A BIG thanks to @E-Star for the awesome new logo!
It’s hard to believe that Angry Birds Nest has turned three! I wanted to celebrate by sharing a quick story of how ABN came to be, as well as thank those who helped us get here.
The Origins of ABN
It all began around May 2010 with a harmless addiction that my then two-year-old son and I had to — you guessed it — Angry Birds. As we progressed through the game our addiction only increased and we — alright I — set our sights on 3-starring every level and finding all those yummy Golden Eggs. At the time there was really no single source of Angry Birds information and walkthroughs, so to get the help I needed to impress my son I had to bounce all over the web. My goals to begin with were simple: offer a one stop shop of Angry Birds information, guides and walkthroughs.
I could have simply starting building ABN, but I really wanted to go about things the right way, so I sought Rovio’s blessing. I emailed them asking if they would allow me to create a fan site. In the email I included some examples of my past work, a bit about my background, and most importantly, a picture of my son wearing an Angry Birds shirt at Disneyland (marketing at its finest!).
The email address I sent my query to was generic, so I honestly never expected a reply. Fortunately, to my surprise I actually received a nice response from Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio’s CMO and Mighty Eagle (@pvesterbacka). He basically said, “Go for it”. A week or so later I sent him mockups of the first iteration of AngryBirdsNest, and a week or two after that, it was live. The screenshot below is one of the first iterations of ABN.
We’ve come along way!
Now a Thriving Community
In the three years since we first launched we’ve obviously grown quite a bit. While we are still a site of fans — and always will be — we are most definitely a full-fledged community (and one of the largest gaming communities on the web). We now cover all of Rovio’s games and offer a lot of really cool features, including: leaderboards, challenges, ranking, badges, and so on. We are a true interactive gaming community.
A Heartfelt Thanks
Before I go on I want to take a moment to thank all of you. Quite often we thank Rovio for all the support they’ve shown us over the years, but it’s rare for us to thank the entire community. That’s actually sort of odd, because without all of you the site would be rather boring. In addition, I also want to thank our loyal admins and moderators who have stuck with us through thick and thin. Each admin has a fun bio on our team page, but let’s call them out in order of appearance.
@fujitoast – Perfectly toasted
@amslimfordy – Genius™
@sal9 – l33t to the max
@E-Star – Flinging Goddess
Thanks to you all! Thanks to all you loyal flingers! And thanks again to Rovio.
Q&A
With the story now told I thought it would be fun to finish off this article with a short Q&A between myself and my alter ego @birdleader (BL).
BL: How did you first come across Angry Birds? How much do you/did you play it?
Simple. One day I was browsing the Apple App Store looking for some family-friendly games that my son and I could play together. I noticed this silly looking icon with a bird on it and thought I’d give it a go. We loved the gameplay and fell in love with the characters. Angry Birds was a game my two year old son could play easily on his own, but also had a level of difficulty that I enjoyed. The Golden Eggs were also an ingenious touch, as they added an additional layer of depth that required the player to actively seek answers. This increased engagement and when found offered a satisfying reward. Now my 3-year old daughter is playing the game, so you know Angry Birds is truely something unique.
BL: For all the top players on ABN, do you notice any common trends? gender, age, location? Or are they from all walks of life and interests?
You would think so, but Angry Birds really transcends generations and borders. Some of our most dedicated players are a bit older and have established careers: doctors, lawyers, you name it. That is not to say we don’t see a ton of amazing players who are a younger. We do! All of us share a common bond and it shows on The Nest. Our moderators work very hard to maintain a family-friendly site that is open to people of all ages and backgrounds. We also strive to keep the site accessible to both seasoned Angry Birds players and newcomers alike.
BL: How do you ensure real scores on ABN, where Game Center is so full of cheats?
At the time of writing we have about 2.2 million scores entered on Angry Birds Nest — all of which were entered by hand. The power of our site is we have the ability to build in many checks and balances that more automated leaderboard systems can’t. Users also have the ability to flag scores that looks suspicious. The power of community enforcement can’t be underestimated. It doesn’t hurt that many of the best players from around the world frequent Angry Birds Nest and have their scores entered. This allows us to set benchmarks and more easily compare scores across individual levels. No system is perfect, but we work very hard to keep a level playing field.
Takin’ it Back to the Old School
- The very first post on ABN still lives! It was actually our Complete Golden Eggs Guide.
- Our first set of freebies came from Rovio. Remember these wallpapers?
- The first “update” post was when Angry Birds v1.4 was released.
Below is an interview with Peter Vesterbacka from way back in August 2010. It’s a long interview, but it’s a neat retrospective on how far things have come. He talks about the Mighty Eagle, IAPs, Mario, toys, and much more.
Happy Birthday ABN! And thank you to all the staff, but especially Bird Leader for letting us play in your sandbox!!
Happy Birthday!!!! I’ve been here for a 29 months and have no plans of leaving! Congrats @BirdLeader!
Hard to believe man, hard to believe. I enjoy our chats. Thanks so much for everything.
Happy Birthday! Thanks for all the great work and always keep flinging ;)
Happy Birthday @AngryBirdsNest , This Nest is one I call home away from home and happy I found this place. I don’t think images are allowed in the comments so a link it is….
Happy Birthday ABN!!
*Clink* Here is to many more! Congratulations @Birdleader !
@E-Star love the new logo!! Awesome!
Thanks @joey not sure the credit is all mine, seeing Rovio made the letters… I just added the most important thing… Nest! And made it technically suited for all purposes :) Cannot wait for the new logo to appear in the (also new) header… Hint hint @birdleader hahahaha sorry just kidding, I know you are swamped!
Awesome new logo!
Happy b-day 2 the Nest!
@e-star, that’s a so awesome logo. Where did you find the font to make it?
@absure I didn’t “find it” ;) all fonts out there kinds look the part, but to the trained eye they aren’t the real deal, so had to put my designerskills in working and made it myself (but had a little practice run with my own name on my own YouTube channel). Thanks for the compliment :)
Wow! Happy 3rd Birthday ABN and @Birdleader @Fujitoast @AMSlimfordy @Sal9 @E-Star! And many more!
I could never have gotten as far in AB without you. I’ve enjoyed seeing the site expand both in content and members!
Happy Birthday!!! My daily stop when I wake up and before I sleep:)
Absolutely Incredible!!! Congratulations @Birdleader
And many thanks to Peter Vesterbacka @mightyeagle
And to Amslimfordy,FujiToast , Sal9,E-star many thanks
Happy Birthday Angry Birds Nest…to many more..*clink*
Ohh and Not to forget @Birdleader 2 year old..now 5..for inspiring this wonderful community
Curious is he still very interested in Flinging?
He does! Mostly plays ABSW and ABF on iPad these days. I hate to say it, but he’s also joined the porkside, as he’s a big fan of Bad Piggies. My daughter is playing now too, though she mostly enjoys flinging the birds backwards and laughing. Some day maybe she’ll find a secret golden egg. :)
HaPpY BiRthDaY ABN!!!! I’m so thankful I fell into the nest! Without you I’d be 3*ing never knowing there could be more to this game and never could I have gotten so much better at playing, which increases the fun with the leaderboards! Not to mention the many friends I’ve made some of which I call Besties!! @BirdLeader ABN has enriched my and so many other lives and a finer group of people (whom I’ve Never met face to face!) I couldn’t imagine!! Here’s to many, many more years!!!
The Best is Yet To Come!!!!
Thank You admins for your tireless work to make this the BEST site anywhere in the world!!!
Happy birthday! I’m not around much right now, but love and appreciate the work you all put in.
Happy Birthday AngryBirdsNest! My ipad would have gone out the window long ago if not for the amazing contributions & insight from the incredible players here. What I love about this place is how it is a real community, where I have made some wonderful flinging friends. A huge thank you to @Birdleader & all the Admins for all your hard work in making this place the absolute best!
Happy Birthday AngryBirdsNest, and thank you @BirdLeader for creating this great community, this is the first and the best site I have ever joined. I couldn’t have 3-starred in all levels and unlocked all golden eggs without your help, keep up the good work, @admins
HappyBirthday ABN There so many good stories to come out of this evergrowing Nest ,and it would be a hard thing to explain the depth of freinships ,and personalities ,and real passion ,seriosness,and delight from a sentence or sharing and working on strats ,,Imagination is truly alive ,..So thanks very much to all the admin , @amslimfordy glad to hear u are not straying ,your a weapon man :) and to those few that know who they are ,thanks for the sunshine when its cold in the south windEskimmikat68crivlna u rock n@birleader
Happy 3rd birthday and thank u for how this all started.
may this long continue
Happy Birdday, ABN! I am 30 years old and I can proudly say I’m a “nerdy birdy”
Happy Birdday to ABN! :D
Many more bird-flinging years to come by and the admins are really doing an awesome job keeping this community up to date!
happy birthday ABN and Red,Jay,Jake,Jim,Chuck,Bomb,Matilda,Hal,Terrence,Bubbles & Stella!!
Happy Birdday ABN!!!
Thanks to all Admins who makes a great Job every day here. Don’t forget to thank the whole community who stay here on NEST and share everything here about Angry Birds!
I love ABN :-)
Happy birthday guys, thanks for your awesome walkthroughs :D
Happy Birthday and thank you so much for putting all of this together. This is where I start my day, together with my morning cup of coffee.
its a great site
everyone likes your work
ABN is awesome
Happy birtday Angry Birds Nest! Without you I would not have 3-starred all levels in Angry birds :)
Happy birthday dear friends! It is really fascinating what you do and still have such enthusiasam as you have at very begining.
I enjoy reading your articlers every time, keep going this way many years. Thank you for being such amazing.
Happy Birthday ABN! I blame you for my AB addiction. Until I found you, I though I was a good flinger. Boy, was I wrong. I’ve been striving ever since to attain just a few of the high scores displayed here. Without that challenge, I’d have moved on to something else long ago. Thanks again for the site, I suppose.
Happy Birthday ABN!
I’m so glad you exist and I know you.
:-)
Happy birthday abn!!!!!!
Happy Birthday ABN !!
Thank You to all the admins, for all the great work :)
Happy Birthday @Angrybirdsnest and to all the team over the years, thank you.
Huge congratulations and a very Happy Birthday ABN! Never would I have imagined that when I stumbled in here just over 2 years ago that I was becoming part of an incredible community. I came here for help on a level and was warmly welcomed so I decided to stay for a wee while to see what it was like…….yeah right,once in,you’re hopelessly trapped LOL! Not only have I become a better flinger thanks to the leaderboards but I’ve also made some incredible friends. In fact they are the nicest people I’ve never met! So I’d like to say a huge heartfelt thank you @birdleader for creating this mad little world and to @amslimfordy @sal9 @fujitoast and our newest admin @e-star for keeping this place running so efficiently! I don’t know how you guys do it but it’s greatly appreciated! Congrats again and here’s to many more…..cheers!!!!!
Happy Birthday ABN!! Thanks for all the great work!
Happy birthday Angry Birds Nest!