SURPRISE!!! Rovio has released Angry Birds Star Wars II a day early! Speculation suggests that it is related to the release of iOS 7, but who knows for sure — and frankly, who cares?! We’ll talk more about system requirements further below, but for now, Angry Birds Star Wars II is available for iOS, Android via Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, and Windows 8 Phone.
Update 24 October: ABSW2 released for PC.
Let’s jump straight into the details. We’ll have a “first look” video soon, but we were caught off guard by the early release.
Check the Cargo Hold! (What’s Included)
Gotta start with the best stuff. There’s an insane amount of content.
- Two episodes = 80 normal levels are available at launch. We begin at the beginning: Naboo Invasion and Escape to Tatooine. Each episode has two sides: Bird (light) and Pork/Pig (dark). Each side has 20 normal levels! Quick math: 20 × 2 × 2 = 80! Walkthroughs for all levels.
- You must start your journey on the Bird side of Naboo Invasion. (Levels numbered B1-# for “Bird, Episode 1”)
- The Pork side of Naboo Invasion unlocks after accumulating 20 stars. (Levels numbered P1-# for “Pork, Episode 1”)
- When you complete Naboo Invasion, you can pick which side of Escape to Tatooine to join. The other side unlocks after accumulating 20 stars there. (Levels numbered B2-# and P2-#)
- 8 “Side” levels! Hidden in each side of each episode is a treasure map. Obtaining this map opens a 2-level side quest, which is some cases is a shortcut! The levels are not required to earn “Complete an Episode” achievements, but 3-starring IS required to earn “3-star an Episode” achievements. (Levels numbered B1-S#, P1-S#, …)
- Reward Chapter! This is pretty interesting. Each character has a points-accumulated achievement associate with it. When you reach that threshold, that character’s level is unlocked in the Reward Chapter.
Important Note: Bird Bonus Points are not credited to this counter. It must be in-game points done by that character’s fling, and points do not accrue unless you complete the level.
Secondary Note: Not all levels of the Reward Chapter can be unlocked by normal gameplay at time-of-launch. In fact, not all levels will be unlockable via normal gameplay ever (Luke Skywalker, for example) since they are only available by TELEPOD or Character Swap usage. See more below. - Bird Credits, TELEPODs and Character Swap! We’ll talk more about this below, since it’s very extensive.
- Achievements! These are now listed both in GameCenter (iOS only) and in-game! This way, all users can compete! There’s a massive 67 to begin the saga!
- Ability Label: Since there are so many birds and so many abilities, each character in the lineup has a little label next to it. This identifies what that character’s ability is: A small lightsaber handle, a shockwave, a laser blaster, etc.
Choose Your Destiny! Who Will You Join?
Bird Side
Playable characters on the Bird side at initial launch include:
- Qui-Gon Jinn and his single-lightsaber attack.
- Obi-Wan Kenobi and the Force
- Yoda and his incredible bouncing spinning attack of doom!
- Jar Jar Binks and his grappling-hook tongue.
- Anakin Episode I and his missile-riding daredevil-ness.
- R2-D2 and his electronic blasts.
- C-3PO and his self-destructive explosion.
Pork Side
Playable characters on the Pork side at initial launch include:
- Darth Sidious and his magic lightning fingers.
- Jango Fett and his single-rocket attack!
- Battle Droid and its triple-shot laser blaster.
- Darth Maul and his double-ended lightsaber attack.
- Count Dooku and his boomerang lightsaber throw.
- Droideka and its incredible bouncing spinning attack of doom.
Characters Not Yet Featured
More characters will be made available in later updates to the app, and some are only available by using TELEPODs or Character Swaps (more below). While we won’t list them all here, they include Darth Vader, General Grievous, Padme, Mace Windu, and many many more.
Be sure to check out our Star Wars 2 Character Reveal videos to see all their abilities in action!
The Shop: TELEPODs, Character Swaps, and More
If you don’t like the character lineup you’ve been given for a particular level, don’t worry! With the technology of TELEPODs and “Character Swaps”, you can now set your own attack lineup! This feature has actually been requested for years in the Angry Birds community, and it’s interesting to see how Rovio has included it.
So let’s talk about how exactly this works:
- TELEPODs are physical figurines that you can place on a stand over your device’s front-facing camera (if applicable). The stand has a small magnifying glass and the figurine has a QR-code. Clicking the “TELEPOD” button in-game (looks like a T roughly) will use the camera to read the code, then BAM that character appears in the slingshot! Note that you can only import a like-side character: Pork-for-pork or bird-for-bird.
- Bird Credits are earned periodically through normal gameplay, or can be purchased from the shop. Prices are 150 credits for $1.99, 400 for $4.99, 1000 for $9.99, 2250 for $19.99, 6000 for $49.99, and 15000 for $99.99. (Worried? Be sure to see our post about restricting In-App Purchases.)
- Character Swaps are used to switch the active character in the slingshot for any character that you have “swaps” available for (on the same side)! These uses come in many shapes and sizes. They are earned in-game by completing certain achievements, can be purchased from the shop, or activated using TELEPODs. When purchasing from the shop, you can choose to purchase 10, 30, 100, or unlimited for any specific character. Note that the credit cost varies by character, with Darth Vader costing 3500 credits for unlimited.
There are also some restrictions on how these items can be used:
- You may only TELEPOD-in a certain character once per level, but you can use multiple TELEPODs per level. As an example, if you start with a level of all Jango Fett, you can one-by-one change the lineup to go Darth Vader, Darth Maul, Droideka. You cannot use TELEPODs to make the lineup 3 Darth Vaders in a row, however.
- You may use in-game Character Swaps without such a restriction. That is, you can use in-game Character Swaps to make a level of all Jango Fett into all Darth Vaders. Mwahahaha!!!
- Using a TELEPOD temporarily changes the in-game counter for that character. This seems to disappear after some time, however, and these character swaps appear to be stored in the Cloud. We tried turning on Airplane Mode and we lost them, but we will try playing around a bit more to get some more info.
Which Systems Are Go? Compatibility and Pricing
* Please be aware that this info may change at anytime. Beware of fakes! Only download apps published by Rovio Entertainment Ltd.
- iOS: Angry Birds Star Wars II is a universal app for iOS and costs $0.99 USD. It is compatible with iPhone 3GS+, iPod Touch 3rd+ generations, and all iPads. You must have iOS 4.3 or higher, and yes, it does include iPhone 5 support!
- Android (Google Play & Amazon Appstore): The Android app costs $0.99 USD and requires Android 2.3 or higher. Specific device requirements may vary and users should contact Rovio with questions pertaining to their particular device. There is also an ad-supported free version of the app.
- Windows 8 Phone: The Windows 8 Phone app costs $0.99 USD and has a plethora of device requirements. See the Windows Phone Store for all the details.
Notice for PC/Mac users: PC and Mac are not included with initial launch. Until recently, Rovio has made no statements about the future of these platforms. On the 19th, Rovio tweeted: “#AngryBirdsStarWarsII is now the #1 app on the @AppStore. We’re also working on a PC/Mac version!” No word yet on ETA, but it will likely be some time. Released for PC on 24 October; no ETA yet for Mac. We also suspect that TELEPODs will not be compatible with desktop platforms.
Helpful Links and ABN Information
- All Angry Birds Star Wars II 3-star walkthrough videos are live. This will also include Hidden Bonus Boxes, Treasure Maps, and much more.
- Compete with the best players in the world by entering your scores on our Angry Birds Star Wars II leaderboard. For the first time ever in a mobile app, ALL SCORES ARE VALID. This includes scores obtained with TELEPODs and Character Swaps. However, please explain what characters you used on the walkthrough pages.
- Hunting for hidden bonus boxes? Check out our complete boxes guide that shows their locations and how to obtain them.
Will there be the same sign before your score when you use a Telepod as if you use a power-up?
@amslimfordy: will you use power-ups? If I understand well, some levels will only open if you use power-ups or Telepods. Am I right? So what would you recommend concerning power-ups?
TELEPODs are physical manifestations of Character Swaps, so the lightning bolt appears.
Yes, some Reward levels can only be unlocked by Swap usage.
Maybe in future updates these characters can be played without swaps? Do you think it’s worth waiting?
Some will (Vader, Grievous, etc.). Some will never (Han, Leia, etc.)
Why not Han and Leia? Vader is also only in 4,5, and 6.
@amslimfordy In my android, in the landing page,where you turn sound off and see info, there is some unlock code thing. what is that?
@lamia thats for give aways from rovio, they can give you an code for extra power-ups for example, all games have this
This is awesome! So much to explore and figure out. I have my telepods already to go and will start tomorrow am. I think this will keep us busy for quite awhile.
@AMslimfordy the game is also universal on android, tablet & Phone acc. to the description on google play
I am so happy right now. I LOVE it!
Coming Soon: telepod yourself! http://www.hasbro.com/starwars/en_US/images/Teleport-Yourself-Coming-Soon-230_1.jpg
@josm That’s pretty neat, thanks for showing us!
If I understand this correctly, each episode and each side will have amongst its 20 levels four secret boxes PLUS a treasure map. These are found just like Golden Eggs. The treasure map opens up the Side Quest. You need the treasure MAP and the four other collectables to get the bonus. But what is the bonus?
Just for the achievements and the achievement’s prize.
I’m confusd by the leaderboards.
Is @amslimfordy saying that those of us purists will no be competing with scores obtained with people who swap in more powerful birds?
That isn’t really a competition, then.
I’m all for using swap ins when chasing the most points possible by any means. But I first like to challenge myself by using the birds given (a sort of idempotent way of thinking, I know, but it makes the game last longer and is more fun for me). I hope I am not alone.
@jaroftime I’m the same way. I will only use PUs once I have 3 starred everything without them, and then I will only use them to get the rest of the things you can’t get without them.
Trust me, we discussed the leaderboards here for several days. Let me break down the most important facts.
1) Swap Scores are NOT logged separately in the app. Therefore (with the exception of the lightning bolt on the score tally screen) there is no evidence whatsoever of whether a score was obtained with or without Swaps.
2) Swaps are obtainable, in bulk, without the requirement of cash payment. Users earn sufficient bird credits and direct swaps in-game to compete.
3) Swaps are existing from the very start of the app. Unlike in ABo and other games where we have a long-established maximuk score threshold for most levels, w have no such data for a brand new app. Policing such a leaderboard would be impossible.
Fair enough. It is true that policing would be impossible with no baseline to compare non swap scores first.
It seems though that your walkthrus are for non swap strategies.
Also it appears the walkthru comment sections have lots of non swap strats.
That should be more an enough commeradery for us OCD players.
@Jaroftime Yes, we will always present Swap-free video strategies. We may include some “Swap/Highscore” strategies as well, but those will always be supplementary. I like to think that part of our job description is to prove that every task can be done in Angry Birds “purely”.
While a lot of us prefer a non-swap / non-power-up game, or separate scoring, at least SWII sets the game up a specific way from the start, this time anyway. I’ll fiddle with swaps and toys after I 3-star everything.
A quick shout out to @amslimfordy for all his hard work, playing, posting videos and explaining things. We really appreciate yours efforts. I’m not sure he’s human, and might be a machine, quite possibly a Terminator.
Haha, thanks @dmsral. Trust me, I was the biggest voice in the Leaderboard conversation for “Pure-Only Leaderboards”. But when all was said and done, it would be 100% impossible to police.
I can’t take all the credit by any means. Virtual high-fives to @Sal9 and our glorious tyrannical dictator @BirdLeader.
Yes I can only agree :) You’re doing a fantastic Job helping is all Out with our various Angry Birds problems! Thank you, very much appreciated!
I highly recommend you play with your device plugged, because this game is sucking up battery life. Playing on an iPhone 4S, it knocked me down to 60% very quickly. I played for an hour while USB port charging and it was at 61% when I finished, so it appears to use power as fast as you can charge it. Is anyone else seeing this?
Yes
Same here…
My nexus 4 was quite hot while I charged it when I played this game. But the game isn’t using too much power until the battery drain while charging. Haven’t try to play the game while not charging
I have added the game on my Nexus 7 last night and its fun! Played some levels.
A question…it doesn’t matter which side you do first? I was thinking doing the good side first and then the dark side after.
@jaythecanadian You always start with Naboo/Bird. When you get to Tatooine, you can chose either side, but eventually both sides unlock.
Got a tweet from Rovio overnight. I had asked them about cloud back up. They said it “unfortunately” was not in ABSW “at the moment” and only classic, and they said, “but we’re rolling it to other games as well.”
Tweet from the Angry Birds:
#AngryBirdsStarWarsII is now the #1 app on the @AppStore. We’re also working on a PC/Mac version!
@AMslimfordy
Great News for PC users!! :)
Thanks for posting that, Slim-means I don’t have to shop around for a cheap tablet to play it on! (Don’t have a mobile/cellphone (don’t want one!))
I can’t wait for the PC version! It’s fun on the phone, but I love being able to stay zoomed out while playing, and still be able to see which bird I’m using!
Not sure still have achivement if on PC like in Android.
Initial release app size already over 50MB, can’t imagine future update.
It will be interesting to see which is the more economical method for obtaining swaps, Telepod, or bird credits. From reading the post, it appears that bird credit swaps may be more valuable than those obtained via the pods.
I’m currently lives in Malaysia, so I need to know when I can buy Telepods, on Physical Toys Shop or Online Shop??
I click it on ‘where to buy’
Maybe you try on Toys “R” Us.
None of them are in my country :P . Well, I should research more since the first ABSW has got quite massive in here
A heartfelt thanks for the tutorial vid and detailed explanation @amslimfordy I’m incredibly stubborn and stupidly thought I could go this alone but I got hopelessly lost very quickly. I now kind of…roughly…sort of…know what I’m doing ;( I’m seriously hoping that this release grows on me but so far nope……sadly I’m not liking it one little bit. I’m gutted to be honest! Never felt this way about a release before but I will however struggle through and persevere…….darn this addiction ;)
hey everyone i just won the angry birds contest on facebook and i was wondering if anyone has won an AB contest and how long does the shipping cost thank u!
Congratulations @angrysam I can’t answer your question, but it’s fun to see a winner from ABN!
I have a question, does each bird or pig get upgraded?
No upgrades so far.
i lost all my rewards. my device sometimes freezes and crashes while playing so i have to restart it without exiting the game properly. i don’t know if that’s relevant but i would love some help. i had Bird Watcher, Use the Force, Pork Side Opened and Give In To Porkness completed (other than some of the characters), I got the rewards but they all disappeared. If someone can help me get them back, that would be great. thanks! I wish they had cloud backup for this. I probably will have to uninstall and start all over again.
Can all characters (eventually) be acquired through the game play, or are some simply only available if purchased with the telepod? And if so, which characters are only available via telepod?
The characters above list thous available in v1.0.x. In the future, we expect to see characters such as Mace Windu, Zam Wesell, Anakin II and III, and more. Unfortunately, a complete list may never be known.
On the other hand, characters that ONLY appear in the original trilogy (Leia, Luke, Han, etc.) should not appear in normal gameplay at any point — beyond their “Reward Chapter” levels, of course.
I’ll inquire with Rovio to see if they at least have a list of definitely-not-playable characters.
Thank you. The main reason for the query is so I know which figures (characters) I should by to use via telepod and which ones to acquire through the game play.
Still haven’t got my telepods to work on my Google galaxy nexus! Anyone else have this problem ? My iPod 4 works fine as long as I’m in a well lit room.
Maybe you should try to place the telepod on the back camera
@amslimfordy: What is the difference between the “Bonus Walkthroughs” (https://www.angrybirdsnest.com/category/walkthroughs/angry-birds-star-wars-2/bonus-walkthroughs/) and the “Complete Star Wars 2 Bonus Boxes Guide” (https://www.angrybirdsnest.com/complete-angry-birds-star-wars-2-bonus-boxes-guide/)?
@chriss We like to have the complete guide as a 1-stop-shop to list them all out. The Bonus Walkthroughs also include the hidden Treasure Maps (which will eventually have it’s own guide as well).
I wonder when it will come out on the nook coler
Crucially, will it be possible to three-star all levels without spending any money or will we, at some point, have to purchase credits, Telepods or both?
@captaintau Some of the Reward Chapter levels will always require use of Character Swaps. However, you can earn quite a bit of credits for free, so I suspect that after a couple of updates, it will be possible to unlock every level for no additional cost.
not now yet, but yes, after some updates
What do you get for collecting the bonus boxes? What do they do?
@betrayed2010 For now, they only unlock achievements, which in turn give you in-game character swaps and bird credits. In the future, they could become “Golden Egg”-type levels, similar to what happened with the Hidden Fruit in Angry Birds Rio. We don’t know for sure.
hey guys TELEPODS work on android???
Not all, but on some Android devices. Hasbro.com has a listing of compatible Android devices.
ok thx
So Dark Side = Pork Side… Anyone think they missed a trick calling it Bird Side when it could have been the Flight Side? :)
ABSW II is also available for Amazon appstore @AMslimfordy
It has been since Day 1 @josm.
@AMslimfordy i know… but you didnt mention it in the top of the post ‘ngry Birds Star Wars II is available for iOS, Android via Google Play and Windows 8.’
Ah, I have it down in the platform list instead. Doi. Silly me. THanks!
Ah :) thats something i didnt saw.. ;you’re welcome
Any news on a PC release?
No news for either PC or Mac. The launch was for smartphones and Tablets.
Well, we should say that Rovio has announced that they are working on a PC version, but no release date has been announced. CC: @sal9
However I doubt whether Rewards Chapter will be available to PC. Because that episode is solely dependent on Achievements which is as usual unavailable on PC…
Not really worried about any rewards or anything like that, I just love to play the game. I’ve got 3 stars on every level of every game and all bonuses so I’m really looking forward to SWII :)
I believe the Reward Chapter will indeed be available, though not necessarily all levels.
i cant get my telepods to work on my samsung galaxy s3 phone. what am i doing wrong
Can you provide a few more details to help us help you?
Finally !!!!! Angry Birds Star Wars II HAS recently RELEASED FOR PC on Shop.angrybirds.com Its TRUE !!!!!! I downloaded it !!!!!