You have until December 4th to unlock Melody, a new character with special powers in Angry Birds 2

A new character is coming to Angry Birds 2 starting today. From now through December 4th, players can collect feathers in an attempt to unlock a new bird named Melody. According to game developer Rovio, "This new songbird grew up in a house full of music, showing a talent for singing from a young age. As such, Melody loves music in all of its forms. You can find her dancing to the latest hits, or chirping along to classical tunes."

Rovio adds that "Despite being an Angry Bird, she’s actually quite easygoing, but when she gets fired up, she’ll express herself through music with her powerful voice – to devastating effect!" Earlier this year, Angry Birds 2 added a new feature called "Pick Your Flock" that allows players to pick whatever combination of birds they want to aim at the pigs at each level. These players can choose from among the seven "core" birds and from "extra birds" with different strengths and weaknesses. This adds more strategy to the game.

Melody's special power is the ability to inhale any object and fire it back at her enemies "at ballistic speed." The items inhaled by Melody can be fired back in any direction as players get to aim the projectile in the direction they choose. Rovio says that this makes "Melody a crucial part of a well-orchestrated strategy. In other words, if the piggies think they can nab the eggs and get away with it, Melody will have them singing a different tune in no time."

Angry Birds 2 can be downloaded for your iPhone from the App Store, or for your Android device from the Google Play Store. If you recall, the goal of the game is to destroy the pigs by flinging the birds at them using a giant slingshot. It's easy to forget how big Angry Birds was back in the day. In 2011, Rovio said that 30 million people were playing Angry Birds every day.

If you really want to take a trip on the nostalgia train, check out this story from PhoneArena dated September 3rd, 2010 reporting that Angry Birds was going to debut on the Android platform. The previous December, the game had launched on iOS.

At its peak, Angry Birds spawned a pair of full-length movies and a theme park in China.  Developer Rovio expressed its desire to be the next Disney, but that is a hard goal to accomplish. Rovio did do a great job licensing its creation with images of the Angry Birds found on products ranging from clothing, to adhesive strips, and board games. And during the pandemic, as many suddenly found themselves with no where to go and with nothing to do, Angry Birds made a comeback of sorts.