True, but do you really want to kill those people? They don't even behave like people -- more like "statues that bleed".
> A huge difference is the controls. In CTC you aim by timing the release during the swing of the trebuchet. This is tricky
I'm not so sure. I find operating the trebuchet more intuitive / simple than pulling the sling in the right direction with the right amount of force to send the birds in the air.
BTW, birds fly; they don't need a sling to be airborne... Those "angry birds" are in fact chickens.
Chickens vs. pigs: a simple farm image that speaks to everyone and draws on childhood memories?
In addition, for my son I've found that the physics element in Angry Birds has helped build interest in other physics puzzles, including those that don't have as much flavor, such as Ragdoll Blaster.
A slight error in the timing of the trebuchet launch easily turns your shot into a complete miss.
Angry Birds does introduce timing later, with the various types of birds whose behavior changes with a tap while in flight, but that generally occurs when the bird is close to the target where a slight error usually doesn't completely waste the bird.
The net result is that in Angry Birds I feel like I'm spending most of my effort concentrating on how best to attack the puzzle of understanding the physics of the level so as to efficiently get through it. In CTC I'm concentrating on the reflex game of clicking at the right point in the trebuchet swing. The former is simply a much more engaging game.
PS: I disagree that CTC is not about killing the people. There are levels with people outside the castle. Take down the castle but leave some of those people alive, and the level is not over. Killing the people is the victory condition, so I'd say the game is about killing the people.