Review: TanZen Vs. Tangram Puzzle Pro

TanZen v1.4.6 | Published by Craig Kemper | Via App Store | $.99 | Released: 12-08-08 Tangram Puzzle Pro v1.11 | Published by The Embassy Visual Effects Inc. | Via App Store | FREE | Released: 12-05-08 Overview For those uncultured readers, the Tangram is an ancient Chinese game that involves arranging 7 geometric pieces into a shape. Odds are you’ve played it at least once in your life- and if you download either of these games- you’ll be playing a whole lot more because both feature over 350 puzzles. Look at the colorful pictures below! TanZen

Tangram Puzzle Pro

Features The two games work very similarly. You’re given a silhouette pattern and you place the 7 pieces on it. You tap a piece to select it. Once the piece is selected a ring appears around the piece. Dragging the ring in any direction will rotate the piece. In Tanzen, if you double-tap the piece it will produce a mirror image. That feature is missing from Tangram Puzzle Pro, but seriously, it saves half a second if you’re just doing it to rotate a triangle. (And if you’re measuring your life in microseconds, then you’ve got bigger problems to be concerned with.) The only piece you’ll need to flip is the parallelogram. Since you can’t flip them in TPP, I have to assume that all puzzles can be solved with the current direction of the parallelogram. I've done well over 40 puzzles and it hasn’t been an issue.

You align your pieces on the pattern without overlapping. When you have them all in the correct place, you’re done. Take a bow. Now you’re free to start a new puzzle. It’s a simple game but it does take some foresight. If you need a hint, TanZen has your back. Double-tap the pattern and the game will show you where a piece goes. You can get two hints per game. Tangram Pro currently offers no hints. I respect that. But - I also expect that to change after enough people complain about the puzzles being “too hard.” (Fact: They’re not.) Breakdown The Good: TanZen is played in landscape and the pieces can be found in the upper corners. When you want to start the puzzle over, shake your phone and pieces go back to where they are. Nifty. If you’re the type of person who can’t complete anything, then you’ll love the fact that you can save your progress on multiple puzzles at once.

Tangram Pro forces you to deal with your commitment issues and allows you to save only one puzzle at a time. I respect that. The design is a little different. The instead of blue or green pieces like TanZen, Tangram’s pieces have a wooden texture that’s very comforting. I like the fact that the pieces snap into place on the puzzle, even if sometimes it’s not exactly where you wanted it. The Bad: TanZen leaves a lot of gaps between pieces, and it’s easier to accidentally overlap them. Small gripe, but it had to be said. (Sure, it’s more realistic, but if I wanted realism, I probably wouldn’t be playing the game on my iPhone.) Another small complaint is that sometimes after moving a piece, I’d go to move another, but it was within the ring of the last piece- so instead of selecting the other piece like I wanted, it would rotate or move the piece I had just moved. And that’s annoying. Not rush hour traffic in LA annoying-more like a Jeff Dunham comedy special annoying. With Tangram, I’m not thrilled about the pieces being hidden in a popup menu. I don’t like having to take the extra step of opening it and bringing them onto the game board. I prefer having them all laid out there in front of me. Why hide them? Just to cater to the folk who like to take things one piece at a time. I’ll never understand those kinds of people. They’re the same people who do the edges first in a jigsaw puzzle. Come on people, structure is overrated!

Back to the “bad.” Tangram Pro plays some annoying music during your game that can quickly be turned off in the options. Don’t worry; turning off the music won’t mute the gong sound when you complete a puzzle. And that sound really makes you feel accomplished. Verdict I’m not going to lie to you. Both of these games are a lot of fun. You’d be making a wise purchase with either, (and since Tangram Pro is currently free, and there’s a free version of TanZen, you really can’t lose). Or you can do what I did and get them both. Then you’ll have 700+ puzzles to do. That’s what I call value. TanZen Usability: 4/5 Value: 5/5 Entertainment: 3/5 Aesthetics: 3/5 Overall Rating: 3.75/5 Tangram Puzzle Pro Usability: 4/5 Value: 5/5 Entertainment: 3/5 Aesthetics: 3/5 Overall Rating: 3.75/5

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