I’m not much of a so called casual gamer or a mobile gamer but of late, my life has been consumed by the cultural phenomenon that is Angry Birds. I admit I’m a bit late to the party as this game has been killing the app charts for a while now but I can’t stop talking about this game to all and sundry. Some of my mates think I’m going senile, jumping on the casual bandwagon while some echo my enthusiasm.

In case you haven’t heard of this game till now, here’s what you’re missing out on. Angry Birds is a physics-based, side scrolling platformer from Finnish developer Rovio. In it, devious pigs have stolen the eggs of certain birds who for some reason are insanely angry (think Kratos levels of rage) and will stop at nothing to get those eggs back. To do so players must launch them through a catapult onto the pigs that are protected in various ways by glass, wood and/or stone. The trick is to kill all the pigs using as few birds as possible. The more birds you save, the more points you earn. As you progress through the game you’ll even come across different kinds of birds, each of which have their specific attacks targeted towards certain environmental hazards. The anger is prevalent in all of them.

You'll love them when they're angry

Angry Bird’s premise is extremely simple and herein lies its greatest draw. Everyone from your mother to your friends can pick this game up in a matter of minutes. And since there’s no campaign or story to worry about over here, this is the perfect in-between game to play whether you’re on the move, on the John (hey we all do it), or are getting bored at school/work. Another huge draw of the game is that even though it’s easy to pick up, it’s pretty tough to master as latter levels can test your skills and patience. You see us human are a competitive race who always feel the need to better ourselves and Angry Birds has tapped into this sentiment brilliantly egging us on (pun intended) to improve our score. And there’s plenty of room for you to do so as the game is humongous boasting of nearly sixty levels, all of which provide a different challenge. Add to this numerous free and paid updates released so far and you’re looking at some serious bang for your buck.

But let’s not overlook the game’s presentation that’s one of the best I’ve come across on a mobile platform. Granted I’ve not played a ton of iPhone games in my life but even then I personally feel Angry Birds has set the bar real high as far as presentation is concerned. The visuals are crisp, gameplay is tight and intuitive, and physics are brilliant. Plus hearing those screaming birds slam into the grunting pigs is something I just can’t get enough off.

Now I know Angry Birds isn’t going to make me stop playing my couch games where I decimate Greek Mythology, chainsaw an alien race or just kill hordes of zombies but it has definitely opened my eyes to the wonders of on-the-go gaming. If like me you were once a rigid “hardcore” gamer who would never touch a casual game even if his life depended on it, I most definitely encourage you to try this one out. You will not regret it.