Critical Play: Theme Only Games

Cut the Rope and Angry Birds were two of the first few games I played on iPhone and iPad. I was immediately intrigued by how physics can be simulated in digital games, which was not possible before accelerometer and Gyros built into mobile phones and tablets.

Despite both being games primarily relying on physics mechanics and both have cartoonish art style, Cut the Rope and Angry Birds deliver totally different experiences because of their different themes.

The theme of Cut the Rope is cutting ropes attaching an apple to feed the little monster. There is no enemy or the evil side in the game so throughout the whole game I just feel like I want to figure out a way to deliver the apple, thus focusing on the mechanics more. I also do not feel much compelled to finish the game in one setting since the levels seem to be disconnected.

In comparison, there is a more complete storyline in Angry Birds where there are evil pigs that stole eggs from birds and birds that need to fight to get their eggs back. Compared to Cut the Rope , Angry Birds makes me feel more empathetic and invested during the gameplay. I feel that I am on the just side that need to prevent bad things from happening. I cannot wait to witness the defeat of pigs’ evil schemes and thus feel more motivated to keep advancing the levels to reach the end.

Additionally, the world setting in Angry Birds is more comprehensive and thus there are more types of characters, enemies, mechanics in the game than those in Cut the Rope. Therefore, Angry Birds feels like a more difficult and more sophisticated game.