''Cut the Rope'' is a physics-based puzzle video game developed by

ZeptoLab ZeptoLab (stylised as zeptolab) is an multinational video game developer best known for developing the ''Cut the Rope'' series, which has been downloaded more than 2 billion times since its release, and can be played on major platforms including ...

and published by

Chillingo Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the ...

for

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

, Android,

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design la ...

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

Nintendo DSi The is a dual-screen handheld game console released by Nintendo. The console launched in Japan on November 1, 2008, and worldwide beginning in April 2009. It is the third iteration of the Nintendo DS, and its primary market rival is Sony In ...

, and

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generatio ...

Gameplay

On each stage, a candy is hung by one or several ropes, which the player can cut. The goal of each stage is to get the candy to a green monster named Om Nom by cutting the ropes in a particular order while utilizing the game's physics to get the candy to Om Nom. As the game progresses, new elements are added to the puzzles; examples including bubbles that can float the candy offscreen and spiders that can steal the candy. Such elements require the player to utilize them in such a fashion that the candy can reach Om Nom. There are several levels in the game, each divided into 25 stages. Each stage has three stars that can be collected by having the candy touch them. Though the stages can be completed without collecting all three stars, the stars are necessary for unlocking later levels.

Development

Creative director Semyon Voinov and director of development Denis Morozov of

are the creators of ''Cut the Rope''. The inspiration for ''Cut the Rope'' was during the development of their debut game, ''

Parachute Ninja ''Parachute Ninja'' is an action iOS game developed by American studio Freeverse Inc. and released Jan 28, 2010. Critical reception The game has a Metacritic rating of 89% based on 6 critic reviews. The No DPad review said "If you have liked ga ...

''. ''Parachute Ninja'' was originally going to use a rope mechanic that the ninja would use to swing. ZeptoLab became unsatisfied with the controls of the rope and swapped it with a parachute mechanic. ZeptoLab eventually fine-tuned the rope physics to use in their next project, which would become ''Cut the Rope''. The game started as a basic concept of delivering an object from point A to point B. When they had the idea of delivering candy to a little green monster, they found the idea both absurd and adorable, and they developed the game with this idea in mind. Much of Om Nom's features were designed after a two-year-old baby to make it cute, and ZeptoLab worked on its animations and sounds to give it charm.

Release

ZeptoLab chose

as the publisher, different from the publisher of ''Parachute Ninja'',

Freeverse Freeverse Inc. (originally Freeverse Software) was a developer of computer and video game and desktop software based in New York City which was acquired by Ngmoco in 2010. Ngmoco was itself acquired later that year, and shut down in 2016. Hist ...

. ZeptoLab chose Chillingo over Freeverse because they felt Chillingo's player base would be a "good fit" for ''Cut the Rope'' target audience. ''Cut the Rope'' premiered on October 4, 2010 for

. This was followed by a free version with fewer levels for each device, called ''Cut the Rope Free'' and ''Cut the Rope HD Free'' respectively. The Android version was released in June 2011. The

DSiWare This is a list of games and applications, collectively known as DSiWare, for the Nintendo DSi handheld game console, available for download via the DSi Shop and unplayable on earlier DS models. An update released for the Nintendo 3DS in June 2011 ...

version was released September 22, 2011 for Europe and November for North America on

Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...

( DSi), and August 22, 2013 for

users. In January 2012, a limited version of the game was published as a

browser game A browser game or a "flash game" is a video game that is played via the internet using a web browser. They are mostly free-to-play and can be single-player or multiplayer. Some browser games are also available as mobile apps, PC games, or on ...

for

HTML5 HTML5 is a markup language used for structuring and presenting content on the World Wide Web. It is the fifth and final major HTML version that is a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) recommendation. The current specification is known as the HTML ...

browsers. The BlackBerry version of ''Cut the Rope'' was released to

BlackBerry World BlackBerry World (previously known as BlackBerry App World) is an application distribution service, aka an 'app store', and application by BlackBerry Limited; for BlackBerry 10 devices, the BlackBerry PlayBook, and a majority of BlackBerry OS devi ...

following the announcement of

BlackBerry 10 BlackBerry 10 is a discontinued proprietary mobile operating system for the BlackBerry line of smartphones, both developed by BlackBerry Limited (formerly Research In Motion). BlackBerry 10 is based on QNX, a Unix-like operating system that was ...

in January 2013.

Reception

''Cut the Rope'' was received well by critics. The aggregator website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

has a score of 93 out of 100 based on 14 reviews, a rating of "universal acclaim".

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

has praised the game for having "the addictive qualities of ''

Angry Birds ''Angry Birds'' is a Finnish action-based media franchise created by Rovio Entertainment. The game series focuses on the eponymous flock of angry birds who try to save their eggs from green-colored pigs. Inspired by the game ''Crush the Castl ...

'' – great puzzles, near-perfect use of touch controls, and cute personality". GameSpot has described it as "fresh, challenging, gorgeous, and highly entertaining". Jon Mundy of Pocket Gamer was equally positive, calling it "bright, imaginative, and supremely polished". At the 11th Annual

Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were ...

(2010), ''Cut the Rope'' won in the "Best Handheld Game" category, beating such prominent contesters as '' Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker'' and '' God of War: Ghost of Sparta'', which debuted on PSP that year. At

WWDC The Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is an information technology conference held annually by Apple Inc. The conference is usually held at Apple Park in California. The event is usually used to showcase new software and technologies in t ...

2011, ''Cut the Rope'' won an

Apple Design Award The Apple Design Awards (ADAs) is an event hosted by Apple Inc. at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. The purpose of the event is to recognize the best and most innovative Macintosh and iOS software and hardware produced by independent d ...

for the iOS platform. In March 2011, it won the

7th British Academy Video Games Awards The 7th British Academy Video Game Awards (known for the purposes of sponsorship as GAME British Academy Video Games Awards) awarded by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, was an award ceremony held on 16 March 2011 in the London Hilt ...

in the "Handheld" category and a BaFTA Award, the first iOS game to do so. Nine days after its initial release, the game had been purchased one million times and rose to the top of the App Store's charts. According to Chillingo, this made it the fastest-selling iOS game to reach that number of sales.

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
2010 video games Android (operating system) games Apple Design Awards recipients BAFTA winners (video games) BlackBerry PlayBook games Browser games Casual games Chillingo games DSiWare games IOS games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Puzzle video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Russia ZeptoLab games