Bad Piggies

The Angry Birds series managed to catch millions of players in its spell, thanks to the incredibly addictive mechanics and the ever-increasing difficulty level that keeps you glued to the screen at least one more level. After its popularity has faded, the developers have come up with yet another puzzle game based on the same universe, but with very different mechanics at their core.

Bad Piggies is a physics puzzle game that allows you to transport the same green pigs across a variety of levels, using hand-made machinery to get around a variety of obstacles. You are rewarded for creativity and you also receive more points if you restrain yourself from using certain items in the construction of your vehicle, or you manage to pick up a special crate along the way.

As far as the background story is concerned, it all still revolves around the bird eggs that were the cause of the conflict in the first saga as well, only this time you are helping the piggies get to them, rather than the birds. Hence, most of the scenery should be quite familiar, while the funny cutscenes might even contain some references to the previous episodes.

The actual physics engine is what drives the game, though, because almost every item is crucial when you are building your vehicle. Thus, while the fans have a fairly obvious purpose, as do the soda bottles, the TNT blocks can be used in a variety of ways and they can get out of a lot of trouble. Naturally, it is preferable that the entire machine makes it to the finish line, but only the big is necessary in order to complete the level.

Visually, the game uses the very same graphics engine as its predecessor, which means that it it looks good and the animations have remained just as funny as before. The 2D engine also means that it is fairly easy for the developers to bring you the game on a wide array of other devices, such as smartphones and tablets, because it does not require too many resources to run properly.

In the end, Bad Piggies is definitely a good game, but the mechanics are not nearly as addictive or ingenious as in Angry Birds. However, you can still lose yourself a bit in it, as long as you enjoy puzzles games and you are always up for a challenge.