Drawing a Line: Pigs in Trees Is Flight Control Meets Angry Birds. So What’s the Point?

I could write two slightly different reviews of Pigs in Trees, a new line-drawing game for iOS I was tasked by Unwinnable to take for a spin:

One review for those of you who’ve played Flight Control – and another for those of you who haven’t played Flight Control.

Ultimately, though, it would be pointless, since the bottom line would be the same in both: Pigs in Trees is a skip.

It’s not that Pigs in Trees is a bad game. It’s bright, cheery and probably great for kids. Still, it’s essentially Flight Control – with more than an obvious dash of Angry Birds thrown into it, from the level orientation and scoring schemes right down to the cutesy cartoon graphics and sound effects (albeit with the pigs taking some measure of revenge on the birds this time out).

Unlike Flight Control, your job in Pigs in Trees is to shoot down flying adversaries – specifically, woodpeckers – instead of land them. You do so by drawing lines from your pig-piloted aircraft to intersect them as they take aim at your home base – a cluster of trees – while picking up power-ups and scoring extra points on combos.

It’s a simple concept and would be praiseworthy were it at all original. Instead – although it does add some new distractions to keep you on your toes – it’s essentially a rehash of a game this reviewer has already played for hours and hours and hours and is subsequently sick to death of.

If you’re like me, you’d skip Pigs in Trees simply to avoid the same Flight Control gameplay you’d rather gouge your own eyes out than continue experiencing, with the added bonus of being reminded of Angry Birds – another game that can inspire self-mutilation at every turn.

But if you haven’t played Flight Control, or you’re busy playing it and are still engrossed by it, I can’t see any real reason to recommend Pigs in Trees as an alternative.

Sure, there’s probably technically more to do here, but as I dive-bombed into various types of winged creatures to keep them from nesting in my tree, I couldn’t help but wonder what the point was. And while I don’t think there’s much of a point to Flight Control either, I never once questioned that game.

Why?

I guess I was just too busy having fun.

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Follow Matt Marrone on Twitter @thebigm.