How to Play Guide for Angry Birds Evolution

Angry Birds Evolution is a new game in the Angry Birds series and one that offers different gameplay than what you're used to.

The Basics

 * The game's goal is to build up the best and most powerful avian team you can. You get 250 characters (100 base plus 150 evolutions) to mix and match, starting out with three pre-selected fowl fighters. Each has a health and attack meter, indicating how much damage they can take and deal out.
 * You can upgrade the birds by merging spares into them in the Bird Town's team interface. Doing so costs coins, so plan accordingly.
 * To unlock the game's functions, you need to progress through the story on the island map. Just click on the next step in the chapter (highlighted by a character standing on the station) and finish the fight.

Combat

 * Every encounter takes place on a square arena. Your birds line up at the bottom of the screen, with the target pigs before you. The goal is to eliminate the pigs without your health running out.
 * You fight the pigs by selecting a bird, then dragging out their line of attack. Birds will bounce off the edges of the arena, obstacles, and pigs. The more pigs you hit, the more damage you deal. Where you hit the pigs matters too, as attacks from the back are more damaging than hitting them in the snout.
 * Every few turns you can use a super shot. The damage done depends on the bird's plumage color and individual ability. The countdown to the next Super Shot is displayed above each bird's head.
 * You can gather power ups in combat. These are dropped by hitting pig spectators (bounce the bird off of them) and can restore health, improve your attack, or the bird's speed, allowing them to hit more pigs before stopping.

Management

 * Beyond combat, managing your team effectively is essential to success in Angry Birds Evolution. In short, you need to keep gathering eggs and hatching them (you get a number of free egg hatches each day at the hatchery, plus you can gather eggs in random encounters), merging birds you don't need into the ones you want to level up, and use scouts to tackle random encounters.
 * Above all, remember to have fun and step back every once in a while. Come back to kicking pig rear ends with a fresh head!