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
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!
How to not sign in to google game? Sometime it pop up when starting game, i cancel it, game working normally.
go to settings @pjng at the bottom in settings click on the medal
A quick note about “Rovio Time”. I finished level 60 at 1am, so five hours of smoke would make make level 61 available at 6am. Guess what, it’s still counting down, with level 61 coming available at 7am. That six hours, not five. My guess is “5 hours” is “5 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds”. They do the same thing on the Seasons “Pig Days” countdown. Yesterday, it said that level 8 will be available in “1 day”, but today it is at 21 hours.
This is a bug and it needs to be fixed. The counters should also display the time in hours, minutes and seconds (like Juice Cubes) so there is no doubt exactly how much time is left.
Also, the videos seem to be arbitrary based on other comments. I’ve only been able to view the Dolphin Tale 2 video twice and nothing else, despite having the button being active for many hours.
@birdleader
@amslimfordy
Yes this is frustating for me as well, but its normal and not a bug @dmsral , @AMslimfordy made an statement about this before somewhere, dont know where. But it isnt possible to fix
Sorry @josm, but I’m going to have to disagree with you. In my experience as a programmer and tester, anything that misleads the user is a bug, and in this case, Rovio needs to display the hours, minutes and seconds to fix it. Or better yet, get rid of the timeout periods completely. :-)
true, but if they only want to show the hours, 5 hours can be anything until 6 hours. Minutes and seconds are better, i dont know why they only show hours
Oh, and the game seems to be pretty rough on my iPhone 5S’s battery life. It’s not that surprising, but I’d recommend always playing while charging, if possible. Is anyone else seeing a bigger battery drain than from previous games?
Yup, same here. One part of the game, about 30 minutes of play and over 60% of battery gone…
@dmsral. I agree. They do need to get rid of the wait time all together or make it shorter! 6 hours is too long.
@dmsral You’re 100% correct: “5H” means “Less than 6H”. It is the same feature as in Pig Days.
I agree that it should be fixed, though “bug” isn’t quite accurate. It’s just silly is all.
@amslimfordy, it’s kind of in a gray area category-wise. It doesn’t actually impact the play, but it does mislead the user, and for my software, I’d consider that a bug and I’d be required to fix it in some fashion. (I’m an Excel guru btw, so if you need any spreadsheet help, I’m your guy.)
Another case: not having a “skip the scoring animation” level exit button, I’d put that down as a recommended enhancement, unless the feature really is in there but the code to draw the button didn’t do it’s job, then it would be a bug. Third option would the design document said to include the feature and they didn’t, which would make it a design deficiency. My guess is they didn’t plan to do it, if we ask nicely, they might add it someday.
@dmsral Nice catch. One tip: I found if you closed the game and reopen it every hour or so, each time, you are usually given the opportunity to view at least 3 more videos. Sometimes 5. I could’ve bypassed the 5(6)hr smoke in 3 hours+100 coins like this if I hadn’t fallen asleep.
This is a little strange, because AB Star Wars II also has a timer feature (the carbonite reward), but this does show the time in hours, minutes, and seconds.
As if the idea of employing Candy Crush Saga’s “gotta wait for everything before a pig wall” tradition was ever a good idea from the get go.
Just let us pay like 5 dollars or so to unlock the full game without the waiting or the advertisements. For crying out loud Rovio was comfortable doing this back in late 2010/early 2011!
When you are signed in with your facebook account, your data is NOT save on your device. Please pay attention! Is saved in the Rovio account? Anybody knows?
@chriss it is saved on your facebook account..
So we should always play with FB!!!! Why not Rovio account!! I don’t get it. as soon as we get used to a new system, Rovio keeps changing it..
Oh no. So when one day you delete or change your facebook account, all your progress will be lost?
@chriss The file structure in the doc folder is similar to rovio accounts. I believe (and could be wrong) progress is saved locally, then synced to FB. (highscore.lua / highscore{serial number}.lua.
But when I log out, I’m at 0. What can I do to get my data on my device?
Can anyone help me pls in how to add friends? I’m connected to FB but don’t know how to add friends.
@chriss @josm
You don’t need to add them. Normally they should be there automatically when you are connected to FB.
@joeyba you cant add friends in-game, when you are connected to FB in the game, all players that play the game automatically appear in the game (you can see the scores of them after you finished a level).
If you dont have friends playing stella, they wont appear and you can add some on facebook..
@chriss just dont log out, you can also play offline when you are still logged into the game. Data will automatically saved to your account when your back online.
ahhh ok now i get it!!!
no one in my FB account which i did just to play Friends btw is playing Stella! So no one to compete with lol
actually i just found that i do have friends playing Stella, but i was ahead of them, this is why i did not see any when i finish a level. I came back to previous levels to 3 stars them and i saw friends.. however i think it just gives the top3? (not sure though)
I know but that’s not what I want.
Out of curiosity, is there any way to disable the ads that appear in-between levels? Because getting Dolphin Tale 2 ads shoved into my face isn’t going to make me want to like the movie.
Very simple answer for this, just disable your connection for some time or if can’t be disabled, turn on airplane mode. I always play any game without connection and everything works fine, but for online games I connect when required, therefore having a better performance and reducing data charges.
I don’t get why Rovio never even tried making this a app where you pay for it once when you first download the game and never have to pay anything else unless you want to unlock premium content.
Because the ads and smokescreen gimmicks are not fun at all and deviate from the fun. Rovio, you’re not King. Don’t employ some stupid marketing strategy to emulate King and their Candy Crush Saga abomination. King is already extremely infamous for their excess micro transactions and wait times, there’s no need to cash in on their success.
This game model is so popular, frankly, because people (on average) spend way more money on them, as opposed to a $2.99-$5.99 game with no ads/micro transactions. If a company has the option of $50M profit from a purchasable game, or $200M from a micro-transaction game, it’s pretty obvious which one they’re going to pick.
For that dolphin video, whenever it appears, I’ve been able to tap the top right corner of the screen and continue. Instantly. It’s worked every time. To disable ads, about the only way is to disable wifi, but that also disables the videos you can watch for coins.
AB stella is not compatible with my Sony Xperia u (Android 2.3.7.)
It s make me…….. CRAZY!!!! :'( :'(
I have to buy a tablet.
All other AB games work fine in my Xperia, and stella not.
ABstella seems to be a very good game.
Stay positive.
I sent a mail to rovio support team:
They said you need minimum an Android 4.0.0. With your device (Sony Xperia).
Just my two cents.
-I think we all can agree that we hate the smoke/time pause in the game. I really don’t see why Rovio added this.
-No one has mention that if you lose a level their is different cut scene and a second chance to buy another bird.
-Also the credits, It’s kinda sad that the pigs just fall, die, and then get swept up like trash. It’s kind of morbid in a way. Maybe the next update will change this.
Really like the new game. I haven’t played in years because I wasn’t a fan of all the power-up and other feature of the previous (Space, Star Wars, etc..). Glad Rovio is back to the basic original AB style.
I thought the pig janitors whistling while they sweep them up was pretty darn funny. If it helps you feel better, imagine they’re only temporarily unconscious. :)
That’s how I always saw it. I think they just made the pigs fall off the levels in Stella to not make people get the impression that the pigs are getting killed.
Though, how does a pig fall of the level on a beach…?
@chriss, @josm, @sal9, @joeyba, @birdleader, @amslimfordy :
Was anybody able to make out a will if, by being connected to FB (we already know that without connection, crowns don’t count), a golden crown gained at a level while no friend has still reached it account for the achievement ?
I am more than 25 there (because I freed the achievement 25) but where I am there, the only one Chris is sometimes in front of me, I gain the majority of crowns by being alone.
Something else (spoil): in the world 2, on the page of the levels 9 – 15, there is in the decoration a “present” with date “01.11.2014”. Is it just of the decoration or we have to expect a surprise ?
Golden Crowns obtained in a level in which I was the only one did not count as Golden Crowns.
@grimmjow @admins There are 4 presents, all showing the same date. There are 4 character outfits that are not unlockable with stars, so i think thats what inside the presents. I could be wrong of course. Just speculation
Maybe 1.11.14 is date of realease AB Transformers?
@kpfreeze i dont think so as november 1 is on a saturday
No, that’s coming out October 15th.
@grimmjow whats ur fb account so i add you?
i have no one playing Stella yet to compete with
Update to Stella in google play
Whats in the update? Just bug fixes?
I think so, saw it on a break at work and have not downloaded it yet. But from the description it says:
“We addressed some minor issues in order to improve the user experience. Thanks for playing, and keep popping those pigs!”
oops, sorry, forgot to mention you @SSMe
I am on android but have no G+ … never had,and now I was forced to have one. Grrrr
@angryicebreaker you always had one… otherwise you couldnt even download games…
@Josh @angryicebreaker You don’t need a G+1 to download games, only to leave a comments on a Google Play app. I don’t have an account and I’m able to download any game.
@SSMe G+ = Gmail, you need an account to open the play store anyway
“From the beginning, our aim has been to build a brand for 100 years, not 100 days. We have Stella coming in, Angry Birds Transformers coming out next month, another game soft-launched in Finland that’s coming soon too. So quite a lot of stuff coming this fall,” says Juti. “And we have a movie in the making too.” Another game coming soon? Wonder if it’s another angry birds game….
@stopshootinme Downloading/installing was not a problem. It was the game itself, when I ran it first, I was asked, well forced, to log in to GPlaya using G+.
@josm out of topic but will answer: you do not have to have G+ to run android, neither GPlay …… this is the first app that forced me to do that ….. i did and then cancelled my G+. Voi-la
very very dumb question, but i can’t seem to add friends to play the game although I did for Friends..
Has anyone noticed that on the second set of levels for “Beach Day” there’s a small present bearing the numbers ‘1.11.14’ (which-correct me if I’m wrong-I believe is the first of November.) ?
Could this be Rovio’s way of teasing a potential AB Stella update?
Okay, I’m now on level 50 in episode one…
[my rant!]
To be fair, the game started out as being fun, BUT, having the prompt ‘how to’ thing at the start of each tree/part when a new bird is introduced and then ‘mostly’ having to use said bird for a dozen or so levels is starting to take its toll; makes game play very slow and boring!
– Surely Rovio could have added a ‘playground’ style section (as they did in ABr) for learning how to use the birds, it would have made the actual game play a lot less tedious and much more in keeping with the traditional AB apps imo.
As for the smoke screen thing, well…
1) If I want to fling for 5mins or for 5hours, that’s really my call, not something that should be decided for me.
2) I downloaded the game to play it, I didn’t download it with the intention of watching endless videos of game trailers that don’t even appeal to me.
3) Even if I had the inclination to watch the videos to accumilate more coins, I certainly wouldn’t use them to clear the smoke; you never know what’s around the corner (meaning updates) and you might need the coins later in the game.
– On the plus side, I’ve gotten around the smoke delays so far by simply changing the date/time on my device, but even so, it’s still an annoying interuption to the game, and I’d rather not see it at all!
It’s also hard to get a good rhythm going with that hammer PU button being situated right under the pause button. I mean, seriously?, wasn’t there a discussion about moving such badly placed buttons when the bird flock PU button was introduced to ABr?
– In any case, I suppose it’s just a case of reset quickly if you tap on it unintentionally; even if forced to use it, as was the case when I played level 13, I prefer clean scores when competing in any game!
I still don’t understand the purpose of the scrapbook nor its characters, yes it adds another dimension to the game, but a pointless one imo; unless they are character swaps, in which case, I have no plans to use them anyway.
– Has anyone actually figured them and/or their purpose out yet I wonder?
At the end of the day, it’s something different to play, but it hasn’t met my expectations at all, and I doubt it ever will.
[rant over]
@leggy Just so you know, using the hammer in Level 13 is allowed, but only on that level.
As far as I can tell, the scrapbook is just to boost the cute factor, and encourage getting enough stars to see the photos. Stella’s target audience is obviously younger females, so I guess Rovio thought the ladies would enjoy changing their little birdy costumes. Who knows? :) It would be great if there was some yet-undiscovered gameplay difference from it, though.
The only annoyance you didn’t cover is how on the tutorial levels, you’re forced to stay very close to the programmed shot, or the bird’s power won’t activate. That’s taking it a bit too far., IMO.
@kelani I definitely agree with you about Stella’s target audience, it is so adorable girlish game. Costumes changing, sort of dress up game is for little girls, however game is (in my opinion), difficult for 6 to 8 y/o girl to perfect (3 starred all levels). I bought all telepods and sets to realize they are totally useless as I can get all different looks by just playing game and those cute figures, treehouse and Pigs’ Castela are meant for 5-10 year old, my girls are teens.
Huh, those tutorail levels are so annoying, but still appears only one time for each bird, so it is forgivable.
I must admit that the replay button is annoying under the pause button. We’re used to it being the first.
When I played Seasons this morning, I automatically pushed the second button to restart which is not the case!!
I finished Golden Beach today, and have discovered that the next level is…not released yet. Dangit.
Dose it work on iPod touch 4 gen?
@aex10 It did at first. Sort of. It would crash every now and then and every time I tried to open the photo album but it was definitely playable. But then it started crashing more and more frequently. I go up to around level 50 but now it is crashing every time I try to play (usually before I can even complete a level) and is unplayable.
I just noticed something surprising when I hit a character swap by accident. It doesn’t replace the bird like in SW2, it adds the new bird to the front of the lineup. So, you’re basically getting an extra bird. (and 10k bonus).
@kelani as I mentioned at level comment you can really swap lineup bird with one that you want and you should pay for it. As I read in one of reviews it seems that player can add more birds at the start of the level??? Haven’t tested this, but, if that means one can add couple birds before even try to play level and get 10k for each extra bird, then it is really sad for fair clean players.
@cosmo2503 yes, the birds are not swaps, if you select one it will not replace anothert bird as in ABSW II. It ads an new bird to your line up. And yes, if you buy 2 birds, and clear the level with only those, you get 10k points for all birds you get from the start.
@josm thank you very much for clarification. Do you, possibly, know if birds you purchase before level start show first in lineup or last?
birds you buy, you need to use first @cosmo2503
@cosmo2503 What @josm said. I started Episode 2, Level 9. Poppy was Bird #1. She was sitting in the sling when I accidentally hit the screen over Dahlia swap. Poppy hops down to the ground, and all the other birds move back. Dahlia pops into sling, After that, the swaps were grayed out, so if you can actually swap a bird, it must only be after the first one is flung.
Just for fun, I threw Dahlia on that level, and now I’m stuck with a high score i’ll never post. Ah well. :)
The ads are beginning to wear me down. It’s a cute game, and I enjoy playing it, but as soon as an ad appears, I put the iPhone down and go do something else. I might get back to the game “later”. Maybe never.
About the smoke screens: depending on how you play, they may not be a big problem. I’ve always played all other AB games one level at a time, three-starring them, and then optimized my high score.
In Stella, you should rush through all levels until the next smoke screen to start the next timer. Then go back and three-star + high score optimization. Since I spend so much time on this the smoke screens have not yet been a problem.
@f91jsw Great idea! After 3*-ing everything, I’ve also used any remaining time to start boosting my lowest-ranked scores. Time flies when you’re on a mission. :)
Frankly, the smoke did not bother me at all. I used that time to play the other AB games. There’s a lot to do so 5 hours is not a lot :)
I have a question… i have almost all fhotos of the birds… do you now how to get the fhotos withou stars???
Only via TELEPODs, I believe.
I’ll add a little ranting of my own, lol. I tried the game on my Kindle Fire, and I won’t be playing it again unless it lands on PC (I have hard time using those special powers with my finger and I prefer bigger screen for flinging action).
I don’t know what the target audience is, but for me the cute factor is overboard. All those flowers and things are kind of annoying to me, not to mention that we fight those pigs, so it doesn’t seem appropriate. But that’s just my opinion, of course.
Hi there i got the game the ay it came out and by now i have 3 stars on every level of the episodes so i have a total of 393 gold stars the problem is that they did’t granted me the “star collector” achievement wich is to collect 200 stars … any chance you know why is that ? And also can you let me know how to get the gold crowns? I have no idea of how to get them
I believe, 200 stars achievment is bugged.
I got it.
Any clues on how to get a golden crown
The 1st November is Halloween, isn’t it? So I guess on that date we will get 4 photos with the birds wearing Halloween dresses.
@chriss Halloween is Oct 31. The only big Nov 1 events I know of are:
All Saints Day (Catholic-Global), A recognized holiday in Finland
El Dia de los Muertos (Mexico,Haiti)
International Vegan Day (Really!)
Independence Day (Antigua and Barbuda, 1981)
Samhain/Beltain in Northern/Southern hemisphere (starts at sunset Oct 31)
My guess was it had something to do with Seasons Pig Days.
At the Character Swap, Gale seems to be present there. I have not used her yet, but has anyone here did that yet? If so, what does it do?
@theangrybird When you spend 80 coins you can use her power. You are able to brush a small line (which turns gold) on what you want her to destroy. She flies by and follows the line you created, kinda life the mighty eagle. It’s kind or tricky thou and doesnt pop pig easy.
Just played the first 12 levels to see what they are like (I came late to the party, again). Stella appears to be a fun game. It took a bit to get use to but like the aiming function.
Obtained the telepods at Toy R Us (a bit cheaper than Ebay) and noticed that they do not disappear after they are loaded. In SW2 they had to be reloaded is one shut their game off. Also changed out Stella in the first 12 levels and I did not notice any different in her destruction powers. Wonder if anyone has?
The purpose of the new appearances are just as new outfits. They do not affect your bird’s destruction power.
This has probably already been commented on before, but if you look right under the clam shell for Beach Day 27, you see a present box that reads “1.11.14”. Now, knowing that January 11, 2014 has already passed, and AB Stella hadn’t even been close to out at that point in time, this has to mean November 1, 2014. Do you know what this means? Do you unlock some type of level, character, or ability on this day? Is it maybe a release date for Angry Birds Transformers? Help!!!
@angrybirdman Finland uses the European date format, which does make it Nov 1, 2014. For some reason, the US, Philippines, Palau, Micronesia, Canada and Belize don’t like that format. No idea why. Anyway, my guess is it’s for Transformers, Episode 3 of Stella, or maybe another minor release like Flock Favorites.
Thanks. You’re probably right about it being AB Stella episode 3, because I just remembered that the release date for AB Transformers is October 15, which would, of course, be 15.10.14, and Flock Favorites is already out. I guess our impatient little thumbs will have to wait and see what November 1 holds…
My son and myself completed both worlds on Stella a while ago and we were hoping the cakes/presents marked 1.11.14 would open up the coming soon levels but instead we got pictures of birds!! When will the new level be ready and no longer coming soon!! Stella is our favourite angry birds!!
Impatient!!
Patience is a virtue :)
We will let you know as soon as we have details about any update.