Angry Birds on PC

"Your hatred has made you powerful..."

I played Angry Birds for the first time in my life this afternoon. Three hours later I stopped for a bathroom break and to write this post. Jesus.

It’s every bit the clever, addictive puzzler that I was told. I do have one question, however: Why didn’t someone tell me that Angry Birds is just a 2D version of Boom Blox with cuter graphics? (That ought to piss someone off. I'm looking at you, Apple fanboys!)

I’m late to the game because I don’t own a smartphone yet (I know…tell me more, grandpa!) and I’d been holding out for an XBLA version. And while I was sitting around drumming my fingers, Rovio released the PC port on January 4.

You can get the PC version for $4.99 at Intel AppUp, but you have to download the AppUp client and create an account before you can buy it.

If you don’t want to pay that price but can’t bear to be away from Angry Birds while you’re at the PC, there’s also a free Flash version. I’m not sure if this is a legit port — the text is in Japanese! — but it does say “Rovio” at the start. It's probably a demo. User beware!