Top iPad Game Apps: Cut the Rope: Experiments Leads in Debut Week

[In this weekly column, Gamasutra rounds up the most popular paid and free iPad gaming applications on the App Store as of today, with Cut the Rope: Experiments, Infinity Blade and Underground Basketball currently ranking among the platform's top downloads.] This week's top paid titles are: 1. Cut the Rope: Experiments HD ($1.99) 2. Angry Birds HD ($4.99) 3. Angry Birds Seasons HD ($1.99) 4. Angry Birds Rio HD ($2.99) 5. Fruit Ninja HD ($2.99) 6. Flight Control HD ($0.99) 7. Cut the Rope HD ($1.99) 8. Shift 2 Unleashed for iPad ($0.99) 9. Infinity Blade ($2.99) 10. Scrabble for iPad ($3.99) ZeptoLab's Cut the Rope sequel Cut the Rope: Experiments takes top honors in its first week of release, fending off competition from Halfbrick's Fruit Ninja, Firemint's Flight Control, and a trio of Angry Birds releases from Rovio. Sid Meier's Pirates drops out of the top ten after claiming second place last week, meanwhile, as Shift 2 Unleashed and Infinity Blade return to the charts after recent discounts. Here are this week's top free iPad applications: 1. Underground Basketball 2. Mr Giggle HD Lite 3. Mahjong Towers Touch HD 4. Angry Birds HD Free 5. Cordy 6. Mr Giggle 2 HD Lite 7. Angry Birds Rio HD Free 8. Panda Revenge HD 9. FireWorks Ninja HD 10. Rows 3D for iPad Lite AlphaWeb's physics-driven basketball title Underground Basketball finishes as today's most-downloaded free iPad app, beating former chart leader Mr Giggle HD Lite. Big Fish Games takes third with its recently released Mahjong Towers Touch HD, as Pixeltin's Rows 3D for iPad sees a drop in popularity that lands it at tenth place.