REVIEW: Cute Things Dying Violently

Cute Things Dying Violently – a title that truly speaks for itself. Cute Thing Dying Violently is a very entertaining puzzle game from ApathyWorks that plays somewhat to the tune of Angry Birds, but with much more blood.

The goal of Cute Things Dying Violently is to fling these adorable little fur balls over, under, and around several obstacles and make it safely into the doorway to complete the stages. These obstacles include buzzsaws, fire, spiked pits, electricity and much more that can (and will) kill your critters violently.

Unfortunately all of the critters can’t be saved, as some of them need to be sacrificed for the greater good of the group. Most of the levels have some sort of switch or obstacle that can only be overcome by killing off a critter or two, but you only need one of them to make it through the doorway to complete the stage. If you’re a little sadistic and want to see all of the critter kill possibilities you can always fling your extras into the buzzsaws, spikes, or fire. That brings us to the highlight of the game, which is the death animations. Toss a critter into the fire and watch him leap around while burning alive, watch as a critter falls into a buzzsaw as blood continues to spray across the level from the spinning blade. Cute Things Dying Violently is definitely a game for those of you who enjoy dark humor.

 

As mentioned before, Cute Things Dying Violently plays much like Angry Birds, using trajectory and angles to solve puzzles and make it to the exit. As you progress through the levels the difficulty ramps up, and the puzzles become a bit more brain-teasing each time. At the end of each of the six stages are bosses, which require less flinging around and more dodging attacks and luring the boss into traps using your lone critter.

One of the best features of Cute Things Dying Violently is the level editor. You can create as punishing and brutal of a level you want, with all the buzzsaws and fire your heart desires, and share it with other players via the Steam Workshop. There are no shortages of levels to play once you complete the main areas, as players are constantly adding new creations, as well as the Level of The Week.

The one minor blemish to Cute Things Dying Violently is the soundtrack, which consists of basically one looped tune that eventually will get on your nerves and ultimately mute the game. It also would have been entertaining to have some more noise out of the critters when they’re killed, but hey, maybe I’m just sick in the head.

All in all, Cute Things Dying Violently is a great casual puzzle game that can be played for 5 minutes at a time or hours on end. The level editor alone is entertaining enough to justify its value of $3.29 on Steam, and is also available on mobile as well.

Cute Things Dying Violently Steam code was provided by ApathyWorks