Zenge Game Review
Most modern puzzle games are heavily involved in logic/deduction/ critical thinking. Some of them are so difficult that the average person cannot complete them without looking for a guide. At the other end of the spectrum, zen games have a more relaxed approach. Play a game, relax and enjoy the sights and sounds.
Zenge lies between the two extremes. It has puzzles to solve, but it is designed to be completed. It is not completely brainless, but it is far from stressful.
Zenge (Android [rated], iPhone, PC)
Developer: Hamster on Coke Games
Publisher: Hamster on Coke Games
Released: April 13, 2016
List price: $ 0.99
Zenge looks a bit like a classic sliding block puzzle, like the one in the Professor Layton games. There are blocks, there are set destinations for those blocks, and how are you moving the blocks to get them to their destination. The big difference is in the way the pieces move: they are attached to freeform tracks instead of being limited to a grid.
It starts simply, with a clear movement - before - those interactions, but in the course of the 70 levels, it introduces new mechanisms that prevent it from feeling old. It didn't take long, Zenge introduces sticky pieces, portals, switches and tools for reflection, rotation and widening of the blocks. It is like a mini-geometry lesson without annoying numbers.
The progression is cleverly implemented, with every new skill wordlessly introduced into a simple task before being used in more complex puzzles. However, the difficulty never rises beyond the medium. I never felt superfluous for the process, but I never felt challenged.
The reason that Hamster kept the difficulty low on cola is the desire to tell a story. Each time a puzzle is completed, an image is unlocked that acts as a textless comic book page. The artwork is on the simplistic side, but it is colourful and cute.
Zenge is at its best when the puzzle and the resulting image meet in a non-trivial way. One image shows the faceless protagonist riding the blocks that have just been used to complete the puzzle. Later, a puzzle involves opening a gate and moving the figure through it, with the image revealing the aftermath of that action.
Other times it is not perfectly implemented. I often found myself shooting through puzzles so quickly that I would skip the artwork out of impatience. Instead of dwelling on the story, I would go to the next puzzle as quickly as possible so that I could do something again. Fortunately, the story is played as a slide show after completion of the last level, so that full attention can be paid to it.
That said, the story is fine. Neither the story nor the delivery is particularly fascinating, but it is cute enough. The same can be said for gameplay; it's not bad, but usually, it feels like a little entertaining busy work.
There are a few short moments in Zenge that shine, but most of the time it's just a reasonable puzzle game.
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