Angry Lemmings

Some weeks ago I downloaded Angry Birds. I admit, I was skeptical about the game but when you start playing you cannot stop. This addiction is typical of the so called "finger gaming" and the good user experience their developer managed to get is very very high. It's a trend, sure it is going to pass withing the time, though Rovio (the game software house) is making very nice things with marketing creating seasonal episodes and linking the game to Foxlatest animation movie. See the trailer.


I did not watch the movie yet, generally I am not a fan of animation movies, but this seems nice. However, the meaning of this post is another one. I would like to speak about the fact that Angry Birds is a simple game that invented nothing (a part the funny graphics). Playing the game I found a lot of similarities with a game developed 20 year ago: Lemmings.

First of all, they are simple games: it's a rule for "casual gaming", you do not need to learn anything before playing.
Second, they have a very well thought learning curve: you start playing the game and learning the characteristic of each action (digging, building stairs, blocking in case of Lemmings) or character (exploding bird, assault bird, throwing-egg bird in case of Angry Birds).
Third: good gameplay, you really enjoy help the characters to purse their goal with an outstanding user experience.
Four: you have to rescue someone using the team and different abilities.

Then, going ahead in the game I found out that it is similar to another great game: Oddworld Abe's Oddisey. Yes, think about it: a part the second spot above (also in Oddworld you will be introduced to Mudokon's actions being completely prepared after 10-20 schemes) you will have the time to analyze the puzzle, think the best approach and apply it, same in Angry Birds. This is not a similarity you can find in Lemmings, since Lemmings is more dynamic and do not allow you losing too much time thinking.

And of course, the great success of this little game is not casual: it's a very deep marketing strategy done along the months, but this is another history.