ZeptoLab have just released a new addition to the Cut the Rope series. In Cut the Rope: Time Travel the loveable adventures of Om Nom continue as he travels back in time to feed his ancestors candy. Expect the same physics action for phones and tablets, but this time round there are two monsters to feed over six eras in time.
The first edition of Cut the Rope didn’t do badly with 300 million downloads! In this time travel edition we must feed the little green monster Om Nom plus an ancestor from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, a Pirate Ship, Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, and the Stone Age. ZeptoLab co-founders and brothers Semyon and Efim Voinov said the idea came to them after working on Cut the Rope toys for Burger King last year, and they wanted to figure out ways to expand the Om Nom character.
“We wanted to keep all the cuteness of Om Nom, and we’re also geeks who love ideas like time travel,” Semyon, ZeptoLab’s chief creative officer, said.
Semyon said they wanted to give each world a different flavor and wanted to give a unique and identifiable look to each incarnation of On Nom. That’s why each character, whether it be from Ancient Greece, Ancient Egypt or the Stone Age, has a different vocal track. Also important to the franchise’s success is how easy the mechanics are to master, but each level still requires thought and experimentation.
“Even young kids can understand the game because cutting ropes and seeing things fall, or putting things in a bubble to rise are concepts we can all easily grasp, yet we can still make great puzzles from them,” Efim explains. “Om Nom also has vivid reactions, like a cartoon, so players can easily understand what’s happening.”
Each worlds puzzles also have unique mechanics. In the Renaissance levels, you have to start and stop time to solve puzzles. In the Pirate levels, bombs can explode your candy each turn if you aren’t careful. Efim, the chief technology officer, said ZeptoLab focuses on making sure the gameplay is always fresh even if it’s all on the same franchise.
“We hold company-wide brainstorm sessions that everyone can pitch in on, and we prototype the best ideas,” Efim said.
“I am sometimes surprised how our team comes up with new ideas,” Semyon added. “When we developed Cut the Rope, there were only 2 of us. Now we have 50 people in our staff and most of them are developers.”
Despite the growth, the studio co-founders strive to remain independent. It will focus on more Cut the Rope content but also other games outside the franchise. ZeptoLabs released its creative puzzler Pudding Monsters last year as its first new IP.
“Our great asset is Cut the Rope, but at the same time, we enjoy trying different things and doing different things. We have have lots happening in the studio right now,” Semyon says.
Cut the Rope is unique in that ZeptoLab has been supporting every title with new levels even years after release. It will do the same thing for Cut the Rope: Time Travel.
“We do try to stay good guys, and we don’t try to charge people too much,” Efim says “The levels from the original Cut the Rope tripled but the price stayed the same.”
Cut the Rope: Time Travel is currently available for $0.99 on iOS devices and for free(mium) to Android users.
