Candy dropping physics puzzler Cut The Rope soon swinging for iPhone and iPad

I've had a soft spot for Eastern European developer Zeptolab since its debut iPhone game Parachute Ninja.

Now it's back and swapping previous publisher Freeverse for Chillingo when it comes to new title Cut The Rope.

Like Parachute Ninja, it's another beautifully presented physics game. This time however you have to cut ropes at just the right time to swing a candy into the gaping mouth of cheerful monster Om Nom.

Sounds simple, but it doesn't take long to get into complex levels where your candy is hanging from multiple ropes connected to different points.

Cutting them just right enables you to swing the candy into the stars that are scattered around.

You'll also have to deal with other items such as bubbles you can use to float the candy around the level, popping the bubble when it's directly over Om Nom to give him something to munch on.

In addition, things such as spikes, barriers, electric force fields and spiders need to be avoided.

You have to get the candy into Om Nom's mouth to complete each level, and your performance is marked out of three depending on how many stars you collect, adding replayability. Chillingo's Crystal is used to track achievements, highscores and the like.

Playing Cut The Rope reminds me of Com2uS's Slice It!, both in terms of the cutting action and the speed of completing levels, and Connect2Media's Arachnadoodle, in terms of its dynamism.

Zeptolab also promises to continually update the game with new levels, while Chillingo is hoping some of the addictiveness of Angry Birds' will rub off on the game, although I'd suggest it's a more thoughtful experience than Rovio's immediate pig basher.

Cut The Rope will be released on October 7, priced 99c, €0.79 or 59p. There will also be a separate iPad version priced $1.99, €1.59 or £1.19.

You can see how it plays in the following video.

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