Cut the Rope: Experiments
Players: 1
Genre: Puzzle
Publisher: Chillingo
Developer: ZeptoLab
iOS Release Date: August 4, 2011
Android: TBA

Apple’s App Store has helped many small mobile developers gain popularity. One such company is ZeptoLab, a tiny Russian group that was virtually unknown before Cut the Rope.  For iOS alone, Cut the Rope has sold an astonishing three million units.  An Android release took place back in June 2011 and downloads continue every day.

While the stages may start off easy enough, before too long the difficulty increases significantly

So what is Cut the Rope?  It’s a physics-based puzzle series in which a candy is suspended on a rope, and it’s broken by swiping your finger across it.  The objective is to land the candy into Om Nom’s mouth, the tiny green creature you see.  It’s not as easy as it sounds; there are tons of obstacles in the way: spikes, electricity, and much more.  There are also several items to interact with by the touch screen in order to help move the candy to its desired location.  Let’s not forget about the three stars per level.  Collecting them and feeding the candy to Om Nom nets you a high score if you’re quick enough. Therein lies the replay value and addictive nature.  You have no idea how complex some of these puzzles become.

Experiments is ZeptoLab’s follow-up, and it doesn’t stray from the formula in the least.  Some might suggest it be released as a free update, but today the original game features 200 levels for $1.  That’s a ton of content, so who could blame ZeptoLab for wanting to rake in a little extra cash?

Experiments brings with it 75 stages, and a promise of future free updates for more. The first 25 stages serve as a refresher/tutorial for those unaccustomed to the gameplay.  The next 25 introduces the first new item, the ‘plunger shooter’ as I call it.  This item, once tapped, fires a rope that connects to the candy.  There’s no need to aim; it takes care of that for you.  The final levels makes use of the suction cup.  The candy is attached to the rope, which is wrapped to suction cup(s). Swipe it once and the entire contraception falls, press it again to reattach it.  You must be quick with this item or else the candy will fall into the endless void beneath the stage.

Touch the red suction cup and prepare for madness!

The two new items increase the difficulty, which is higher compared to the original.  While a few more gameplay twists would have been nice, no one can complain about another 75 stages and two new items for the low price of $1.  I strongly recommend you download this immediately.