If you haven’t heard of the Angry Birds mobile game by Rovio, then you probably don’t have kids, don’t have a cell phone, or simply don’t really care about gaming in general. But if you have, then you know how addictive it is to play and how successful it has been as a multi-platform game. It is currently the #1 paid mobile gaming app pretty much across the world. Recently, even NPR ran a story about the latest iteration in the Angry Birds franchise, Angry Birds Rio.

And, I’m giving away 2 – $15 iTunes App Gift Store Cards to let YOU play with the new Angry Birds Rio. Read on for details.

The concept behind Angry Birds is pretty simple. They are angry because some pigs have stolen their eggs. So how do the birds get the eggs back? By simply flinging themselves at the structures where the pigs are housed…and you are the one doing the flinging. Using the touchscreen on your mobile phone, you pull them back on a slingshot and fling them at the pigs. The birds have various capabilities as well. There are the regular red birds who don’t do anything special, there are the yellow pointy ones that when they are in the air and you touch the screen they accelerate towards their target. There is a white one that, when you touch the screen when they are in the air, lays and exploding egg. There are black ones that explode. There is a toucan that flies like a boomerang when you touch the screen, and there is a big fat red bird that crushes everything in its path. There is a little blue one that splits into three birds when you touch the screen and then you can buy the golden eagle if you ever get stuck on a level. The houses that the pigs hide in are made of wood, ice, stone and a variety of other objects. And each level is craftily put together to challenge you to use the appropriate bird in the right way with the correct physics. I own both the original version and the Seasons version (which has new levels for different holidays). It’s truly highly addictive.

If you want to see how the new Angry Birds Rio app plays, take a look at this trailer and you will get a sense:

[iframe_loader title=”YouTube video player” width=”560″ height=”349″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/HzSNaUvmaOc” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen]

About the Angry Birds Rio & the Movie RIO

In Angry Birds Rio, the game premise is a bit different. Instead of trying to get the pigs, the original Angry Birds have been kidnapped and taken to the magical city of Rio. They do escape and then set out to save their friends, Blu and Jewel who are two rare macaws – who also happen to be the stars of the upcoming Fox motion picture, RIO. I find it pretty creative that they have brought the movie to the gameplay and visa versa. The movie is from the creators of Fox’s ICE AGE motion picture franchise and the movie debuts worldwide on April 15, 2011. Angry Birds Rio launched with 60 dedicated levels, with more content to follow via app updates.

Angry Birds Rio is available via the brand new Amazon App store for Android and on Apple’s iTunes.

The movie is a comedy adventure about taking a walk on the wild side.  Blu is a domesticated Macaw who never learned to fly, living a comfortable life with his owner and best friend Linda in the small town of Moose Lake, Minnesota.  Blu and Linda think he’s the last of his kind, but when they learn about another Macaw who lives in Rio de Janeiro, they head to the faraway and exotic land to find Jewel, Blu’s female counterpart.  Not long after they arrive, Blu and Jewel are kidnapped by a group of bungling animal smugglers.  With the help of street smart Jewel, and a group of wise-cracking and smooth-talking city birds, Blu escapes.  Now, with his new friends by his side, Blu will have to find the courage to learn to fly, thwart the kidnappers who are hot on their trail, and return to Linda, the best friend a bird ever had.

My kids really love the original Angry Birds game as well as the Ice Age movies so I’m pretty excited about this movie coming out.

HighTechDad’s Giveaway

My giveaway is going to be pretty simple. Since I will be giving away 2 – $15 iTunes Gift Cards, there are going to be two different ways to win. One Gift card via the Comments entry and one Gift card via Twitter.

Option 1 – via Comments

Just leave a comment on this post about why you think Angry Birds is such a fun game. That’s it! Is it the simplicity of it or the fact that they regularly do updates to the game? Or maybe something completely different? Leave a comment on this post and I will be choose one of them. Be sure to include an email address where I can contact you. And be sure to read the rules below!

Option 2 – via Twitter

Head over to OneKontest and enter there (or use the widget below). Be sure to read the rules as well!

Both of these Giveaways starts on 03/28/2011 at 9:00 am (Pacific Time) and goes to 4/3/2011 at 11:00 am (Pacific).

The quick rules:

• You must be 18 years or older
• You must live in the continental US (sorry I am not mailing outside of the US)
• You must enter through OneKontest (for the Twitter version)
• You must READ and AGREE TO these RULES within the Giveaway section of my site (specifically the “Legal Stuff” section).
• You only need to enter once.
• You don’t have to follow me (  @HighTechDad) on Twitter but it makes the contacting of you a bit easier

Good luck! Now, I’m off to play some more Angry Birds – there is this one level that I just can’t get through…grumble!

HTD says: How do YOU like Angry Birds?