Review: Angry Birds Roost for Nokia Lumia

After cracking open my Lumia 920, I almost immediately noticed an “exclusive” app by Nokia called “Angry Birds Roost.” With mixed reviews in the app store, I didn’t have a good sense of what this app was, but with “Angry Birds” in the title, I knew I had to check it out.

The negative reviews in the app store are quite harsh, with sentiments such as “useless” or “dumb” while positive reviews state the app is “nice” or “funny.”

So what is Angry Birds Roost?

You should first know that it is NOT an angry birds “game” as you would expect. It is more of an Angry Birds hub. There are 5 sections to the app: Games, Videos, News, Downloads, and Angry Cam.

Games
The “Games” section of the app is merely a launchpad for the three Angry Birds titles: Angry Birds, Angry Birds Space, and Angry Birds Star Wars. Note that if you haven’t purchased one or more of these games, you’ll be prompted to get one from the store. Yes, you will have to pay for them. Once you own one or more of the games, you can launch them from this screen.

When you launch one of the titles, you’re taken to another set of options. You’re shown a description of the game, along with screen shots, and video walkthroughs.

Videos
This section contains a variety of short animations and videos from the Angry Birds series.

News
Here you can read the latest announcements, contests, news, or tips from Rovio, the creator of Angry Birds. These announcements appear every few days.

Downloads
This is divided into two sub-sections: Wallpapers and Ringtones. It’s a fair variety of free Angry Birds-related wallpapers and sounds for your Lumia.

Angry Cam
The description reads, “Use the Angry Cam to attack your friends in the real world with Angry Birds! Snap a pic, throw in some birds, and share the laughs!” This allows you to add a swarm of various Angry Birds characters to your photos. It’s amusing, but not something you’ll use often. Show this part to an Angry Birds fan who doesn’t own a Lumia, and you’ll certainly get a laugh out of them.

Live Tile
Pinning Angry Birds Roost to the homescreen will provide easy access to your Angry Birds games. Nokia claims that you’ll be updated with Angry Birds news from this tile, but I have yet to see the tile change at all, at any size configuration.

Installing/Uninstalling
When you install Angry Birds Roost, it will be the only Angry Birds app you see, as it appears to be a launchpad for the other three titles. When I uninstalled Angry Birds Roost, I was unable to find my other Angry Birds apps on my phone. They must have still been there, however, because when I re-installed Roost, all of my high scores remained intact. I found this process to be a bit confusing.

Below are additional screen shots for Angry Birds Roost.

  

 

Bottom Line
Those expecting an exclusive Angry Birds game will be disappointed by Roost. It’s not a game, but an Angry Birds hub that includes a wealth of extras for the Angry Birds aficionado. That said, it’s a nice, free addition to the Angry Bird experience. Lumia owners should be happy to receive anything the iOS and Android users don’t already have! I think it’s a nice extension of the game.

Have you used Angry Birds Roost? What is your opinion? Do you have any additional information? Leave a comment below!