What do players use to launch birds in the original game?

Players use a slingshot to launch birds in the original Angry Birds. The player pulls back the bird, adjusts its angle and power, then releases it toward structures sheltering green pigs.

The slingshot is the game’s central control mechanism, making Angry Birds a physics-based puzzle game. Each launch follows a visible trajectory, and players must account for distance, gravity, material strength, and the bird’s special ability. Wood, glass, and stone structures respond differently to impacts.

A catapult is a reasonable everyday synonym for a launching device, but it is not the game’s canonical term. A trebuchet is a much larger medieval siege engine, while a cannon does not match the game’s elastic-launch design. Later versions added tools such as the Sling Scope and King Sling, but these modify the same basic slingshot mechanic rather than replacing it.