If you’ve finished Cut the Rope, start with the rest of ZeptoLab’s own series: Experiments, Time Travel, Cut the Rope 2 and Magic are all free, and Cut the Rope 3 is on Apple Arcade. Outside the series, the closest matches are Where’s My Water? (route water instead of candy), Brain It On! and Shatterbrain (draw shapes to solve physics problems), and Poly Bridge 3 (build something that has to hold).
What people usually want from a Cut the Rope alternative is the same feel: a short, self-contained physics problem with one clean solution you can see once you spot it. Everything below is checked against App Store listing data from September 2026.
The rest of the Om Nom series #
ZeptoLab has kept every entry on the store and updates most of them, which makes this the easiest place to start.
| Game | Released | Last update | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cut the Rope: Experiments | Feb 2012 | Aug 2026 | Free |
| Cut the Rope: Time Travel | Dec 2013 | Aug 2026 | Free |
| Cut the Rope 2: Om Nom’s Quest | Jan 2016 | Jul 2026 | Free |
| Cut the Rope: Magic | Jun 2017 | Jul 2026 | Free |
| Cut the Rope 3 | Oct 2023 | Apr 2024 | Apple Arcade |
Experiments adds a suction cup you can place yourself, which changes the puzzles more than it sounds. Time Travel splits each level in two and asks you to feed two Om Noms at once. Cut the Rope 2 takes Om Nom out of his box and adds sidekicks that each change the rules. Magic turns him into different creatures with different abilities. Cut the Rope 3 is the newest and lives on Apple Arcade, so it has no ads or purchases but needs the $6.99-a-month subscription.
If you only play one more, make it Time Travel. The two-candy structure is the biggest genuine change to the formula.
Puzzles with one clean solution #
Where’s My Water? #
The closest thing to Cut the Rope outside ZeptoLab. Instead of cutting ropes you dig channels through dirt, and gravity carries water down to Swampy’s shower. Same rhythm: look, see the answer, execute it in one move. Disney’s original costs $1.99 and hasn’t been updated since July 2023. Where’s My Water? 2 is free, now published by Kongregate, and was updated in August 2025.
Wrong for you if: you want a game that’s still being maintained. Check your OS version against the listing before buying the first one.
Thinkrolls #
Avokiddo’s series is Cut the Rope’s logic with training wheels, aimed at ages 2 to 8 and rated 4+. You roll a character through mazes full of physics obstacles: heavy blocks, fire, ice, elastic. Thinkrolls 1 and 2 are $5.99 each, and Thinkrolls: Fun Kids Games 2-8 is a free bundle that was updated in September 2026.
Wrong for you if: you’re not buying for a child. The difficulty ramps gently and stops well short of the later Om Nom boxes.
Puzzles with many solutions #
Brain It On! #
You draw shapes with your finger and they drop into the level as real objects. Tip the ball into the cup, hold the platform up, knock the block off. Almost every puzzle has several answers, and part of the fun is finding an ugly one that works. Free, rated 4+, updated July 2026.
Shatterbrain #
Same developer, same drawing mechanic, but the goal is usually breaking something rather than balancing it. Free and rated 4+.
Wrong for either: if you liked Cut the Rope for its polish and cartoons, these are much plainer. The puzzles carry them.
Build-it puzzles #
Poly Bridge 3 #
Free since September 2024 and still updated. You build a bridge on a budget and then watch a truck try to cross it. Where Cut the Rope asks for one precise cut, this asks for a design that survives a test, which is a slower, more experimental kind of satisfaction.
Bad Piggies #
Rovio’s contraption builder. You bolt motors, wings, fans and rockets onto a frame and try to get a pig to the goal without the whole thing coming apart. More than 200 levels, free with ads and purchases, last updated November 2024.
If you want to launch things instead #
Kitty Kaboom #
Cut the Rope is about releasing something and letting gravity do the rest. Kitty Kaboom starts from the other end: you supply the speed with a slingshot, and gravity bends the arc from there. You launch cats at robot vacuums standing on towers of cardboard, wood, glass, brick, metal, soap and battery packs, and the puzzle is spotting which single piece is holding the whole thing up.
The part that will feel familiar to Om Nom players is the scoring. Three stars go to anyone who clears the level with half their cats or fewer, so a messy solution and an elegant one score very differently. Six of the seven cats also have a power you tap mid-flight, which turns each level into a question of which tool fits: the explosion, the split into three kittens, the straight-down slam, the yowl that shatters every glass block in range, the dash, or the magnet.
Free with ads, no in-app purchases, 60 levels and a daily challenge.
Wrong for you if: you specifically liked the gentle, no-aim nature of Cut the Rope. This one needs a steady finger, and there’s a banner ad on screen while you play.
Smash Hit #
Free, rated 4+, and pure glass-breaking. Not a puzzle at all, but it scratches the same “watch the physics resolve” itch in a completely different way.
How to pick #
- You want more of the same: Cut the Rope: Time Travel, then Cut the Rope 2.
- You want a new mechanic with the same rhythm: Where’s My Water?
- You want puzzles with several answers: Brain It On! or Shatterbrain.
- You want no ads or purchases: Cut the Rope 3 on Apple Arcade, or a paid game like Thinkrolls.
- You want something for a young child: Thinkrolls, or see physics puzzle games for kids.
Our wider list is in best physics puzzle games, and if you want to understand why any of these behave the way they do, how physics games work explains the engine underneath.
Frequently asked questions #
How many Cut the Rope games are there? #
Six on the App Store: the original Cut the Rope: Physics Puzzle, Experiments, Time Travel, Cut the Rope 2, Magic, and Cut the Rope 3 on Apple Arcade. All but the last are free with in-app purchases.
Is Cut the Rope still being updated? #
Yes. The main game was updated in February 2026, and Experiments, Time Travel, Cut the Rope 2 and Magic all had updates in mid-2026. Cut the Rope 3 was last updated in April 2024.
Does Cut the Rope work offline? #
Its App Store description says you can “Play offline anywhere, anytime.” The ads and any rewarded bonuses need a connection, but the levels don’t.
What game is most like Cut the Rope? #
Where’s My Water? is the closest in structure: a single physical action per level, gravity doing the rest, and a character waiting at the end. Brain It On! is closest in spirit if you liked experimenting.
Are there games like Cut the Rope with no ads? #
Cut the Rope 3 on Apple Arcade has none, because Arcade titles can’t carry ads or purchases. The paid Thinkrolls games have none either.