Catch My Berry: Physics Puzzle

What I can only describe as a limbless gerbil is dragging a cart full of strawberries up a hill. Unbeknownst to it is that a small boulder will make it drop the cartwheels and let loose all the strawberries down the hill, spreading along the road. Herein lies the premise of Catch My Berry, a rather suggestive title if you ask me.

The gerbil character (I forget its name, but you'll make acquaintance in level 5 or so) is totally incapable of moving. However it has a small hook on its forehead, and by the magic of finger swiping, it can attach itself to hanging hooks and dangle until you decide to cut the rope of hanging. Hey! this kind of reminds me of something... Yes, the similarities to Cut the Rope are fairly easy to spot. However, unlike Cut the Rope, Catch My Berry feels a little less polished in the gameplay category.

The levels require you to swing and cut your way towards the berry, catching one to three stars on the way, if possible. Stars are not required, but they increase score and also unlock special levels along the way. All seems fine as a concept, however the execution feels like the levels were rushed. The difficulty does not scale as you might expect. Levels seem to be random in their difficulty. This issue is enhanced by levels which are completely foolproof against failure to get the berry, but at the same time are insanely difficult if you also aim for the three stars.

Game elements include igniting bombs and activating fans. Bubbles also make an appearance and can trap the 'gerbil', raising it up unless anchored by the rope. Many game instances require you to quickly cut and re-attach the thing in record time. This is something I had a lot of difficulty doing, and made me suspect that I was trying to solve the puzzle in the wrong way - of which the hint system assured me I was not.

The game also has an energy system. Out of 20 berries you will loose one each time you start or re-start a level leaving you with no choice but to acquire more or wait for them to auto-regenerate. It's weird that they've chosen the same concept for the energy system as well as the level goal. It makes you think that finishing a level (getting the berry) also increases your counter, which it does not.

Catch My Berry seems to be an interesting twist on the Cut the Rope model. It's not a direct rip off, although it sometimes looks like it. However, I wish that the level designer would have put more effort in assuring a gradual increase in difficulty in regards to both the main goal (the berry) and the optional goals (stars). Other than that, I guess it's worth taking a shot at it.