We brought the kids to Kidzania over the long weekend and after that we went to Borders to get some stationary for them. The big one needed some color pencils for school and while we were browsing, I saw an Angry Birds board game for RM 99.90 and thought it would be fun to play with the kids.
I was actually quite curious and looking forward to playing the game too. 
This is called Angry Birds: On Thin Ice. There’s also Angry Birds: Birds in Space and Angry Birds Happy Holidays Edition. We brought it back and opened it up – there’s two Angry Birds inside, the most recognizable big red one and the more streamlined yellow one. I know they have names, the kids told me but I totally forgot what the names of the birds are.
It’s a lot of fun! There’s 3 levels of difficulty represented by 3 different stacks of cards and a “free building” deck of cards. Your mission is the same as the game – to knock down the green pigs!
There are three (3) pigs included with the game and each stage will incorporate them. The level is built according to the card you draw and it also states which Angry Bird you can use, the order you use them, and how many times e.g. Yellow Bird, Yellow Bird, Red Bird. You need to knock down all the pigs to clear the stage and you get 100 points for each pig, plus 100 bonus points if the pig is wearing a helmet (*and* you manage to bump it off their porcine heads).
You also get extra points if you’re the one to clear the stage e.g. “kill” the last green pig. It’s 100-300 points, depending on the level. The fourth card deck is a method to keep track of scores – each card is 100 points and the first person to reach 1,000 points wins!
It turns out that building the set is the hardest part – the blocks are all very wobbly and prone to falling down if you even breath hard on them. It’s designed that way so that you can easily break the tiles and destroy the level, just like the game, when the bird launches.
I thought it was quite ingenious! It’s also very realistic and faithful to the original game – the “ice blocks” can be *cracked* and split in half, since it’s actually two pieces fitted together. The most interesting block is the TNT crate – it functions in the same way as the game!
The TNT crate actually has strong springs inside so when you close it up, there’s tension and potential energy. This energy is released when you either:
1. Hit the TNT crate with a bird
2. Make the TNT crate fall down
When one of the above two criteria is met, the TNT crate will actually “explode” and send pigs and blocks flying around. Haha!
Here’s how the TNT crate looks like when it went off. This is a video I took of me and the kids playing the Angry Birds: On Thin Ice board game.
Board games nowadays are so canggih and innovative – I’ve never seen stuff like this as a kid. It really jacks up the kids imagination and they all had a lot of fun launching the Angry Birds at the “levels” (which are sets that you build according to the cards).
It made for a fun Sunday afternoon playing together with my better half and the kids! 😀
Wow, I saw these at Toys R Us some time ago and thought it’s just another gimmicky toy to ride Angry Birds gravy train. But it looks like they are quite well designed. I stand corrected.
Yeah, they’re great fun! 🙂
I thought they were well designed too, was surprised when I unboxed in and started to assemble the things.
I too, thought it’ll just be about knocking stuff down but it’s actually quite well thought out with pigs hiding under ice blocks which needs to crack to displace the pig and exploding crates.
Does it tells you how far to shoot the birds from? Looks fun! Will hunt them down next time at the games store.
You’re supposed to launch the birds from 12 inches away! 🙂
I just made it easier coz the kids are quite small and I was building complex levels from the Level 3 cards.
You can also launch the birds *sideways* e.g. like the game for a more serious challenge! It’s harder that way, you need to crack the ice blocks to get at certain pigs, can’t directly hit them.
LOL!!! So cure, those pigs!!! Great family time, sure looks like a whole lotta fun.
Yup, it was a lot of fun indeed! 🙂
It’s great spending time playing with my better half and the kids too. They’re still small compared to the recommended age for the Level 3 builds (12+ years) so I played it from the front.
The game will be a lot harder if you play it sideways e.g. like the game.
*cute*
Yeah, I’ve always loved the green pigs! 🙂
There’s actually a game featuring them as the cast instead of the birds too! Official game.
Ooohh, my brother in law bought exactly the same thingy for his boy, so yeah, I’ve seen this.. Every weekend, when I go over to my mil’s, they’d be busy playing this.. I think the real-life one is easier to play with than the phone one.. Real one can agak-agak more accurately, sekali only, everything tumbles down, unlike the phone one, sometimes play for a week and still stuck at the same level, hehe..
Yeah, the game can be quite difficult! 🙂
I couldn’t finish any of the Angry Birds except for the original one when it first came out on iOS and Angry Birds: Space (the Star Wars official collaboration).
The game one I’ve been stuck too but I found the best way to go about it is to just simply guess the angles e.g. going from low till high for all the birds until you find an angle and speed that works. You sometimes have to think too – like the Space one, there’s shooting TIE Fighters which you must use to destroy blocks/pigs first.
The real life one is also very hard though. I just made it easier for the kids. This board game can be played from the front (easier – like in the videos) or from the side e.g. the bird is launched from the side like the game.
If you play it from the SIDE, it becomes a lot harder coz the blocks don’t fall down easily since they’re strong on that side and you really need to work at breaking the breakable ice blocks and other blocks to get to the furthest side and/or pigs hiding under ice.
LOL…so it is the “big” kid that want to play?
Yes, now the games are getting more “canggih” by the days
Haha! I thought it was fun too! 🙂
I bought it for the kids though, I just saw it and they were quite excited at the prospect of playing it so I wanted to buy it and play it with them coz I thought it’ll be quite interesting too.
Yeah, I’m surprised at some of the board games available nowadays – got flashing lights etc and some requires batteries. This one also impressed me quite a bit – the way the blocks are designed to be hard when hit on the side and how some ice blocks are breakable is nice but the best is the exploding TNT crate!
Sounds fun! But that toy set does not come cheap unfortunately 🙁
Yeah, it’s about RM 100! 🙂
It’s worth it though, if you play it for several weekends, that’s cheaper than a lot of other options e.g. a trip to Kidzania will already set you back more than that.
I’m quite puzzled at why the European board games are “standardized” here – all the prices are RM 99.90 (RM 129.90 in Sarawak). It can’t be right since different games are priced differently in UK but it’s priced the same here.
Didn’t know it was so fun and creative. I thought this is just a marketing toy to increase their profit with just blocks only.
Yeah, I thought it would just be a simple game too! 🙂
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it’s actually very complex, with a lot of “interactive” items like breakable ice blocks and exploding TNT crates. The latter is very well designed – it’s supposed to be hit on the side and the spring inside will force the entire thing open, like the game so it actually does send blocks flying.
Ethan has this too but I never really sit down and play with him. Always busy chasing after the lil one 🙁
Wow! It’s good that he can build it himself! 🙂
I myself found it very hard to build some of the sets coz they keep falling down before I can finish them! My dear actually chose a card which I tried to build (it was 4 stacks high – about 1 feet easy and uses every single block and pig) and when I tried to build the highest level, everything comes crashing down!
I finally gave up and had to get her to choose another card. Haha!
Some sets are too hard to build.
Hahah…I certainly no hope in knocking down the pigs, dear. Maybe I can build the blocks better.
That’s okay dear! 🙂
It’s good that we played together with the kids though.
Hmm…then you can build the blocks and me and the kids can play next time. Hahaha!
Kidding dear, love you always! <3
Sounds like everyone had a fun time playing the real life angry birds. Good move on their end to produce these real life game based on the e-game. I did not expect people would want to play it in real life since they already have the electronic version but sounds like it is really fun!
Yeah, it was really fun! 🙂
I was surprised at the complexity of the board game as well – it’s really well designed. I enjoyed playing it and so did the kids. The board games nowadays are really good compared to the low tech ones we had as a kid (although we did need to think more last time for Scrabble and Risk).
How I wished that you were my father when I was growing up!!! I would be spoilt rotten and be happy everyday. Those lucky 2 girls!
Thanks mate! 🙂
My dad used to do this with me and my sis when we were growing up too – played board games with us along with my late mom, and we’ll try to beat each other at Scrabble. It’s a good fun!