Rovio goes nuts for branding: Angry Birds new pistachio-peddling game

Yet somehow ... it just feels right. Rovio and Wonderful Pistachios have joined forces to release The Hunt for the Golden Pistachio, a branded Angry Birds game playable on the nut-seller's website through Google's Chrome browser. Rovio calls this the developer's first fully-branded Angry Birds game, as it was built from the ground up with Wonderful Pistachios in mind.

Rovio told Mashable that this is different from Angry Birds Rio, which just received its final update, since characters were integrated into that game. We still don't really see the difference, but moving right along. In this web version of Angry Birds, players must crack open pistachios and crush enemy pigs across five new levels available through Dec. 31.

But there's more incentive to play this variety of Angry Birds than to simply feed the need. By playing The Hunt for the Golden Pistachio, players have the chance of winning a total of $300,000 in prizes. The goodies range from a year's supply of Wonderful Pistachios to Angry Birds plush toys and $25,000 in cash, but you need to get to at least Level 3 to qualify. From then on, you can invite your friends on Facebook to get extra attempts at each level, and more chances at prizes.

This all started when the Angry Birds were featured in a Wonderful Pistachios commercial. But Rovio is certainly no stranger to branding: The company has released everything from Angry Birds t-shirts to a cookbook, and plans to release a feature-length film by 2014. Making sure everyone and their mother has heard of you is certainly a fine strategy to soar past 500 million downloads.

Click here to play Angry Birds: The Hunt for the Golden Pistachio (Chrome Users Only) Now >

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