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The launch of a new action/adventure game is often heralded with phrases such as “truly immersive world” or “unique gameplay experience”, fans of the genre are bombarded with titles that promise to captivate but often fall short of the marketing hype. Zen Bound is a truly immersive world and it has some of the most original gameplay you will encounter on any platform, and to top it all off…it’s a puzzle game.
The objective in Zen Bound is to wrap various wooden or stone totems in a piece of string in a way that covers the object, using as little of the string as possible. The totems themselves represent different challenges in their geometry, for example the coiled snake is harder to wrap than the relatively straightforward sitting dog. Paint is applied where the string touches the totem and the stage is completed when a certain percentage of the totem is coloured. There are no time constraints and no set way to complete a stage, Zen Bound is about meditative thinking and experimenting rather than checking off objectives.
What makes Zen Bound so enjoyable is just how tactile the totems feel. One finger will spin the figure while two fingers will rotate it, tilting the iPhone will subtly change the angle of the string and by using a combination of these techniques it’s possible to approach the levels in many different ways.
The quality of the presentation in Zen Bound is exceptionally high. A charming example of this is the level select screen; tags hanging from a spiralling tree represent the stages themselves with blossoming flowers signifying each stage’s level of completion. The sound design is some of the best you will hear in a video game, wistful bass driven melodies coupled with some very subtle sound effects accompanying you on your journey towards enlightenment.
Zen Bound has a very refined style but still holds up as the finest graphics found on Apple’s handheld. The diffused lighting embellishes the feeling of working by lantern light and even the sparse backdrops have individual attention to detail that changes as you progress through the stages.
Zen Bound so unassumingly draws you into its beautiful world of totems and lanterns that it’s very easy to lose many hours in gaming reverie. Wrapping objects in string may seem like a tremendously dull concept, but it’s hard to do Zen Bound justice on paper. This game breathes ingenuity and individuality on a scale that hasn’t been seen on the iPhone. Check it out and you won’t be disappointed.
