The complete beginner's guide to Angry Birds Go!

If you're an absolute beginner to the world of Angry Birds Go! then you'll be in need of some knowledge, namely the absolute basics on how to play the game, and some of the rules that govern its world.

You couldn't have come to a better place, as right here in this very guide is everything you need to know about how to race, and how to progress. We'll start with the really simple stuff, and work up to the slightly more complicated bits and pieces.

Steering
Get used to doing this, because you'll be doing it a lot in Angry Birds Go!, what with it being a racing game and all.

There are two methods of steering. You can either use touchscreen controls and touch left or right of the device you're playing on to move in that direction, or you can treat the device as a steering wheel and physically tilt it in the desired direction.

I prefer the former, but it's all down to personal preference. You can switch between the two in the Settings menu.

The slingshot
In Angry Birds games of old, you used the sling to fire your birds at pigs hidden under complex structures. In Angry Birds Go! you use it to start each race.

To fire your kart forward, simply touch the screen, then draw back your finger, and let go to fire.

Very easy indeed, but if you want an expert guide to the slingshot, to understand its secrets and get the very most from it, check out our dedicated guide.

Special moves
Each Bird has a special power it can activate to help it along to victory in a race. You activate these by pressing the lightning icon on the right-hand side of the screen.

Time Boom Challenge
The object here is to make it to the end of the course in a strict time limit. You can tell how much time is remaining by looking at the fuse that sizzles towards its explosive target at the top of the screen.

Fruit Splat Challenge
Have you ever wanted to smash thousands of medium-to-large sized items of fruit with a high speed vehicle? Now's your chance. Drive through the groups of fruits floating on the track to chip away at a meter above your racer to guarantee victory, and after you've done that you should collect the Coins that appear in place of the fruits.

Race Challenge
Though this is a traditional race - or as close to one as you'll find in Angry Birds Go! - you needn't finish on the very top of the podium to class a finish as a victory, but you must come in 3rd or better. Do that and you'll be showered with riches and praise.

Champion Chase
It's just you against the AI, but in Champion Chase they'll throw everything they have at you to succeed. Opponents drop crates behind them to slow you down, and seem to have an unlimited number of uses of their special powers. You'll need a fast kart and a bit of luck to make it past these beasties.

Versus Mode
This too is a standard race, but you can determine the difficulty of the opposition by Easy, Medium, and Hard. It's a useful mode for grinding out currency, but your time might be better spent completing challenges on previous circuits for high scores.

Jenga
If you own the Angry Birds Go! Jenga set then, a) look at you, Mr. Moneybags, and b) you own this mode and can unlock it with the code included inside the box. If you don't own the play set then you can unlock it with an in-app purchase.

The play is like a 3D version of a main line Angry Birds game, and all the interaction you have is flinging birds using the launcher.

Currency
There are two forms of currency at play here: Coins and Crystals.

Coins are in short supply, and are won through completing races. You can also pick them up on the tracks you race upon. These are used to upgrade your kart and purchase more power-ups.

Crystals are in even shorter supply, and are awarded for completing objectives in races you've already mastered. Occasionally you'll see one to grab on the track too. Crystals are used to skip challenges, buy more Energy, and so on.

Energy
As with a lot of free-to-play games, Angry Birds Go! uses an energy system. Its inclusion is purely economic: the game's free, and one way to tempt you into spending money on it is to artificially limit how long a character can be played with before they become "tired".

You can swap between other racers you've unlocked in the game, but if you run out of characters with energy, you can't play again until their energy has recovered - either after a set period of real-world time, or if you cough up a little premium currency.

Each racer starts with five points of energy, and one point is depleted for each race you take part in.