Bad Piggies

APP OF THE WEEK:3 cert, Rovio, iPad (also iPhone, iPod Touch, Android, Mac, PC) ****

The sort-of sequel/spin-off to one of the biggest-selling app games of all time, Bad Piggies continues the Angry Birds saga, this time giving a sympathetic voice to the alleged villains. (Hey, they do it in literature all the time.) Nicely different from its forebear, Bad Piggies asks players to travel to a certain point in each level by any means available.

These forms of transport are constructed piece by piece. Sometimes they’re one piece, such as a TNT box (echoing the catapult in Angry Birds), but more often they’re makeshift contraptions that look like a Wright Brothers aircraft or a go-kart from The Little Rascals. In each level you have a finite number of specific parts and slots.

Bad Piggies is more benevolent than its feathered friend, but lacks the gratification of Angry Birds’ explosions. It’s also more of an acquired taste than its avian predecessor, but it’s still undeniably addictive, funny and cute.