Crazy Penguin Catapult

Crazy Penguin Catapult is a fun, casual game featuring a variety of challenging levels. Each level consists of two distinct phases: first, you must use a catapult—adjusting both angle and power—to launch penguins into windows set within walls. Once inside, the penguins use their innate jumping ability to smash through obstacles and defeat polar bears, aiming to earn a three-star rating. As you progress, the levels become increasingly difficult; you’ll need to put your wits to the test by leveraging the various mechanisms scattered throughout the environment. You can even use your initial launches to scout the terrain, paving the way for a decisive final shot that secures your ultimate victory.

Gameplay of Crazy Penguin Catapult:

Each level has two stages: the first sees the player try to use a catapult to fling penguins through a gap in the wall. Those that make it through are then brought into stage two, which has the player drop the penguins into an area filled with polar bears, the aim being to knock each of them out using the diving penguins. Polar bears are usually found hiding behind ice block structures, which penguins may have to break through with their bouncy bodies. Each penguin has a limited number of bounces.

The intro cutscene, much like the later Angry Birds', shows polar bears who have kidnapped and caged several penguins. Given player's performance, the number of beaten bears attain up to 3 stars in each mission, which can eventually unlock permanent upgrades, like fire rings which put penguins on flames to melt through ice, rubber penguins upgrade which gives two more bounces, or twins, triplets and quadruplets, which add up to the total number of catapultable penguins. At the end of each of three sections of the world is a boss fight against a bear with more health points than a usual one.

Achievements of Crazy Penguin Catapult:

Amusing Injuries: Fail to properly launch a penguin into the level, and they'll end up squashed against the wall/ground/ceiling in an awkward pose.

Checkpoint Starvation: The Flash version doesn't save, not even after a boss fight. Lose a level once and it's back to the very beginning, which is cruel when you have 60 levels to complete.

Death Throws: Each penguin salutes once it stops and falls offscreen.

Evil Laugh: Two bears are seen laughing at a beaten penguin in the game over screen.

The End... Or Is It?: The game over screen shows a beaten up penguin next to bears, with the caption above reading "Game Over... Or is it?"

Polar Bears and Penguins: Both polar bears and penguins show up in this game fighting each other.

The Snack Is More Interesting: Some of the bears are just eating from a snack bowl, not interested in penguins hitting the other ones.

Trial-and-Error Gameplay: Mission 3 introduces the penguins hanging from above the catapult, rather than swinging from side to side. It's hard to tell when you're supposed to launch them until you find out the hard way that they hit the ceiling and don't fly out when they're high.

Player Comments of Crazy Penguin Catapult:

It's funny how people ascribe different personalities to animals. For instance, polar bears are always evil, and so are sea lions and sharks. Dogs are friendly, but their close relations, wolves, are not. Dolphins are happy and mischievous, elephants are a bit clumsy but smart, and penguins like nothing more than to play all day.

Hence the latter's appearance in films (and games) like Happy Feet, where they dance, or Surf's Up, where they get around on surf boards. Presumably the penguins' playful reputation stems from their fondness for diving, as well as their frolics under water. But, hey, they're only doing it so they can munch the heads off fish. That's the bit everyone seems to ignore.

Anyway, Crazy Penguin Catapult is the latest game to choose the flightless birds as its fun-loving animal stars. Not that they're having too much fun here – in a quest to rescue their kidnapped penguin pals from the (evil) polar bears, their only hope is to catapult themselves at the unsuspecting vicious mammals in order to knock them out. (Readers, don't write to tell us polar bears live in the North Pole and penguins in the South – tell publisher Digital Chocolate.)

Each of the levels in the main Campaign game are split into two sections: there's the catapulting part and the diving part. To start with, your helmet-wearing penguins line up and take turns at the catapult, where pressing '5' fires them forwards.

It's not quite as simple as it sounds, though. There's a sweet spot that propels your penguins through a speed ring, making the subsequent diving segment a lot more effective. If you get it completely wrong, a penguin can end up splattered into the ice, meaning you lose one dive opportunity at the bears – which can prove costly.

So, once you've finished the firing, the game cuts to one penguin at a time flying though the air like a black and white torpedo. In this segment, pressing '5' now instigates a dive that needs to be activated at the right point above a polar bear in order to successfully hit it.

Adding a little complexity is the fact each penguin has a limited number of bounces, too, so if your dive is timed right you can take down several bears in one go. To further complicate things, ice occasionally gets in the way and needs to be smashed through to reach the bear beneath it. Resorting to specialised penguins, such as the flaming kind, ensure a more efficient way of getting through the ice, although if you've run out there are also switches on some levels which detonate the obstructions.

Every level is different, with a target number of polar bears to take out in order to progress. Even if you successfully pass a level, though, you can go back to it later to try and win full points. You'll want to in order to make the game last longer – played from start to finish, it's possible to get through it in just half an hour.

Summary:

Crazy Penguin Catapult suits players looking for short, simple play on a phone. It focuses on quick action and clear outcomes, so you get instant feedback. As a result, it works well when you only have a few minutes. It is designed for Android devices and is easy to set up on phones and tablets. For users who prefer APK files, the Crazy Penguin APK provides a direct way to get started.