Angry Birds for a Happier Planet

Micaela Allen, Communications Fellow

This Earth Week, the “Angry Birds” of the popular gaming app are finally putting their anger to good use in an effort to spread awareness of global climate change.

Recently, Rovio Entertainment announced a strategy to get their Angry Birds users thinking about climate change in a fun way — and  what could be more fun than hurling grumbling birds from the comfort of your own phone? For the first installment of Rovio’s two-part awareness campaign, game developers created a special 2015 Earth Day level for the established app which features the well-known characters in a natural setting, defeating a group of machine-wielding pigs engaging in deforestation. The goal of the level is to destroy the pigs’ machinery and save the forest.  

In addition, Rovio announced the creation of a separate app that will offer an in-game experience demonstrating the effects of climate change. The release of this new app will coincide with the worldwide discussions surrounding sustainability goals at the 70^th Session of the U.N. General Assembly this September. This timed release will hopefully get the app users more interested in following the Assembly discussions after virtually experiencing a world in the throes of climate change.

With an audience of over 2.8 billion, the Angry Birds app certainly has the reach necessary to draw people to the climate change conversation, and make a real impact on conservation efforts worldwide. While these new games are a simplistic, metaphorical representation of the real-life conflicts between those who see the need for sustainability and those who don’t, one hopes it’s enough to get people out of the game and into the real-world fight for a sustainable future.