The App Store is just feeling so nostalgic these days. First we get a sequel to Fragger ($0.99)in Fragger 2 ($0.99) last month, which I also reviewed, and this month we get a sequel to another IP from 4 years ago. That IP is Drop the Chicken. The original can’t be found on the App Store anymore, but thankfully the original developers at AppinTheBox have brought us a sequel that tops it in every way imaginable, bringing Chuck the Chicken into modern times. Drop the Chicken 2 (Free)is the name of the game, and it is anything but lame. No, I don’t know why I felt the need to rhyme just now. Jeez, get off my case about it.

Chuck the Chicken is really, really good at falling. He spent the entire first game falling. And bouncing, and being shot out of cannons, and what have you. He’s so good at it, in fact, that when he falls out of an airplane with his girlfriend Henrietta, he’s immediately captured by an evil monkey ring master of an all animal circus. Now he has to be a bad enough dude to save his girlfriend as he’s painfully dropped through level after level of performances. 100 levels in 5 stages, to be perfectly clear, with more levels coming soon and 5 bonus levels and Easter Eggs to find.

Essentially this is a Rube Goldberg physics puzzler, not unlike Cut the Rope ($0.99)and similar titles, just with a different way of interacting. You move and place objects around the environment, pull the lever on Chuck, and try to launch him through the level to the landing pool. A lot of the same basic mechanics come back from the first game, such as trampolines, planks, and cannons, avoiding fire, bombs and other hazards, and being asked to catch every fly in a level for a perfect score. The new mechanics all fit the new circus performance theme in some way. It feels less arbitrary than in the first game, which took place in barns.

Now, I wanted to download the original for a refresher, but as it’s no longer available, I couldn’t. So I’ll avoid comparing the two and just talk about how much fun I had and what’s all available. Objects include magnets that pull you, blow horns that push you, sliding ropes, balloons that will carry you straight up for a while before popping, portals, and more. Some of the more interesting new additions involve other animals. There are monkey trapeze artists and elephants balancing on giant rubber balls. The elephants are absurdly round, and moving left and right as they balance, meaning you’ll need to time when you hit them to determine where you bounce. You’ll also have to avoid bears riding unicycles and throwing boomerangs along with plain old vicious lions.

One of the mechanics that I can’t recall being in the first game is the time freeze, which shows up in the magic show stage. As Chuck is passing through this hourglass, you can tap it to freeze time and move objects around mid-fall. These puzzles added a whole new layer of depth, skill, and also frustration. Now every time you move the objects, you have to reset them to their original positions yourself. The puzzle designs account for this, and mostly don’t require anything too precise, but it is a bit tedious. On that note, if you’re trying to get every fly in a level, and you set things up nearly perfectly, ending up in the pool getting two out of three for example, the level will end and you’ll have to replace everything. Not a huge deal, again, but a minor annoyance. Maybe the game should ask you if you’d like to continue when you hit that pool, or try again.

Some levels have some pretty ridiculous solutions. As with many puzzlers, the difficulty is a bit all over the place. It’s so satisfying when you know exactly where everything needs to be placed and you nail it on a first try. It’s also satisfying when you knock your head against a brick wall for a while trying to crack the code. If you get really stuck, or you’re just curious about the best possible solution, you can use the Helping Hands. When used on any one object, these will place the object exactly where it’s supposed to go. You can use this on one object as a kind of hint, or on every object to basically have the level solve itself. These are the main IAP in the game, and you get 20 complimentary Helping Hands to start with. The other IAP are for level and stage unlocks. If you’d rather not rack up stars for unlocks or if you get stuck, you can just buy access to any level and skip around. Other than these optional purchases, this is a totally premium game with no ads or any funny business.

This is a really solid game, guys. It was a labor of love between 2 developers for 2 years, and it shows. There is a lot of great variety to the puzzles, and the art is super colorful and really pops. Chuck has definitely made it to the modern App Store in style. The animations are all well done and pretty funny, along with the text you’ll read after every level. Chicken related puns abound. As a nice added touch, if you beat every single level, including as of yet unreleased ones, you get a code which you can use to print an official certificate of accomplishment from the Drop the Chicken website. If you like puzzles, chickens, or Rube Goldberg machines, this one is worth a look.