Review: Zentomino - Zenful Block Slotting
by Allan Curtis
October 2, 2010
Overview
Ah Zen, that peaceful feeling of tranquility. While Zentomino doesn't feature gardens, soft waterfalls, or inner peace, it delivers a fun logic based block slotting experience.
You are presented with an empty shape and you use a collection of 13 movable pieces to fill that shape, flipping and rotating the blocks so they will fit.
Features
Zentomino features interesting logic based gameplay and a massive collection of 225 puzzles, including objects like mugs and animals. Game Center is supported with achievements.
The Good
Zentomino is a logic based puzzler. You start off with an empty shape and 12 pieces, rather like Tetris blocks. The idea is to use your pieces and insert them into the shape in such a way that you fill the whole outline. You can rotate and flip your pieces and drag them around freely.
This simple but compelling idea is perfectly suited to puzzle over whenever you have a free few minutes, as it takes seconds to learn and the game resumes where you left off if you close it. Not all pieces are used in every puzzle, so there is also an option to only show the pieces needed to solve the puzzle if you want to make things easier for yourself. There is also a hint feature that shows where a random piece should go if you're really stuck.
Zentomino features a large collection of puzzles. They run the gamut from standard shapes like circles and squares to more imaginative and interesting shapes such as faces, animals, every day objects, letters and symbols, such as hearts. Since the game's release it has been constantly updated with more puzzles. Little White Bear Studios is committed to continuing to add more puzzles, so there will always be more content for you to enjoy.
Zentomino's presentation suits its Zen like name. It features calm music and soft colors making it pleasing to look at and interact with. Little White Bear plans to add more skins to pieces, so in the future you will be able to customize the game's look as well. Game Center integration is included, with achievements up for grabs. More achievements are planned in future updates.
The Bad
Zentomino does features a large collection of puzzles, but once those are done the game features nothing else to do. Still it is a lot of game for only $0.99 and with updates adding more puzzles its unlikely you'll be starved for more puzzles. Zentomino only features one music track and little sound effects. More songs would be nice, as it gets repetitive quite quickly.
The Verdict
Zentomino is a fun, brain stretching puzzle game for a bargain price. It features a lot of content and is well suited for anyone wanting a cerebral challenge to play. Highly recommended!
