Right now, the iOS version of "Angry Birds Space" has 10,958,921 players. And the No. 1 player is Dan Guzman (his first name is Philip). As of June, Guzman has a score of 32,809,824, better than anybody else to play the game.
So how does someone become the best player out of almost 11 million people? What does it take to pull this off? The world's best "Angry Birds Space" player isn't even that into video games "I find it fascinating that anybody's fascinated by this," Guzman, who refuses to pose for a picture, says. "It's never been that big of a deal to me."
A 49-year-old father of four, he's a sales manager in Wichita, Kansas, who mainly uses the game to decompress after a long day at work. "It was a perfect game for me — it's a good busy finger game, and it's just nice to have something that's mindless," he says.
Despite being one of the best gamers in the world, he's not even that into video games. As a teenager, he did dump all $123 of his first paycheck into an Asteroids arcade machine, but since then he rarely played games before the advent of the iPad and iPhone. The last computer game he finished was "Myst," and he has to get his kids to help him turn on the PS4 so he can watch a DVD.
He doesn't care a lot about the "Angry Birds" culture either, and doesn't really know anything about the elaborate "mythology" behind the birds. He never lapsed into complex terminology (birds were just called "birds," not "Bip bap bops," "Space bashers," or other names approved by the manufacturer, Rovio). He also hasn't yet been contacted by Rovio, even though he's the LeBron James of "Angry Birds Space."
That leads to the big question: how did a normal (and very pleasant) guy become the best "Angry Birds Space" player in the iPhone universe? Dan Guzman's tips for having the high score at "Angry Birds" don't revolve around what to do in one particular world, or the perfect angle to swing a bird. They're actually surprisingly universal, because getting a high score is about understanding the rules of the game.
First, and foremost, dedication is key. "I'm a completist," Guzman says. "I can't not finish the game." That's key in "Angry Birds Space," in which overall scores are cumulative based on a player's scores in many different levels. Though Guzman is rarely the top-scoring player on a particular level, he makes sure to play as many levels as possible, which puts him above the less comprehensive competition.
That's paired with his key attention to detail — while most of us stop paying attention after our bird has been slingshotted away, Guzman observes exactly what happens. Since scores are calculated not only by how many pigs are killed, but also by how many blocks are broken, that close observation is key. "You'll hit a level and you'll see a brick fall one way one time, and 9 out of 10 times it falls the other way. It's a lot of noticing how the things in the game move."
Guzman is a unique player in some ways — he has a competitive drive and an interest in completing every level perfectly. A lot of people wouldn't care about their score on a particular level, but he does. At the beginning of his "Angry Birds Space" odyssey, he even watched the transitional videos in the game, because he could earn achievements for watching them. It's not obsession — just consistent, day-by-day gameplay, approached by a sharp, analytical mind. It doesn't look like his score will be beaten soon, although August is another month altogether.
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This story in 30 seconds
• In June 2016, Dan Philip Guzman had the highest Angry Bird score in the world
• Guzman mainly uses the game to decompress after a long day at work
• He's not even that into video games
• He doesn't care a lot about the "Angry Birds" culture either, and doesn't really know anything about the elaborate "mythology" behind the birds
• Though Guzman is rarely the top-scoring player on a particular level, he makes sure to play as many levels as possible, which puts him above the less comprehensive competition
