Angry Birds Bounce is here – from Toronto with love.

Get ready to break into a brand-new Angry Birds adventure! Today marks the global launch of Angry Birds Bounce on Apple Arcade, bringing a fresh, brick-breaking twist to the beloved Angry Birds formula. Angry Birds Bounce is the inaugural title from Rovio’s Toronto studio, a passionate team dedicated to crafting deeply engaging experiences.

Angry Birds Bounce turns the familiar slingshot gameplay on its head, offering a fresh perspective as players launch their favorite birds to smash through block-breaker-like puzzles. It’s a new challenge that feels both fresh and undeniably Angry Birds. Angry Birds Bounce game lead at Rovio Toronto, Bryan Cook, is here to share insights into the game’s inception and how the Toronto team brought this unique vision to life.

The story of Angry Birds Bounce began almost immediately after Rovio opened its Toronto studio in 2021. After its formation, the team quickly explored various options, including the question of whether to create another Angry Birds slingshot game like Angry Birds 2 or Angry Birds Friends. Bryan Cook, a veteran with nearly 20 years in game development, explained their early decision-making process. “We were interested in working with the Angry Birds brand very early, but there were already multiple slingshot games in the series, with Angry Birds Journey still on the way.” Their goal was clear: “We need a game that feels like Angry Birds and lives within the tenants of Angry Birds but isn’t ‘Angry Birds’.”

This led to brainstorming ideas that went back to the essence of the franchise – destruction, chaotic fun, and the intuitive understanding of cause and effect, “whenever I win and when I and I lose in Angry Birds, I always know why because the act of aiming and and being able to see the result is so visceral that I know exactly what to do.”

This focus on destruction and intuitive player feedback resonated with Cook’s long-standing passion for brick breaker games. He had been trying to get a game in this genre made for years, even building one in a game jam. The genre’s core mechanics – shooting, seeing the result, and adjusting strategy – aligned perfectly with the Angry Birds ethos. “With brick breaker games, like with Angry Birds, I can see where I’m shooting, and if I miss, I know why I missed and I can adjust and I can build strategies around it. And assuming I do well, there’s this sort of glee that happens as the chain reaction unfolds so it wasn’t Angry Birds, but it felt it had a lot of the tenants of Angry Birds,” he explained. This synergy led to Angry Birds Bounce becoming the very first prototype developed by the Toronto studio in late 2021.

The team would go on to develop a number of different prototypes in a variety of styles and genres, “we even prototyped a kaiju game where Red would go around destroying cities, and while that demo was fun, it wasn’t clear what that game really was.” Ultimately the team returned to Angry Birds Bounce because the concept matched so well with Angry Birds’ core tenants.

One of the most exciting aspects of Angry Birds Bounce is the introduction of a diverse roster of playable characters, including one character making its Angry Birds debut, Gordon. “We always thought, ‘wouldn’t it be cool if we could make our own bird?’, like this new thing our team can contribute to the Angry Birds story. There was a desire early on to leave our mark,” explains Cook.

Beyond Gordon, Angry Birds Bounce also shines a spotlight on some lesser-known characters as playable options, delighting long-time fans. Players can now bounce into action with, Jo, Ruby, and Melody as playable characters – some (in the case of Jo and Ruby) for the first time ever. Rovio Toronto worked closely with the Angry Birds brand team to ensure these characters felt authentic while their powers seamlessly integrated into the brick-breaking gameplay.

When it comes to all of the accomplishments that have propelled Angry Birds Bounce into the world, Cook’s ultimate pride lies with his team. “I’m really proud of this team, honestly,” he said. The studio, composed of individuals who mostly didn’t even know each other just a few years ago, has forged a strong, collaborative bond. “It’s a group that’s always willing to talk about what is great about the game, what is horrible about the game, how we can fix it, and how we can find good solutions. And it’s a team who plays their own game and loves it. The way this team has worked on Angry Birds Bounce has shown that not only are they able to make this game great, but they will be able to make more great games in the future. And that’s really exciting to me,” Cook concluded.

What is the best-case scenario that the team can hope for when someone picks up Angry Birds Bounce for the first time? “Of course, we’re hoping that the game excites and engages people and that it feels like a true Angry Birds experience, but we’re also looking for a certain kind of warmth,” Cook explains. “Maybe if you remember how it felt to pick up Angry Birds for the first time in 2009. A lot has happened in the world, and with Angry Birds, since then, but we hope that some of those same feelings can come flooding back when people play Angry Birds Bounce.”

Angry Birds Bounce is a vibrant display of Rovio Toronto’s innovative spirit and dedication, offering a fresh take on a beloved franchise that promises both nostalgic charm and exciting new challenges, all while celebrating the unique identity of its creators.