The Release of the New Game

December 23, 2010.

Inigo sat in his workspace, eyes locked on his screen as he navigated through the game's test environment. His prototype had been functional for days, but functional wasn't enough. If he wanted Angry Birds to be the next Flappy Bird, it had to be flawless.

He ran the game again, loading up Level 1.

A simple wooden structure stood in the middle of the screen, with a single round enemy smirking from behind it. He pulled back the slingshot, launched the red bird—

THUD.

Instead of knocking down the planks like he intended, the bird just bounced off, barely making a dent.

"Damn it."

He paused the game and opened the physics settings.

The force calculation was off. The bird wasn't applying enough impact to break structures reliably. He adjusted the collision force multiplier, increasing how much damage each bird could cause based on its velocity.

He hit play again, pulled back the slingshot, and fired.

CRACK.

The wooden plank splintered apart, sending fragments flying. The enemy wobbled, teetered on the edge—then fell off the structure with a goofy, panicked expression before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Perfect.

But that was just one fix. There were dozens more bugs to go.

The next six hours were spent fine-tuning every little detail:

Adjusting gravity settings so birds had a natural weight and arc.

Fixing collision inconsistencies—sometimes the birds phased through objects or hit with way too much force.

Balancing the enemy AI—some looked too lifeless, so he programmed them to react dynamically to nearby destruction.

At one point, he encountered an annoying issue where the Blue Bird's split ability wasn't working properly. It was supposed to break into three smaller birds when tapped, but sometimes only one or two spawned.

He dove into the code, spotting the problem in his object instantiation logic.

The Blue Bird's duplicate objects were getting caught in the slingshot's collision area, causing them to overlap and cancel out before they could even fly.

He added a small delay between the splits, ensuring each smaller bird spawns slightly ahead of the previous one instead of in the exact same location.

Testing it again, he fired the Blue Bird—

Tap.

The bird split smoothly into three and spread out, shattering glass panels as intended.

"Satisfying," Inigo murmured.

Once the mechanics were stable, it was time to work on level design.

The game needed to progress in difficulty, keeping players engaged without frustrating them too early.

He opened the level editor and started crafting the first 30 levels.

Early Levels (Tutorial Phase)

Levels 1-5: Simple wooden structures with single enemies, designed to teach the basics of aiming and launching.

Levels 6-10: Introduced glass panels, requiring more precise shots.

Mid-Game (Challenge Increases)

Levels 11-15: Added stone blocks, teaching players that some structures take multiple hits.

Levels 16-20: More complex towers, requiring strategic bird choices to bring them down efficiently.

Late-Game (Mastery Required)

Levels 21-30: Introduced moving platforms, making shots harder to predict.

Boss Levels: Large, multi-layered structures with enemies hidden deep inside.

Each level needed to flow naturally, increasing difficulty in a way that felt fair and rewarding.

He kept testing, adjusting placements, and making sure every stage felt challenging but achievable.

Next, he needed to work on theming the levels.

Having all levels look the same would get boring fast. He needed variety.

He designed three unique environments:

Grasslands – The default theme, bright and colorful, with trees and flowers in the background.

Desert Wasteland – A tougher stage with cracked earth, sand dunes, and ruined structures.

Snowy Mountains – Icy blocks that could shatter more easily, but made aiming trickier due to slippery surfaces.

Each environmental change made gameplay slightly different, keeping things fresh.

After hours of tweaking, he leaned back, admiring his work.

It looked good. It felt good.

Now, it was time for the final step—monetization.

Flappy Bird had made millions through ad revenue alone, but Inigo had a new idea.

Instead of relying solely on ads, he decided to experiment with a hybrid model:

A One-Time Paid Download ($0.01 USD / ₱0.50 PHP)

So cheap it's basically free, but it ensures every download generates some revenue.

The tiny cost reduces spam downloads while keeping player investment high.

In-Game Ads (Subtle, Not Annoying)

Ads appear only after every fifth level, ensuring they don't ruin the gameplay.

A mix of banner ads and short video ads, avoiding anything intrusive.

Ad-Free Version ($0.99 USD / ₱50 PHP)

Players could pay once to remove ads permanently.

Offers extra skins for birds, as a bonus for paying users.

This model ensured he'd make money from every single player, whether they chose ads or direct payment.

For the next two days, Inigo ran endless tests.

He played through all 30 levels, fixing any remaining bugs or difficulty spikes.

He sent a test build to a few trusted friends, collecting feedback on game balance and feel.

He ran performance checks, making sure the game worked smoothly on both low-end and high-end devices.

By Christmas Year's Eve, Angry Birds was complete.

Flappy Bird had made history.

A grinning red bird sat in the slingshot, ready to launch toward a tower of pigs.

His cursor hovered over the Upload to App Store button.

This was it.

He clicked.

Game Submitted.

A grin spread across his face.

Angry Birds was coming but with a different name. It will be named Furious Birds.