The popular pastime of flinging furious birds to destroy egg-stealing pigs has at last been launched into the final frontier–space.

After weeks of promotion including a video demonstration from aboard the International Space Station, Rovio Entertainment Ltd (Rovio) released Angry Birds Space on March 22, the latest spinoff of its globally successful series of Angry Birds video games.

"From floating through space in zero gravity, to using the gravity of nearby planets to set up spectacular trick shots, Angry Birds Space takes the gameplay that fans already know and love to a totally new level," Rovio described in a statement announcing the game's release.

"With brand new birds, brand new superpowers and a whole galaxy to explore, the sky is no longer the limit."

In Angry Birds Space, a giant claw descends from the sky and kidnaps the birds' eggs. The Angry Birds then chase the claw into a wormhole, gaining new superpowers in the process, and they eventually find themselves floating in a strange galaxy and surrounded by space pigs.

While the setup may be the stuff of fantasy, the physics that controls the birds' movements through zero-gravity is based on real-world calculations.

To win each level, players need to take advantage of the microgravity space environment to trigger chain-reaction collisions by plotting trajectories for the birds using the pull of gravity from planets and other celestial bodies.

As the levels advance, so do the planetary interactions needed to defeat the pigs.

"Science and education are very important to us," Andrew Stalbow, Rovio's general manager for North America, told the USA Today.

"Games are fun and entertaining, but we want to make sure that they can also be inspirational and informative. And that's what makes the Angry Birds series a rare game with mass appeal."