Cut the Rope: Time Travel (iOS/Android) review

Cut the Rope: Time Travel is a new mobile game from Zeptolab, and the third in the popular physics-based puzzle series. It's available for $0.99 on iPhone, $2.99 on iPad and for free on Android. This review is based on the iPhone version. For those unfamiliar with the Cut the Rope series, they are simple physics puzzle games in which the player must drop a piece of candy into the mouth of a hungry green monster named Om Nom. The candy is typically suspended at an inconvenient place in the level by one or more ropes, so the player must determine which of the ropes must be cut by swiping through them in order to get the candy into Om Nom's mouth. Further challenges are provided by gold stars scattered around each level, which the player must cause the candy to pass through on its way to Om Nom if they want to get the best scores. Cut the Rope: Time Travel doesn't deviate particularly far from this formula. The basic gameplay is the same, but the main difference is that in most levels, you'll be feeding two Om Noms instead of one -- one is the Om Nom from "our" time, while the other is supposedly one of his ancestors from the time period each of the sets of levels is based around. Both Om Noms must be successfully fed in order to pass the level. As the player progresses through the game, various new mechanics start to show themselves. Chains may only be cut by dropping blades on them, for example, but blades will also destroy candies if they hit them. Meanwhile, bubbles cause anything caught in them to rise rather than fall, but can be popped with a simple tap. The game regularly introduces new mechanics to the player at a good rate as the game progresses, and it's a noticeably more challenging experience than the previous two games Cut the Rope and Cut the Rope: Experiments due to the larger number of puzzles which require perfect timing as well as forward planning. This arguably makes the new game a little less accessible to newcomers, but helps placate those who thought the previous games were too easy. It's a sensible idea -- inexperienced, casual players can start with the easier, earlier games in the series; those who have already seen everything they have to offer can move on to the tougher challenges in this new version. The game features additional monetization over and above its price of admission through consumable "superpower" items that allow the game to be played in a different way. While superpowers are activated, candies cannot fall off the screen, and they can be manipulated by touching them. Using superpowers allows player to earn a secret fourth star on each level -- normally, there are only three stars to collect. Cut the Rope: Time Travel is a decent mobile game that is sure to appeal to those who enjoyed the previous entries in the series. It's a bit of a shame that Zeptolab isn't really trying anything drastically new with this title, but it's understandable that the team would want to revisit their most successful franchise -- and it's been two years since the last new Cut the Rope game, too. Cut the Rope: Time Travel is very much playing it safe, then, but in doing so it's likely to enjoy some strong success among a large number of mobile gamers. Cut the Rope: Time Travel launches today. Follow its progress on both iOS and Android with AppData, our tracking service for mobile and social games and developers. Play It's Cut the Rope... again.

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Cut the Rope: Time Travel (iOS/Android) review

Pete Davison

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Pete Davison