Angry Birds may not have been the first game to define the physics puzzler but it’s certainly the most popular. Angry Birds has become one of the most well known games in the world, and its franchise now branches out to the likes of toys, candy, and even a theme park in China.
The game has also spawned a number of spin-off titles as well as a true sequel: Angry Birds Space, which takes the core gameplay mechanics of Angry Birds and adds planets into the mix.
The heart of Angry Birds’ success lies within its addictive physics puzzles, which have players sending flocks of angry birds to their deaths against a legion of green pigs, hidden behind structures, to rescue their stolen eggs. The more you destroy, and the less birds you send to die determine the score you’ll receive for completing each level.
In this article, we take a look at 8 other Angry Birds-like games which not only manage to deliver great physics puzzles, but are equally as good. Each of these games can be played on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.
In what could be best described as “angry cars”, Trucks and Skulls is an explosive physics-based puzzle game for the iOS that has players sending nitro-burning monster trucks into piles of laughing skulls. The game borrows its aesthetic from the monster truck madness ads of the mid-90s and pulls off the whole ‘extreme’ ridiculousness with aplomb.
Download here.
Zombie Smash (and Zombie Smash HD) places you in the role of a human survivor who must survive the zombie apocalypse and withstand invasions by the undead. In order to do so, you’ll have to click their heads until they explode and deploy an arsenal of weapons to clear them from the map, thereby preventing them from reaching your house and killing you.
Download here.
Pirates vs Ninjas vs Zombies vs Pandas takes just about everything we love about, well, everything, and has each of them collide in an explosion of death and mayhem. The game is a physics based puzzler which involves shooting things to collapse structures to remove enemy units from the map. To avoid direct comparisons to Angry Birds, you’ll have to partake in each faction’s campaign and avoid shooting members of your own faction.
Download here.
Pigs may have a bad reputation from their role in Angry Birds. In the game, players take on the role of Hambo, a Rambo-like hog who has to clear each level of its offending bad guys, or in this case, bad pigs. Like Angry Birds, the game is entirely physics based. You have to push Hambo around the map by destroying scenery and nudging him forwards through the use of other objects to put you in a good position to shoot the enemies.
Download here.
Saving Private Sheep may look like it owes much of its physics puzzles to Angry Birds, but it’s a wholly different experience. The game is simple: you control an army of sheep armed with catapults to fire hedgehogs at a fox who’s trying to eat Private Sheep. As the wily fox hides himself behind a variety of barriers, you’ll have to cleverly aim your hedgehogs and use your surroundings to get to him by having them ricochet off the walls. If you’re skilled enough, you can even rescue Private Sheep without sacrificing any of your hedgehogs.
Download here.
In World of Goo, the objective of the game is to get as many Goo balls as possible into the next level. These Goo balls are capable of being built into structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins, and giant tongues, which you must use (or sacrifice, really) so that the other goo balls may proceed to the end.
Download here.
Aiko Island is a game in which you have to preserve Blue Aikos while removing Red Aikos from the screen by clicking on them with your finger. This physics-based puzzle game will have you earning cookies as you do your best to make sure the Red Aikos get none of it. The game will challenge your mind as much as it provides a workout for your thumbs.
Download here.
Worms 2: Armageddon is, as the name suggests, the sequel to Worms, which was made by Team 17 almost two decades ago. Before there was Angry Birds, Gunbound, or any other title, Worms came first. The iOS version of the game has the full selection of weapons from all the other Worms games, as well as customizable game types, worm health, hats, and so forth. The artwork has been completely redone to fit the high definition displays within iOS devices.
Just as well, Worms 2: Armageddon for the iOS comes replete with asynchronous play so two or more players can go at it on the same iPad.
Download here.
