Angry Birds 2 is undoubtedly one of the best (if not the best one) games released for smartphones. At the time of writing this article, the game is downloaded for more than 20 million times by iOS and Android users. This proves that gamers are very interested in playing the new version of Angry Birds, but how happy are they with this game?
Over the years, the Rovio team has improved so much. They have got invaluable experience and they know the market very well. Now they are trying a different monetization method on Angry Birds 2.
The game itself is literally great. From graphic to sound effects, everything is perfect as you can expect from the Finnish company, Rovio. Angry Birds 2 is also a free-to-play game, and currently it has 240 levels. Rovio has decided to release the game for free and monetize it through the in-app purchases.
In Angry Birds 2, gamers can buy gems. In some cases, they can also obtain them for free. These gems can be used in different ways, from getting additional birds during the game to get spells in order to destroy pigs and their buildings. By using the gems, gamers can progress easily in the game.
Frankly saying, redeeming gems is essential in Angry Birds 2. Otherwise you will be spending much more time to pass the levels. Angry Birds 2 is now more like Clash of Clans. However, Rovio has introduced a life system that can simply ruin the game. Unlike Clash of Clans, you cannot play Angry Birds 2 for many hours. Let’s unfold the story here.
It’s not hard to pass the initial levels of the game without purchasing the so-called “gems”. But as you progress, you make mistakes and you will eventually lose your “hearts”. Initially, you have 5 lives and every 30 minutes the system automatically gives you one more heart if you lose any. In some levels, you finally lose all the 5 lives. There are three options to choose:
- Close the application and wait for at least 30 minutes to receive a new heart in order to continue playing the game. Of course, if you lose that one heart, you again need to wait for 30 minutes. This directly threats the engagement of users. I personally uninstalled Angry Birds 2 after three days because of this.
- Watch a 30-second video ad powered by Unity Ads. This will give you one heart. It’s not clear how viable this system is. In fact, gamers are forced to watch these videos, so advertisers may not see justifiable ROI on their ads.
- Buy gems and redeem them to get new hearts. Of course, you need to buy many gems to pass all the 240 levels.
Gamers and reviewers seem to be unhappy with this system. At this time, around 500,000 reviews are left for Angry Birds 2 on Google Play. The average rating is 4.5 but it was 4.6 when the game was downloaded for 10 million times. As people are progressing in the game, they get upset by this kind of life system. It’s not surprising if the average rating of Angry Birds falls below 4 in Google Play.
It is worth mentioning that Angry Birds 2 is the twelfth game in the Angry Birds series, and the direct sequel to the original Angry Birds.