Cut The Rope

 
Developer: Zeptolab UK Limited
Steam Release: Feb 2013
Hours Played: 4.3
Similar To: Chariot / Obulis / Snail Bob 2
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

When it comes to a Top 20 list of mobile puzzle games on the iOS or for tablets, certain titles or franchises are almost guaranteed a mention. Angry Birds has certainly had a good run as has Where's My Water? The Room and the Go series' are also currently having their day in the sun and, for myself, I don't mind admitting to the odd Cover Orange or Snail Bob session. But one game, along with its many iterations, seems to have a ubiquitous presence in those Top 20 lists and that's the Cut The Rope series... and for good reason. Not only is this due to its super clean interface, wonderfully varied levels, instant restarts and all-round solid presentation but in the sheer pleasure it gives as you crack and solve those ever-creative levels. The premise is simple: deliver a large sweet to the awaiting Om Nom by dropping it into his enormous mouth.

BALANCE & PACE

This, in turn, is done by: cutting ropes that the sweet swings from (often with the use of perfect timing); popping bubbles it ends up inside of; puffing bellows to blow it in the right direction; manipulating other moving parts to slide it where it needs to go and not to mention snipping the rope before pesky bugs get their thieving mitts on it. Rest assured, the folks at Zeptolabs keep those machines and weird contraptions a-coming. In addition, you'll want to try to three-star each level by having the sweet travel over the three stars placed in the environments. You'll be given 11 themed environments to work through (or what you might call chapters) which take the form of boxes. This might be the cardboard box you start with to the fabric, magic, toy, or tool box you'll get along the way. Each one comes with 25 marvellous levels and I managed to three-star the first two chapters in under a couple of hours.     

PRESENTATION & DESIGN 

The game is brightly coloured with a cheerful vibe and a child-centric gloss. This would be mainly down to its bouncy but frankly bland soundtrack and that annoyingly demanding Om Nom who forever points to his open mouth in a gesture that says "feed me" in no uncertain terms. The character himself is basically one big head with two huge bulging eyes and that gaping orifice. This may all be an intentional move to entice children into its world for it's ideal for young and old alike and hence perfect to play while teaching youngsters about the wonders of logic and teamwork. It does, however, start to get pretty tricky by the half-way stage. Menus are very few with the 11 boxes accessed by being scrolled through in the touch-friendly way. 
 

PROGRESS SYSTEM

Progress through CTR amounts to unlocking and hence opening the 11 boxes lined up after you hit Play. Each box has a padlock along with a number which are the stars you need to have collected before it becomes available. A box holds 25 squares (levels) each with three stars to unlock making it 75 stars per chapter. Unlike its mobile counterpart, there is no nonsense like power-ups to purchase to make levels easier but I guess in this day and age solutions and walkthroughs are a few clicks away anyway. Personally, I found the game to have an excellent pace and for the levels to be pitched at the right difficulty. At the early stages puzzles could be completed comfortably, while moving onto the magic and Valentine boxes things were noticeably harder with less being 3-starred. However, there was always plenty of material to hold interest.

CONCLUSION

Cut The Rope is a small download that demands little from your system and is super-quick to install. In fact it's so casual and user-friendly that if you can multi-task it can be played nicely on your laptop while you're watching TV. The only downside is that it's the type of game where a wall could be hit when the difficulty spike hits its peak and thus rendering the game no longer fun or enjoyable but that's the majority of puzzle games for you. While playing, it will certainly offer hours of in-the-zone entertainment - and there are at least four fine sequels out there for mobile users as well. Say what you will about the benefits of Lumosity or Fit Brains, for a proper brain-training workout that adds fun into the bargain (and far less expensive to boot) you'll be wanting to fire up this baby!