New game levels released to celebrate Angry Birds second “birdday”

By Andy Boxall December 12, 2011

Angry Birds celebrated its second birthday on December 11, and marked the occasion with an update to version 2.0 of the game. Rovio, the creator of the incredibly popular casual gaming phenomenon, has got plenty to celebrate too, boasting 500 million game downloads, the sale of 10 million toys and a company value of more than $1 billion.

Angry Birds 2.0 is available through the iTunes App Store as a free update right now, and it contains 15 special birthday-themed new levels plus all 300 existing levels have been unlocked, allowing any players stuck on a particularly cunning stage to advance unimpeded.

As it has become so much more than just another mobile game, it’s fitting that “birdday” should be commemorated elsewhere too, and sure enough several retailers will be putting on special events and promotions this week. In the USA, Toys ‘R’ Us will be offering 25 percent off their Angry Birds plush toys, while selected Barnes & Noble stores held scavenger hunts on Sunday and will offer a Red Bird cookie in their coffee shops. In the UK, Forbidden Planet will be carrying Angry Birds products previously unavailable in the country.

To round out “Birdday” here, how about some statistics? Rovio says that 266 billion levels have been played around the globe for a combined 1.825 billion hours per month, 400 billion birds have been launched from the catapult, and 44 billion stars have been earned.

Rovio isn’t slowing down either, as CEO Peter Vesterbacka told The Moscow Times, he’s now focused on making Angry Birds the first entertainment brand to have a billion fans. Measured by the company’s active Facebook users, he expects this to take another two or three years to achieve. He also confirmed there would be several new Angry Birds games in 2012.

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Senior Mobile Writer

Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…

Gaming

All Trinkets in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, explained

The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

Your main upgrades in a metroidvania like Tales of Kenzera: Zau will always be your new abilities. These transform the way you move and fight, but there are other ways you can make Zau a more powerful shaman. Trinkets are introduced right away, but aren't given away as freely as you might think. Each one requires you to overcome a small trial that tests your platforming abilities off the main path. Technically, you can miss every single one aside from the one you begin the game with. Even though there are a few fast travel points, backtracking isn't a particularly fun experience. Here are all the Trinket locations in Tales of Kenzera: Zau, plus which ones you should equip.
All Trinket locations
You can see which zones have Trinkets on the map, and for the most part, you will be able to grab them as you navigate through them for the first time. Here are each of the Trinket locations roughly in the order you should naturally be able to get them.
Battering Stance
This is the Trinket you begin the game with and is equipped by default.
Lifted Spirit

The first Trinket is found in this side path trial in The Buluu Caverns.
Retaliating Spirit

Gaming

How to start The Forgotten Kingdom DLC in Remnant 2

Invoker

Remnant 2 is a massive game that already boasts nearly endless replayability, but that isn't stopping developer Gunfire Games from adding even more to do in the popular looter shooter. The game's new DLC, The Forgotten Kingdom, provides players with a substantial amount of extra stuff to check out, such as new biomes to explore, an additional archetype known as The Invoker, and plenty of fresh enemies to take down. If you're ready to see all of what The Forgotten Kingdom DLC has to offer, read on to learn how to access it from within the game.
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Once you've purchased and downloaded the DLC, you'll be ready to access The Forgotten Kingdom by visiting a World Stone and opening Adventure Mode. You'll need to have completed the Yaesha biome at least one time. At that point, you can select "Reroll Adventure Mode" and choose The Forgotten Kingdom: One Shot on the right, which will notably give you exclusive DLC content your first time through. Keep in mind that while this initial run won't feature any older content, your subsequent playthroughs of Yaesha will weave DLC areas in with main campaign content.

Gaming

All Baobab Tree locations in Tales of Kenzera

Zau fights a dragon in Tales of Kenzera: Zau.

While it wasn't marketed as being a particularly punishing game, Tales of Kenzera: Zau is by no means easy. You will have plenty of environmental challenges that can instantly sap your life, and the enemies you face -- especially the bosses -- are no slouches. When you first begin, it will only take a couple of bad hits to send Zau to the land of the dead himself. Alongside the Trinkets you can unlock through hidden challenges around the map, there are also Baobab Trees where Zau can stop to reflect on his journey thus far, have a short dialogue with Kalunga, and get a small addition to his health bar. Like everything in the game, these trees aren't prohibitively hidden, but you could easily pass one by and have no idea where it was when trying to backtrack. These are all the Baobab Tree locations so you can max out your health bar.
All Baobab Tree locations
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Ikakaramba

This one is very hard to miss as it is directly on your critical path. If you do, you can fast travel to the nearby campfire to grab it.
The Great Cliffs