Angry Birds is a mobile puzzle game from Finnish studio Rovio Mobile where players slingshot wingless birds at fortresses built by green pigs who stole the birds' eggs.

Where did Angry Birds come from?

Rovio Mobile in Finland built the game, and the first version launched on Apple's iOS in December 2009.

What does Angry Birds mean?

The name refers to the flock of wingless, cartoon-angry birds the player launches at pigs that have stolen their eggs, which drives the whole game's premise.

How do you use Angry Birds?

Players pull back a slingshot on the left of the screen and launch birds in an arc to knock down wooden and stone structures sheltering green pigs.

Is Angry Birds still popular?

The peak run was the early 2010s, when it crossed 500 million downloads by November 2011, and Urban Dictionary later described it as an old and once praised relic of the early 2010s.

Who made Angry Birds?

Finnish studio Rovio Mobile built the game, with founder Peter Vesterbacka acting as public face of the franchise.

When did Angry Birds hit 500 million downloads?

Rovio announced the 500 million download milestone in early November 2011 across iPhone, Android, iPad, and Windows PC.

What is Angry Birds Magic?

Angry Birds Magic was a location-based platform Rovio previewed in 2011 that used NFC-enabled phones and stuffed toys with embedded chips to unlock new content.

What is Wine and Dine?

Wine and Dine was a spin-off game Rovio teased at the 2011 Webby awards that was set to focus on the pigs rather than the birds.

Was there an Angry Birds cookbook?

Rovio published Angry Birds: Bad Piggies' Egg Recipes in late November 2011, an egg-focused cookbook illustrated by Pasi Pitkanen and sold for a little over $10 on Amazon.

Did Angry Birds inspire a film?

Rovio hired former Marvel chairman David Maisel to produce an Angry Birds movie targeting a 2015 theatrical release.

Angry Birds

2009mobile gameclassic

Published August 15, 2026

Angry Birds is a mobile puzzle game from Finnish studio Rovio Mobile, first released for iOS in December 2009, in which players slingshot wingless birds at pig-built fortresses to recover stolen eggs. The franchise grew from a phone app into a merchandise empire with plush toys, a cookbook, planned film, and location-based spin-offs, hitting 500 million downloads by late 2011.

mobile game memes gaming late 2000s memes meme merchandise early 2010s memes

Overview

Angry Birds is a puzzle video game built by Finnish studio Rovio Mobile in which players pull back a slingshot and launch stylized wingless birds at wooden and stone forts built by green pigs who have stolen the birds' eggs 4. First released on Apple's iOS in December 2009, the game grew into a mobile hit that MIT Entrepreneurship Review called the largest mobile app success the world had seen at that point 4.

The game is instantly recognizable. A queue of round, angry-faced birds sits on a slingshot, cartoon fortresses hold smug green pigs, and each level asks the player to knock the structures down in as few shots as possible 1. Low pricing, cartoon art, and easy pick-up gameplay pushed the app across iPhones and later onto Android, iPad, Windows PC, and even the Google Chrome web store 2.

Beyond the app itself, Angry Birds picked up a fanbase that produced parody videos, fan art, and other creative derivatives, along with an aggressive Rovio-run merchandise line of plush toys, apparel, stickers, and silly bandz sold alongside the digital game 3.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

iOS (App Store)

Creator

Rovio Mobile

Date

2009

Rovio Mobile, based in Finland, developed Angry Birds as a puzzle title inspired primarily by a sketch of stylized wingless birds 4. The team shipped the first version on Apple's iOS in December 2009 at a low price point, and the game picked up momentum thanks to word of mouth and its short, addictive comic-style levels 4. Rovio then widened the reach by porting to other platforms, including a version for Google's Chrome web store, which pulled the audience beyond mobile-only users 4.

How It Spread

Angry Birds passed 250 million total downloads across mobile platforms by mid-June 2011, a figure Rovio founder Peter Vesterbacka and product manager Ramine Darabiha shared at the Webby awards 1. At the same event, they teased upcoming projects, including a spin-off called Wine and Dine focused on the pigs rather than the birds, along with a location-based platform named Angry Birds Magic that used NFC-enabled phones and stuffed toys with embedded chips to unlock new levels and characters 1.

The download count doubled within months. By early November 2011, Angry Birds had crossed 500 million downloads across iPhone, Android, iPad, and Windows PC, a mark Rovio described as a landmark for its fastest-selling mobile title 2. Chief executive Mikael Hed said the studio was doubling down on merchandise, soft toys, clothing, and books to keep the momentum going, and announced plans to open Rovio's first Angry Birds retail store in Finland while scouting an office in China 2.

Big brands piled in fast. T-Mobile built a life-size Angry Birds installation in Barcelona, Spain on June 8, 2011, letting players use a T-Mobile handset to interact with a physical version of the game; the YouTube upload of that event pulled more than 5.8 million views by June 22, 2011 4. In September 2011, Starbucks entered talks with Rovio about a joint promotion that would place Angry Birds leaderboards inside its coffee shops 2. A film adaptation was also lined up, with former Marvel chairman David Maisel reportedly hired to produce a movie targeting a 2015 release 2.

How to Use This Meme

Playing Angry Birds typically means aiming the slingshot with a finger drag, judging the arc, and firing a bird toward a fortress of blocks that shelter green pigs 1. Different bird types often carry different abilities, and the common convention is to line up shots that collapse the largest section of the structure at once, which awards more stars and unlocks harder levels 2.