Module: Psychology Of Design

Assignment 2: Angry Birds “Crushed” The Castle

M.Des 1.1

Name: Harshal Desai

Lecturer: Filip Fransen

Date of Submission

06/12/2011

Word Count: 2092

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................... 2

Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 3

Gameplay ................................................................................................................................... 4

Graphics ..................................................................................................................................... 6

Aggression and dark humor ....................................................................................................... 7

Reward system ........................................................................................................................... 9

Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 12

Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 13

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Rarely does an imitation become more successful than an original. Angry Birds has become

one of the most popular multiplatform videogame franchises. However the foundation of

their gameplay was quite similar to a previously released game, Crush The Castle.

There were plenty of similarities between the two games, however Angry Birds tweaked

some characteristics and became a sensation.

This essay focuses on a comparison between both games to figure out why Angry Birds

“Crushed” the Castle.

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INTRODUCTION

Crush The Castle is a popular casual strategy and physics based videogame that transports

you back to the days of yore, where a trebuchet – a medieval engine of war, is loaded with a

variety of rocks to decimate the resistance. The premise of the game is there are two

kingdoms, Redvonia and Arcturia. The player, under the orders of the Redvonian King, has

to kill and conquer the lands of Arcturia by destroying all the castles in the rival kingdom.

(Armorgames.com, 2009)

Originally, a flash action game, the storyline has a medieval environment and versions of the

game were made available for the iPhone in early 2010. The goal is to injure all inhabitants

of various castles using a standard trebuchet to fling large rocks or bombs at their castles.

Crush the Castle was released in 2009 and has been played more than 20 million times just

through their website. However, the game never really took off to the level of success as

Angry Birds managed to capture. While both games are quite similar, this essay analyses

the key differences between both games to understand why Angry Birds “Crushed” The

Castle.

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GAMEPLAY

The overall gameplay is slightly more complex. Players fling rocks by launching a trebuchet.

In this case, unlike the slingshot from Angry Birds, the angle of the trebuchet is not

controlled by the user and depends on split second clicking. It requires two clicks, one to

launch the trebuchet in a swinging motion and another to fling the rocks off to cause

destruction and damage on the fortified structures of the rival kingdom. It takes a few

repetitions to get used to the timings and requires a certain degree of concentration.

Figure 1: Gameplay instructions (Source: (Games Similar to Angry Birds, 2011))

With a level increase, the players can unlock an arsenal of eight rocks with unique

properties, similar to the features of each bird. Players have more freedom here to choose

the arrangement of the rocks, being able to switch between different types whereas Angry

Birds made the game challenging by providing only a specific set of birds for each level. Also,

the birds are animated when flung in the air, being able to activate certain traits mid-flight

while clicking on them. The rocks in Crush The Castle have no special mid-flight capabilities,

leading the players to not focus enough on the flight path, and not having a traced

trajectory line makes it harder for the player to correct his aim. All these factors make the

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game quite difficult to play and could result in the player just losing interest in the game

after a couple of failed attempts.

Crush The Castle does not have “last resort” strategy for players who are stuck on a level.

The only way to pass through is to kill the resistance and move forward whereas Angry Birds

has the mighty eagle that can decimate the entire landscape in one blow. To make the game

slightly easier however, one does not have to kill all the enemies in order to proceed to the

next level. As long as 85-90% of the scene is destroyed, its considered as ‘conquered’ and

the player moves on to the next battleground.

What makes Crush the Castle appealing (and addictive) is its medieval setting. This was a

time when other similar role playing games were quite popular: Age of Mythology, Heroes

of Sparta etc. There was a repetitive medieval theme to these games and Crush the Castle

followed suit, trying to stand out by making their game more casual and simple for the

players. However, the realistic graphics paired with a monotonous gameplay, and dedicated

focus resulted in hampering Crush The Castle to become a franchise success.

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GRAPHICS

Niklas Hed, COO of Rovio had mentioned about the bright colors and the cartoonish

appearance of birds and pigs, explaining the reason behind the characters as a satirical

reference to the Swine Flu Epidemic. (Kendall, 2011)

Crush the Castle however, had no similar connotations. The graphics were just kept under a

realistic medieval setting, using forests and mountains in the background and having

characters such as knights, maidens, commanders, princes etc.

The colors used are toned

down, almost resembling

the effect of dusk.

The lack of bright vivid

colors could have affected

gameplay since one of the

reasons behind Angry

Birds’ popularity depends

on its usage of vibrant

hues to make the game

appear more active and

appealing. (Mauro, 2011)

Though the arrangement

of the structures is quite

similar, with both games

sharing a realistic breaking

effect, the complex

gameplay and dull

environment are a

definitive factor in the

downfall of Crush The

Castle.

Figure 2: Comparison of graphics (Source: Google images, Search : Crush the Castle)

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AGGRESSION AND DARK HUMOR

Crush the Castle is quite open with its aggressive gameplay and sadistic humor.

According to the storyline, the king has ordered the play to destroy all the bases in the rival

kingdom and expand his own empire. The primary goal of the player is follow the king’s

orders to kill and conquer the opposition. Konrad Lorenz talks about this aggressive

behavior as instinctual aggressiveness. He had combined Freud’s theories on aggression

with Darwin’s theory of evolution talking about how the survival and success of a species

depends on the violent tendencies they exhibit in order to survive or eliminate their

competition. (Lorenz, 2002)

Crush The Castle follows through this theory by the primal urge of eliminating the other

group in order to grow larger and expand to other territories. Such violence has been

observed throughout history from great conquerors like Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan Etc.

Figure 3: Blood spurts in CTC (Source: http://blog.addictinggames.com/tag/crush-the-castle/ )

Unlike Angry Birds, when the enemy is defeated in Crush the Castle, the visual imagery

shows a lot of bloodshed and corpses lying lifeless against the broken walls. While Angry

Birds resembles a more cartoonish nature, Crush The Castle is more realistic, showing

glimpses of an actual war where none of the characters are spared, not even the maidens in

the game.

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Regarding the players, Crush the Castle does provide a release to a player’s aggressive

tendencies. It is due to the primitive connection of man being able to use rocks as weapons.

Dr Tomas Chamorro Premuzic further proved it in his research, stating, “Players may not

realize it but violent videogames provides a cathartic effect”. (Goldsmith University of

London)

Another key difference is in Angry birds, the players legitimized the actions of tossing

kamikaze birds at diseased looking pigs because the overall theme was based on a fictional

cartoon environment, making it less realistic. This gave the player free reign to cause as

much damage and destruction as they pleased without feeling guilt or empathy. The

storyline also provides a positive reason for the player to retaliate. After all, what parent

wouldn’t fight back if their children’s life was at risk (Svetlik, 2011)

However, for Crush the Castle, there is no legitimate reason for launching rocks at

neighboring countries other than saying that one was ordered to do so. The aggressive

tendencies portrayed in the game follow the simple rule of merciless killing in order to

dominate, and that appeals to the player because of our fascination with combat, the desire

to rule, and the greed of always wanting more, irrespective of whether it rightfully belongs

to someone else.

The events in Crush the Castle mirror modern reality where the brutality of a country’s

military is overlooked by just saying, “we were following orders”.

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REWARD SYSTEM

The reward system of Crush The Castle is based on just scores and auditory/visual elements.

There are no hidden bonus rounds within the game, and the overall reward system is quite

basic compared to Angry Birds. It can best be explained using B.F. Skinner’s radical

behaviorism theory of operant conditioning, specifically reinforcement and extinction

(O'Donohue & Ferguson, 2001)

According to the theory, operant conditioning has two basic purposes, to either increase or

decrease the probability of repeating a certain behavior.

Stimulus Type Effect: Increases Behavior Effect: Decreases Behavior

Positive Stimulus

Positive Reinforcer Negative Punisher

Negative Stimulus

Negative Reinforcer Positive Punisher

Figure 4: Operant Condition. Derived from: (Skinner, 2011)

Angry Birds had studied operant condition on the players and focused on positive and

negative reinforcers, making sure they aren’t too derogatory towards the player. They

ensured their game doesn’t have any punishers. Crush The Castle followed a slightly

different approach.

If we base Operant Conditioning on Crush The Castle, the positive reinforcer is a simple

message stating the mission was successful along with the words “you are a royal success”

written as subtext below. The player also hears three quick bursts of a trumpet signifying a

victory. In Angry Birds, this is more elaborate with a military parade audio and the birds

jumping and cheering at their victory.

Crush The Castle has no typical bonus levels or hidden items to unlock. The game is

relatively straightforward and only has the one positive reinforcer.

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Figure 5: Crush the Castle Victory Screen (Source: Self screenshot)

Negative reinforcers in the game include a mission-failed message, written in bold font, with

the subtext telling the player they are a royal failure, along with two slow trumpet blasts

signifying defeat. While Angry birds has pigs grinning and sniggering at the player, almost

mocking the player, Crush The Castle is less friendly and more direct in tone. By telling the

player they are a royal failure could trigger their addictive impulse to try the levels again in

order to prove their superiority in battle. The player could actually relate to the characters

in the game, feeling self-satisfaction by defeating the enemy.

Figure 6: Crush The Castle Defeat Screen (Source: Self screenshot)

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Unlike Angry Birds, Crush The Castle also has Positive Punishers.

The bloodied carcasses of the victims along with the number of kills at the bottom of the

screen would theoretically be considered as positive reinforcers. It is assumed the goal was

to get the player excited to see the resistance lying lifeless, covered in their own blood.

While it is effective for a select few, for the most part the excessive blood matched with

realistic anguished screams eventually creates a sense of guilt within the player’s

subconscious and they stop playing the game. Counting the number of “killed” people only

adds to the negative stimulus, causing more guilt on a subconscious level. An adverse effect

could also be the desensitization of violence in real life, as shown in many other violent

games depicting murder.

The lack of a more positive reward system adds to the reasons behind the game not

reaching a franchise-level success.

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CONCLUSION

While violent games are pretty popular in their own right, Crush The Castle wasn’t so

successful since it was originally meant to be a casual game.

The reward system made the game popular on the internet, where a player could focus on

the game for hours. However, for casual gameplay such as during commuting, the game

proved to be less effective since it requires a higher degree of focus.

The killing of other characters with realistic blood and screams also turns off most audiences

due to their perceived negativity. Unlike Angry Birds, the storyline behind Crush The Castle

wasn’t justified enough and didn’t connect with most players on an emotional level. While

Angry Birds emphasized paternal emotions, Crush The Castle focused on the player being

commanded by a king to destroy rival factions in order to grow. Nobody likes being ordered

around for extended periods.

The graphics within the game, although realistic, were not dynamic enough and generic

among all the scenes, eventually causing the player to ignore the details. Angry Birds had

subtle changes in the backgrounds that always captured the player’s attention, keeping

them active and alert.

One needs to remember that Crush The Castle was released first. Angry Birds might have

ripped off the original idea in terms of physics based gameplay, but it was a significant

improvement. It could be considered that Angry Birds is theoretically a refined version of

Crush The Castle.

The addictive nature of Angry Birds stems from its simplicity and its reward system that

subconsciously keeps the player wanting to interact with the game repeatedly, like a slot

machine at a casino.

Crush The Castle was supposed to have a simplistic gameplay, however the creators added

too much realism and focused less on the actual backstory. All these factors contributed to

the game being a big hit on the internet, but it failed to successfully transition into a

multiplatform franchise.

A newer version of the game is currently in development and it is possible the creators will

significantly alter it to match the gameplay of Angry Birds. It remains to be seen if Crush The

Castle and still reach the level of fame as Angry Birds.

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WORKS CITED

(n.d.). Retrieved November 17, 2011, from Goldsmith University of London:

http://www.gold.ac.uk/psychology/staff/premuzic/

Armorgames.com. (2009). Retrieved December 06, 2011, from

http://armorgames.com/play/3614/crush-the-castle

Games Similar to Angry Birds. (2011, February 20). Retrieved December 06, 2011, from

Hardiannazief.com: http://hardiannazief.com/02/6-flash-based-game-similar-to-

angry-birds/

Chorost, M. (2011, January 4). How I kicked my addction to the iphone game Angry Birds.

Retrieved November 16, 2011, from PsychologyToday.com:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/world-wide-mind/201101/how-i-kicked-my-

addiction-the-iphone-game-angry-birds

Harrigan, K. A., Collins, K., & Dixon, M. J. (2010). Addictive Gameplay: What Casual Game

Designers can Learn from Slot Machine Research. Vancouver, British Columbia:

International Conference on the Future of GAme Design and Technology.

Kendall, P. (2011, February 07). Angry Birds: The story behind iPhone's gaming Phenomenon.

Retrieved November 15, 2011, from The Telegraph:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/8303173/Angry-Birds-the-

story-behind-iPhones-gaming-phenomenon.html

Lorenz, K. (2002). On Aggression. Routledge.

Mauro, C. (2011, February 6). Why angry birds is so successful and popular: A Cognitive

teardown of the User Experience. Retrieved November 12, 2011, from

MauroNewMedia.com: http://www.mauronewmedia.com/blog/2011/02/why-

angry-birds-is-so-successful-a-cognitive-teardown-of-the-user-experience/

Miller, D. (2011, August). Angry Birds: A psychiatrist explains the addiiction. Retrieved

November 17, 2011, from Kevinmd.com:

http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/08/angry-birds-psychiatrist-explains-

addiction.html

O'Donohue, W., & Ferguson, K. (2001). Operant Conditioning and the Experimental Analysis

of behavior. In W. O'Donohue, & K. Ferguson, The psychology of B.F. Skinner (pp. 73-

100). California: Sage Publications Inc.

Skinner, B. (2011). About Behaviorism. New york: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Svetlik, J. (2011, March 9). Angry Birds: The psychology of its success.