly with their cargo and then pop moments after, letting the blocks/pigs fall back to earth. This is definitely a unique ability that will take some getting used to. It’s also important to note that, much like the sardine can, she is very bouncy, so direct hits don’t do much, if any, damage.
What follows is my opinion of the pink bird (for those who care). At first I was a little skeptical about the new pink bird, but after having played through all the levels I have to say I’m very impressed. Not only is her power very creative, it is also extremely well executed. Rovio could have opted for something easy and predictable, but alas, the pink bird and her ability are nothing of the sort. I’m not sure if the pink bird is filled with flubber or what, but unlike the rest of her flock she bounces like crazy and can only penetrate the most damaged wood. There are no other birds even remotely like this (well, I guess the red bird can’t inflict much damage either). Not only that, her bubbles don’t affect all objects equally. Heavier objects float up slower than lighter ones, and if there is too much weight above them, they don’t do much of anything. All this means that you have to plan your shots and they need to be quite strategic. To me this boils down to very fun gameplay and a welcome addition to the flock. I can’t wait to see her make her way into future levels (could be very interesting in Space!).
We are compiling this list to keep an organized, easy-to-reference list for users and developers alike. We are confirming platforms as the update is released.
Update: Angry Birds Seasons v2.5.1 has been released on iOS, presumably with more platforms coming soon. Repaired bugs still include their details for the sake of completeness.