The wait is finally over — Angry Birds Stella is out now for iOS and Android via Google Play, NOOK, and Blackberry 10 with Windows Phone coming soon! Download the app now and join Stella and her friends Dahlia, Poppy, Willow and Luca in their battle to defend the Golden Island from Gale and her band of portly pigs.
Let’s jump right into it shall we!
At this time we aren’t exactly sure how many levels there are, but Stella is broken down into two main episodes. In the first episode each batch of levels introduces a new bird and is finished off with a super fun “Wall of Pigs” level. At the end of the first episode there is “Giant Gold Flower” bonus level.
All told, episode one contains sixty normal levels, five Wall of Pigs, and one bonus level — so 66 levels in all. Wow! We will update this as we know more about episode 2, which is Beach Day.
While Stella gameplay is familiar, there are a number of things that take some getting used to. The fact that your highscore is NOT displayed while playing a level is by far the biggest (how do I improve my score or compete against my friends?). I just can’t imagine that was intentional. Anyhow, I digress. The other big difference is that you don’t just tap to trigger a bird’s ability, rather you tap AND hold. While this takes some getting used to — especially with Dahlia and Willow — it’s actually really cool and I find it quite helpful.
It goes without saying, but Angry Birds Stella is story driven, so it follows a more linear path than the other Angry Birds flinger apps. As you progress through episode one each area reveals a new character and their house. Let’s break those down.
Birds + Abilities (in order of appearance)
Now that we have Stella and friends out of the way let’s figure out some ways to master the actual gameplay.
Gameplay Tips
- As I mentioned above, when triggering a bird’s ability you can now tap and HOLD for a certain amount of time. This allows you to aim more precisely and get an idea of the bird’s trajectory and final destination.
- The total number of stars you’ve accumulated is shown in the top left corner. Earning stars is important as the extra birds in your line-up are unlocked when you achieve a certain number. Without these extra birds you don’t get your 10,000 point bonuses.
- You can bounce off large drums and still use the birds’ ability afterwards.
- Look for sparkling flowers and try to destroy them, as they will earn you 3,000 points each.
Other Useful Info
- At this time we are unsure if there are any hidden items to collect (ala, Golden Eggs).
- The scrapbook allows you to access the characters and costumes you’ve unlocked
- There is a hammer Power Up that is first unlocked on level 13. After using it it takes a certain amount of time for it to recharge or you can spend coins and use it immediately.
- As you enter new areas a smoke screen comes up that forces you to either wait a certain amount of time or spend coins to proceed. See screenshot below.
- Certain pigs release floating coins. Either tap them or simply wait for the bubble to pop.
- Your earn bonus coins each time you beat a Wall of Pigs level. The amount varies by level.
- Starting with level 5 the scores required to earn 1, 2, and 3 stars are revealed and the line up of birds is set.
- No Rovio Accounts option … yet.
- You can connect to Facebook and compete against your friends; however, currently your scores are only shown upon completing a level.
- Game Center support with achievements and leaderboards.
- Let us know if you find any other mini-games, such as the one in the credits that we revealed here.
Helpful Links
- Compete with players from around the world on our Stella leaderboard (be sure to note your scores and take screenshots for easy retrieval)
- Angry Birds Stella achievements as listed in Game Center
- Stuck on a level? Our walkthroughs are here to help.
- Ask questions, leave feedback, or offer suggestions in the Stella Forum.
- Learn how to backup and restore your Angry Birds Stella progress. ALWAYS make local backups!
Screenshots
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- Angry Birds Stella Main Play Screen
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- Angry Birds Stella Levels 1 thru 11 for Episode 1
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- Angry Birds Stella Luca’s House in the Big Tree
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- Angry Birds Stella Poppy’s House in the Big Tree
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- Angry Birds Stella Willow’s House in the Big Tree
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- Smoke Screen
So there we have it! Angry Birds Stella definitely doesn’t disappoint. It’s a fun new adventure that offers enjoyable gameplay and an immersive story. My only real gripe is that I want it to be easier to see my scores so I can improve them and compete with others! I’m sure you will all agree.
Now it’s your turn. Share your thoughts below? Did we miss something? We want to know that too!
Does the connection via FB allow to find its progress on several devices ?
If somebody was able to test, because I have only the IPhone with me.
@grimmjow I don’t believe so. Good question though.
@birdleader google play store info says play more than 120 levels, so at least 120 :)
@grimmjow @sal9 yes it does, i started playing with my fb account on my phone. Downloaded the game at home for my tablet, logged into fb in the game and there is my progress :)
My iPad progress transferred to my iPhone. However, the next time I tried, it didn’t. I only lost about three levels, so I am not sure when and how it syncs.
I don’t think it requires a constant connection like EPIC (and GO! ?) but maybe more like Friends, which I think only updates if you make a new high score or get a higher crown level.
Does this work like the Rovio account, in that it “overrides” device data while signed in?
@josm @rizdub
As a precaution, unless Rovio confirms that progress is saved via Facebook, we should assume it doesn’t . I would hate giving away false information, and end up misleading visitors/members.
@rizdub @sal9 progress is saved by facebook 100% sure, it works like rovio account. When signed in you can play. Shut down that device and continue on an other device. and yes when you log out you go back to 0 (or an other level that you played offline)
Wooow, Bird Leader is no. 4 in Game Center with 5.749.370 points!
Sal is number 11 with 4.159.780 too!
The GameCenter leaderboard for Stella is already corrupt.
@birdleader the description in App Store says “Play over 120 levels” so we have an idea of how many levels to expect..
There is one photo which you will receive for 393 stas. So there must be at least 131 levels.
That is correct @chriss … and also hidden levels
There is even an achievement for 3 starring 131 levels. So I assume that there are not AT LEAST 131 levels, but EXACTLY 131 levels.
The one thing I don’t like that much about the game is the smoke screen breaks every 11 levels. I understand that their trying to make the game longer, but when your forcing the player to take a break every couple of levels, it just doesn’t fit.
You can watch 5 videos to earn 100 coins and for 100 coins you can make disappear the smoke.
Yeah, but I’m currently at the 5-hour smoke screen break. That would take a LOT of videos, and they don’t give them out all the time.
@chriss I assume that there is limited numbers of videos one can watch and get coins.
Confirmed. I set it aside and just tapped occasionally on the X to close the videos. I didn’t pay attention to how many. I think it was three, but it could have been five, but the option then grayed out.
I was pleased to see that I was able to return to prior levels to work on 3*ing them while waiting for the smoke to clear.
@cosmo2503 I just tried this and was able to watch five videos for 20 coins each. Only four were unique, the last one repeated the first video. Maybe the number of videos you can watch is tied to the coins needed to continue?
It wasn’t that bad. Start the video, stretch, rub your eyes, take a sip of a nice, cool drink, then click the X and do it again :)
@xano2323 I don’t think it’s about making the game longer. It’s about annoying you into watching videos and buying coins.
Rovio is trying to cash in on Candy Crush Saga’s gimmick of having to wait before playing again, but what Rovio doesn’t realize that that is a bad thing to even try to emulate in the first place. Same with making the app free but forcing us to look at stupid advertisements between every few levels or so (so far the ads are making me want to sacrifice a hundred dolphins just so I can get those stupid Dolphin Tale 2 ads off).
They seemed fine with just making you pay once to DL the app initially and then you’d only purchase extras from there on.
I’ve played the game today. It IS fun! Definitely appealing for all ages and genders, even though the cast is mainly female (same can be said with Sailor Moon). Might take some getting used to, but hey!
I’ve just played through levels involving Poppy and Luca. Seeing Poppy’s personality and spin-top ability, one can imaging Red say, “Hey Stella, call up Poppy! She’s good for Chuck!”
The Play store page says my device, original nexus 7, is not compatible with the app. Sigh. Hopefully in next release? All their other games work on it!
The level selection screen is similar to Cut The Rope 2. The smoke screen in ABStella is similar to lack of energy in CtR2, a new charecter will unlock after every episode in both, and you can also decorate charecters in both.
@sahil-gagrai I played and completed all levels in CTR2 except Friut Market and didn’t see any sort of energy meter in game. Does it mean that they have energy meter now?
@cosmo2503 Only the android version has energy in CTR2
The game is very good, but I don´t like the smoke in the game. Would be better if you could just pay for the app and not have smoke or ads.
Otherwise the game is very fun with facebook leaderboards on each level.
I completely agree. I would much rather pay 2.99 than wait 5 hours to advance.
Just change the time of your device. It might help. ;-)
If you’re not getting the option to watch more videos, you can also close the game and reopen it. About half the time it’ll allow you to watch 5-6 more videos, for 100-120 more coins.
@chriss It worked!
Thanks to games like Candy Crush Saga it’s suddenly taboo for apps to be offered for anything but free in the hopes of getting cash through the in-app purchases.
Thank you King for influencing further corruptions in mobile gaming.
First, Angry Birds Go! used to be incompatitable on Google Play for me until it was and I was able to put on my Nexus 7. Happened again for Angry Birds Stella.
The app is still not available on my Android playstore
(I live in France). is anyone have the same problem?
Bouhhh snif bouhhh!! I want to pop pigs with stella.
Got a reply from rovio support. They said that some component in the original nexus 7 caused them a problem with some feature of the new game that they could not solve, so they wont release the game for these devices. A tablet from the maker of android that has compatibility issues!
Thank You!! Just answered my question, as I have a Nexus 7!!!! Oh well….just have to wait!
Still not in playstore, and in France, it’s 17 h 40…
I have to wait !
@mikroll79l Nice avatar!
Arg. That should have been mikroll79
Thanx bonneypattycat
Found it in Facebook.
Why are character swaps permitted on the leaderboard? And what about the hammer power-up?
It’s similar to ABSW II @chriss. The hammer is completely different, so no, those scores aren’t allowed.
Maybe you should mention about the hammer on the leaderboard site @birdleader?
However, the hammer is used on level 13 walkthrough video. Something should definitely be mentioned about it. @birdleader
And I guess adding a bird at the end for 60 coins is not allowed either on the leaderboard, right @birdleader? So maybe you can mention this as well?
@chriss I wasn’t even aware you could do this, but adding birds would not be allowed; however, swaps are.
@annach Right, Hammer PU scores are not allowed with the exception of 13.
I have updated the note on the leaderboard.
@birdleader – you can see it in your video around 8:30. After you use all birds on level 6, the game asks “add bird?” and you say “no, thank you”. @chriss is right, this is the most dangerous feature, the hammer is nothing compared to it. It is very similar to “last chance” in StarWars II. I think it should be explicitly disallowed on the Leaderboard page as well.
@annach: Yes, but I think with this feature, you won’t get a high score. You have one additional bird, but you are missing the 10’000 points for the unused birds at the end.
@chriss, @birdleader – it is not just one additional bird. If you don’t kill the pigs with the additional bird, you are asked “add bird?” again, and again, and again. So, if one has lots of coins, he/she can use as many additional birds as needed to clean up all the debris before finally killing the pigs. So one can in principal get a higher score than with normal play. What is different from ABSWII “last chance” is that one doesn’t have a choice which bird to use. It is always the last bird of a level, but you can use it as many times as you like.
How can I earn Golden Crowns?
@chriss You get it by beating a friend on facebook
Hm… no. First of all I only see my facebook friend and his score in one particular level. In all the other levels I am the only one shown. Could this feature be bugged?
And secondly even if it shows a Golden Crown there, I did not get the achievement.
I got the achievement when I went back to a level my friend had better score in and got better then him.
Oh okay, but this is annoying. We should see on first sight on which levels we have a Golden Crown, like in AB Friends.
@chriss I agree
@chriss, @ bad-piggies-2
I got the achievement “One Golden Crown” when I connect the game to my FB account.
Before, I reach several levels with only Golden Crown (because I was alone) but any achievement.
Other question :
Even if I am connected to FB but even if my friends have not reached the level yet where I am, the gained golden crown counts ?
Or needs it necessarily that a friend in so finished the level ?
@grimmjow: for me it did not work when I was alone.
But the bigger problem is that I don’t see in which levels I am missing the gold crown. For one achievement you need to get 100 gold crowns, so only in 30 levels you can be behind your friends.
And that the achievements have no percentage is another problem. Why does Rovio not listen to their customers?
@chriss :
I agree.
And still needs it to beat them then, our friends.
Two solutions at present: wait that our friends are more moved forward or to redo the game.
@grimmjow: I think YOU should redo the levels you did when you were not yet logged in to facebook.
@chriss :
It is what I’m doing, at the moment I am 26 there (the achievement of 25 allowed me to count).
On the other hand, I reached 1.000 coins but I had no achievement. Certain gained coins don’t count ? (Videos, rewards, in the level). Or is it a bug ?
It is necessary it’s a pity also to see that the levels do not group together by world (as ABO). Even if I had the achievement of the score for the world 1 directly, it’s a pity that one have not all the information.
@grimmjow: I got the achievement when I had exactly 1000 coins. So all coins count.
Wow… this game makes it’s debut this morning, and you guys are finished with it?
Oh, believe me, the smokescreen breaks keep us FAR from finished.
“The wait is finally over”….NOT QUITE YET!! I am ready for Stella, but Stella is not ready for me and WP8 yet. Patience Jaydee!
Please let us know when it lands for Windows Phone @jaydee
@birdleader I will let ya know. Waiting in anticipation
@admins
Re: “The scrapbook allows you to access the characters and costumes you’ve unlocked”
Having unlocked ‘Stella with the black wig’ I then tried her out on a previously played level and noticed a slight increase in my scoring ability, I quickly reset the level, but I’m wondering, before I use any more of these costume characters, is this is a new style of power-up please?
Second question please – I’ve 3* the first 11 levels and the wall level, but I’m not seeing any golden flower bonus level, what am I missing please?
@birdleader
Please count me in on the scores not shown on the level screen petition, thanks! ;)
@leggy I don’t believe costumes change the bird’s ability. The Golden Flower level is level 61, so you have a ways to go yet.
Regarding the scores not showing. I have confirmation that this WILL be addressed in the first update, whenever that is.
Thanks for the reply @birdleader
I’m still confused about what constitutes as a PU and what doesn’t?
I’m also confused about there being 66 levels; I have 12 (inc. wall level) in each of the two episodes, so 24 levels in all…?
Nice to know that the score issue will be addressed, having to keep notes and screenshots is proving to be a real pain, so thanks for addressing this issue so quickly. ;)
@leggy Episode 1 (Branch Out) includes all the tree house levels, with it’s birds.
There is 60 standard levels + 5 Wall of Pigs + 1 Bonus (61) called the Giant Gold Flower.
Thank you @sal9
Makes sense now that it’s been explained. Silly me, I thought each house was an episode, der!, lol) ;)
@birdleader: Rovio should not only add your own scores but only your friends’ scores so that you see on which levels you don’t have a gold crown yet. Should be similar to AB Friends.
This game redefines cute. A few other observations.
-The time pause when you trigger an ability is finite. Maybe 4-5 seconds. After it’s over, the bird slowly begins accelerating, which may be great if you need a slightly different trajectory to make a shot.
-It’s difficult to see small rebound angles because your finger obscures them. My workaround is the old “use the outside edge of your pinky finger” trick. Works great.
– The star scores that pop up at the score tally may be confusing at first, until you realise it’s showing you how many points you lack.
-So far the ads seem pretty unobtrusive, decently spaced, and haven’t tricked me into going to a website. However the one last night had no X button, so you can stare at it all day, or tap in the upper right corner to continue.
– A bird can hit one of the magical golden fruits and still use its ability afterward You can see this on Level 16, there’s one hanging right in front of and above the sling.
Is Stella a “timed” event to compete with others as in AB Friends? Or can I come back to it later?
During “smoke” breaks, that has a double meaning :), besides ads, does Rovio encourage purchase of in-apps such as power ups or cupcakes, etc.
Recently I “invested” over US$100 on AB Go! Only to find out that, in order to advance, you have to “skip” challenge levels buy spending more and more in-app purchases on expensive “gems.” After a week of frustration–“beat a friend’s score, fly 8000km, and sing the Finnish National Anthem while standing on your head–I gave up :) Contacted Rovio and asked for a refund but was denied unless unauthorized fraud. How do you accuse Rovio of unauthorized fraud and “bait and switch?”
You can definitely come back later @dseufert.
I’m surprised that only now do they encourage in-app purchases instead of like years back when Angry Birds was first launched just a single payment to DL the app once and nothing more unless you wanted to use the Mighty Eagle.
Are there really 5000 coins hidden?
This must refer to the coins the float up when you destroy certain pigs, as well as those earned after completing the Wall of Pigs levels.
Okay and you believe that there are really 5000?
I just finished episode 1 and I don’t even have 1000 points.
Sorry, I mean coins.
Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDADCXFdj5A&list=UUYC2wjLop-S6Ld4raeoUVNA
Thanks @josm. Added it to the post.
@All It’s possible the Rio double-counted bonus bird bug (DCB) may exist in Stella. I’ve seen one report so far, and will attempt to confirm/replicate today.
Well, that was fast. I just confirmed the bug on iOS.
On level #3, and probably all five “endless bird” levels, If Stella #2 is fired into an obstacle within a brief time window prior to the bird count, Stella #3 appears in the sling and both birds get a 10k bonus. One interesting twist: if Stella #2 is fired too early, the score tally begins before Stella #3 can appear, so you don’t get ANY bonus! I got an impossibly low 16,290 score that way.
If you fire extra birds on the first five levels, please keep an eye on your score. There’s not much score variation on them, so if you notice you’re 10k above everyone, it’s likely you’ve encountered the bug. If this happens, please reply to this forum post, and let me know which platform you are using, and on which level the bug occurred.
Can you get rid of the ads? I’d gladly buy a power-up or coins or anything to get rid of the ads.
@daboid I wish you could pay for it and get rid of them, but since it’s a free, ad-supported game, I don’t think there’s any way around them.
@daboid
Not sure which device you are using, but I’m using the free Android one and with WiFi turned off, I’ve not seen any ads, yet! ;)
There is a poll option that comes up randomly when you pause the game. That would be a great avenue to suggest the option to pay to opt-out of ads in the game.
If there’s no way to pay an opt out of ads, I will probably abandon the game.
Observations and whatnot:
1) Rovio confirmed the name of Gale’s blonde pig companion as Hamsome Pig
2) The Dolphin movie video played the first two or three ads but never had an X to get rid of it when the trailer was done. I had to click on it, which then tried to take me to the movie’s site, then I had to go back and re-launch the app (still running) and it was gone. No other ad had that issue
3) They use the same graphics for the Rovio sync, so that is what I saw at Barnes & Noble that made me think it was there, but it looks like just Facebook sync. I think a lot of non or anti-Facebook users will not like this at all
4) Telepods – I imported them all into the game. You can do them all at once and they will sync over to another device. So it looks like you only need to do them once, unlike Star Wars or GO!. When you import, it adds another picture to the book, but puts a “TELEPODS” logo in the corner. It will even overwrite a photo already in there with the same image, but the Telepods logo. When you get the same costume/photo later, it overwrites the Telepod version with the game version. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to them at all, other than changing the Bird’s sprites in the game. I did notice that when using drummer Poppy, she drums when you win the level. Not sure if that is normal or just with this costume. They might all have different winning animations depending on the costume. More research is needed here. So overall, the Telepods are pretty much just to play “dress-up” as far as I can tell. When you import them in, all birds have a tab at the top and have coins associated. Not sure if the Telepods added the coins or if there is some distribution pattern when you earn them in the game.
5) There is a poll to give feedback on Stella when you pause the game. Takes about 10 minutes, but a great way to give feedback to Rovio.
6) When you pause the game, there are screens showing each bird, what their power is and what level they are unlocked. But we don’t need that, because we have the Nest! ;)
@dr-omega FWIW I got that dolphin video once, but was able to get past it by tapping the top right corner of the screen. There was no X there, but it let me continue without hijacking me to the movie site.
From what I’ve seen playing you have to pay coins to swap out a bird for a different one during a level, but if you have a telepods bird you don’t have to spend your coins. Looks like u can unlock outfits tho either through gameplay or telepods.
That Dolphins ad is the most annoying of all the ads (since it covers up MOST OF THE SCREEN making it easy to mistap and the X never appears).
For crying out loud, what’s so taboo about making the app a paid app so we get the full game with no Smokescreen or advertisements? Rovio was fine with doing that before, and especially since buying $10+ amount of Gold in this game DOES NOT disable the advertisements permanently, since technically the game is no longer a free game.
After playing a bit further in to the game, there’s something I would like to mention. In the second screen in the second world, there’s a present with a clock on it marked 1.11.14, which translates to the 1st of November, 2014. What could this mean? Is it the launch date of a new game? Is it the date for an update? Whatever it is, they felt the need to foreshadow it.
@xano2323 on the official site of angry birds stella,rovio stated that angry birds stella toons will feature in november…so i guess it relates to the toons on first november which is a saturday…i guess..:)
How come I cannot get it on my Nexus 7? A note pops up that says my device isn’t comparable!
@monmom2000 Answer here.
Maybe bcoz of it HD graphics and so much animations in this game, or maybe it doesn’t recognize your device , or your Play Store gets outdated.
Any one else have a problem with the game crashing when ever you try to open the photo album?
I am a little confused (as usual). When the ad to watch a movie trailer is displayed, how do you get past that screen? Do you have to watch the movie, can you bypass it, what? I don’t mind the ads so much, but I do not want to watch a movie trailer.
What if I am in Airplane mode?
@bonneypattycat wait about 5 seconds after it appears and tap in the upper right corner of the screen. I think there’s supposed to be an X there, but it’s not showing up.
@Kelani I think I tried that, thinking maybe my bad eyes just couldn’t see it. Maybe I tapped too soon, or not quite in the right place. Next time I see it, I will try again. Thanks for the reply!
Forgive me if this has been answered already –
I have a Nook HD Tablet, and the new AB Stella game does not show up in either my Google Play Store or the Nook App Store, and it is almost 8pm local time for me. I caught that there were issues with the Nexus 7 tablet, but the article above states, “Angry Birds Stella is out now for iOS and Android via Google Play, NOOK”. Per this information it should be showing up in both my Google Play store AND the Nook store, but it isn’t in either. Does anyone else have a Nook Tablet, HD or not, that has run across this problem, or is it just my device? When I go into the Google play store on my android phone it is there to download, but nothing for my tablet.
I think this app was release in your country by late. Mine too also happen, bcoz I live in India but then released on 12 noon IST. Other Rovio games were also release after this time in my country.
I’ve installed it on my Android tablet and phone, but it’s not there on my mom’s Nook HD. When I tried the link from the Angry Birds site, it said it wasn’t compatible. Rather frustrating, and she’s quite jealous of me now!
Thanks for the confirmation! I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that it will be out soon for the Nook HD.
Good game but apart from one thing that SUCKS big time ….. you MUST have G+ account. Why should anyone be forced to do that? Grrr
@angryicebreaker Are you on Android? No such requirement on iOS.
@angryicebreaker if you’re on android, you allready have… its the same account as you download your games from and the account your logged into your device. probably gmail
What are the coins for?!?!?!
You can use them to pay for character swaps, or to buy your way past the wall of smoke delays that appear throughout the episode.
I am very very disappointed that I have to pay for character swaps although I already paid over 100 dollars for Telepds.