Secret Exit have struck gold with their latest release - Zen Bound. SPiN was an inspired title, and even though the basic gameplay is roughly comparable, Zen Bound stands out (and even surpasses SPiN) through it's superlative 20 minute Ghost Monkey soundtrack, realistic physics, challenging objects, lush 3D environments and intuitive controls. It's absolutely worth it's £2.99 price tag, and then some. Publisher Chillingo must be thrilled to have this game on their roster, and we can see why.

At it's core, the game is about painting wooden shapes by wrapping a rope around them - binding the paint to the object. It's a concept that's fresh and innovative - and therefore, awesome. And that's no small thanks to Zen Bound's clever use of the iPhone's control inputs. Wrapping a shape is a flick of a finger in the right direction, and you can rotate said shape using two fingers. Finally, the accelerometer provides the rope's direction, and you can rotate your iPhone around until you find just the right angle to fill that narrow gap. It works incredibly well - and soon you'll find yourself weaving threads through extremely narrow nooks and crannies with ease.

Wrapping objects up is all well and good, but the phenomenal presentation is what really makes this game stand out. It has probably the best 3D yet on iPhone, combined with extremely realistic physics makes for an incredibly real experience. The soundtrack itself was designed for the game, and it's ambient soundscapes, bells and chimes will send you into a Zen like state. Of course.

Naturally because this is a game, there are challenges to be met. You will find that each object has 3 levels of completion - 70%, 85% and 99% - and completing each one of these will cause the stage's flowers to blossom on the level tree. Doing this unlocks more levels, and there are 51 objects in total to wrap - with more to come in a future update. The level trees look beautiful in their tranquil surroundings - they feel very oriental.

The difficulty of Zen Bound is actually quite tough once you progress deeper into the game - 70% usually is pretty easy, but because you have limited rope length, if you waste too much you won't get much further. You can be caught out with the rope limit, because you can't leave the object in free space - you must break the rope on the finishing nail. And so that makes this a game that does take patience and skill to complete, which is a great thing.

Titles like Zen Bound blur the distinction between games and art - in fact, it could be argued that Zen Bound is art with challenges just thrown in there. Whatever it is, we know it's one of the most outstanding puzzle games on the Store right now. Just go and buy it.

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More by this developer

Zen Bound 2, A

Review by Ben Briggs, June 07, 2010

SPiN, A

Review by Ben Briggs, January 03, 2009

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