Review: Bad Piggies for iOS

You, like me, probably enjoyed playing Angry Birds for a few months. But that was a few months ago. Since then, the app has probably remained in some "Games" folder never to be touched. It got a bit boring. And so we've waited. Waited for the next great low-commitment iOS game to come around.

And come around it finally has. Believe it or not, from Rovio — the same guys that brought you Angry Birds — now comes Bad Piggies.

The game is not exactly what you might think. You don't actually play as the Pigs against the Birds, building protective structures and whatnot. It's actually its own game entirely. Instead, you are tasked with building a transportation device out of various pieces given to you to carry a Pig across a finish line. It requires thinking, planning, and quite a bit of trial and error — especially as the levels become more difficult.

The graphics and animations are excellent — better than in Angry Birds. The same goes for the games's physics. This app is definitely newer and fresher than even the latest versions of Angry Birds. Another huge plus is that the 3-star system is far better in Bad Piggies than it is in Angry Birds. It's no longer ridiculously arbitrary, but rather is clearly based on you accomplishing certain things within the levels. It's different for every level and there is a button that tells you what you need to do in order to achieve all three stars. A welcome change over the 3-star system of old.

That being said, it shares some negative qualities with its older brother too. For one, the app is not optimized for the iPhone 5 and, considering just how much art is in a game like this, it makes me wonder if it ever will be. The game also has quite a few buttons that subtly entice you to pay for various hints and help within the levels.

The game is fun and enjoyable. There's tons to unlock and so Bad Piggies will probably keep you entertained for quite some time. Of course, the question is just how long. Angry Birds continues to get plenty of updates, but I think most would agree that the game has gotten stale. The same thing will eventually happen to Bad Piggies, no doubt. And when it does we'll all start looking for our next iOS game fix.

And the sick thing is that it will probably come from Rovio again.

Bad Piggies is $0.99 in the App Store and has TGC's stamp of approval.