"Angry Birds" and Other Beastly Games Quiz

Answer: Unlucky pigs

No wonder the birds are angry! (I can't imagine the pigs are too pleased, either.) A sketch of wingless birds inspired Rovio Entertainment, a Finnish company, to develop the game for Apple iOS in December 2009. Since then, it has been released for other mobile systems, and has expanded to video game consoles and PCs. By 2012, it had become one of the most successful mobile apps ever, in part because Rovio continued to provide free upgrades, like "Poached Eggs" and "Birdday Party". That same year "Angry Birds Space" and "Angry Bird Star Wars" debuted. That's a lot avian anger.

Answer: Donkey Kong

Shigeru Miyamoto created the ape Donkey Kong, so named to suggest stupidity, and the eponymous game. An important part of the game were barrels, which Donkey Kong would throw at Jumpman as he tried to climb ladders to save his sweetheart. Jumpman, of course, became Mario of the Mario brothers, which overshadowed the oirignal.

But "Donkey Kong" also persisted and inspired a sequel, "Donkey Kong Jr.", in which the son is trying to rescue his father from Mario! It originally appeared as an arcade game in 1981.

Answer: Frogger

Developed by the Japanese company Konami (founded 1969), "Frogger" was born in 1981 in the heart of the Golden Age of Video Arcade Games. The only player control in the upright game is the joystick, used to jump forward or back, or to move left or right. Versions for personal computers, of course, generally use keyboard controls. "Frogger" was also ported or cloned to various gaming systems. In later versions for home computers, such as the Apple IIgs and the Macintosh, the frog-protagonist could either be male or female. It inspired a host of clones and knock-offs, besides.

The game was so popular that CBS produced a Saturday morning TV program called "Frogger", in which Bob Sarlatte voiced the title character. It was part of the "Saturday Supercade" lineup that featured cartoons of popular video game characters.

Technical note: The arcade version of "Frogger" was one of the first games to use more than one CPU, specifically two Z80 processors, which were Intel-compatible 8-bit processors created by Zilog in 1976. It was one of the most popular CPUs of the early 1980s because of its enhanced instruction set, speedier interrupt system, and lower hardware needs for power supply.

Answer: Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega sought an answer to Nintnedo's blockbuster "Mario" series, and they found it with Sonic the Hedgehog and his franchise. The azure creature can run at supersonic speed and curl into a ball to attack his enemies. However, Sonic cannot swim because his creator, Yuji Naka, mistakenly believed that hedgehogs lacked that ability. He also appeared in comics and TV shows, and was still running strong well into the second decade of the 21st century.

Design note: Sonic was originally codenamed Mr. Needlemouse. Before settling on a hedgehog as their "flagship" mascot, Sega experimented with an armadillo (later Mighty the Armadillo) and a dog resembling Teddy Roosevelt in pajamas. Sonic's shoes were based on the boots of Michael Jackson and Santa Claus, and President Bill Clinton was the inspiration for his personality.

Answer: Sim Ant

Not only ants, "Sim Ant" had spiders, antlions, caterpillars, pillbugs, birds, roaches, flies, and even people. After Will Wright (creator of "SimCity" and later "The Sims") read E.O. Wilson's study of ant colonies, he was moved to design this game in which a colony of black ants tries to survive and even thrive. Unlike other games, Sim Ant was completely non-linear, however, and there were no victory conditions and no end.

Historical/platform note: Maxis Software published "Sim Ant" for multiple platforms, including DOS, Amiga, Macintosh System 7, Windows 3.x, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. "Sim Ant" also inspired other single-player life-simulation games such as "Wolf", which was created only for DOS, and its sequel "Lion", also only for DOS.

Answer: Camel

In Desert Crossing, you are given a description of your situation ("You see what appears to be an oasis") to which you must respond with an action that you click. For example, you click the binoculars ("You peer at it more closely") or click the camel to move forward, and the game gives you a description and a still picture of what you've done. It has lots of pretty illustrations and clickable items such as when you purchase food, water, binoculars, and a compass (which you need during sandstorms). You can can also search abandoned campsites for food, water, and money. But avoid unfriendly bedouins who will rob you or throw you in jail. You have to stop and rest and get sleep, especially for your camel's sake, whose health is indicated with a graph. But don't rest too long, or the barbarians chasing after you will get you. And most of all, don't let your camel die, or you will die.

Platform note: As far as I can tell, this game is only for 68K Macs (Macs with the Motorola 68K processor) and on PowerPC Macs (such as the G3 and G4) which could natively run Mac OS 9. It will run on Mac OS 8 and possibly 7.6 and earlier as well.

Answer: It is necessary to slaughter animals

There are no real objectives to the game, first released in 2001. Rather, it is simply a place to collect and barter items; acquire, furnish, and expand a house; play hide and seek; experiment with hairstyles and accessorize outfits; and just socialize. Because the game utilizes the system clock and calendar, the actual time of day and season of the year are reflected in the scenery of the game: trees grow, leaves turn, the sun rises and sets, and holidays are celebrated.

Nintendo released sequels to its popular game including "Animal Crossing: Wild World" (2005) and "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" (2012). The latter allows a player to become mayor, and it boasts two new anthropomorphic animals for villagers: hamsters and deer. In both sequels, a sloth named Leif manages a gardening center, and Reese and Cyrus the alpacas run a recycling shop for selling second-hand furniture and household goods.

Answer: FarmVille

"FarmVille" is primarily an Adobe Flash application at Facebook and at MSN Games. Briefly it was an app for iPhone and iPad as well. An interesting feature is that the livestock never die, no matter how much a player may neglect them. Although enormously popular, the game has been the subject of criticism. "Time" magazine listed "FarmVille" among its 50 Worst Inventions for being an addictive "series of mindless chores on a digital farm".

Answer: Cow Clicker

Researcher and designer Ian Bogost created this single-payer game with multi-player interaction with a purpose. He was troubled by a speech made by the president of Zynga, a provider of social game services, at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards. Bogost felt that Zynga's game FarmVille exemplified abuses of game mechanics that deprived people of their money without providing an artistic experience. So in July 2010 Bogost developed "Cow Clicker". The player has a cow in a pasture. He or she may click on the cow once every six hours. Each click accumulates points. Then the player can use Facebook Credits to buy Mooney, which can then be used to buy "premium" cow designs and features, such as skipping the 6-hour wait.

As satire, it was deliberately mindless and repetitive, so naturally "Cow Clicker" went viral and took on a life of its own. Bogost allowed spin-offs and parodies, and even used cow-clicking for charitable fundraising. Ultimately, Bogost decided to end it with Cowpocalypse, in which all cows were
"raptured" -- they disappeared, never to return, although the blank spaces they left behind were still clickable. A fan complained to Bogost that the game was no fun without the cows; he replied "it wasn't very fun before".

Answer: True

Many labels have published music designed to soothe cats while their caretakers are away, so why not a video game for when their owners can spend a little quality time? Released in 2012 for iPad and Android, the game was called "You vs. Cat". Studies have shown that certain shapes and movements attract cats but sounds distract them, so Nestlé designed the game with these facts in mind. Players, human and feline, earned points by swatting at shapes on the screen.

At the Friskies catfood website, consumers could share videos of their matches with their cats.

When catnip mice and dangling string are not enough, there's "You vs. Cat"!