Tengami Brings The Pop-Up Book To Life In A Beautiful Way

Tengami ($4.99) by Nyamyam is a gorgeous point-and-click adventure that you definitely want to experience on your iPhone or iPad. Tengami’s pop-up book features an atmospheric world that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, and there are many secrets to discover for yourself.

Tengami is a game that we’ve been excited to get our hands on for quite some time now, especially after the game has gone through multiple delays due to bugs. But now that it is available, we couldn’t be happier to explore this beautiful pop-up world.

We’ve all had pop-up books as kids, I’m sure. But Tengami literally brings the pop-up book to life, with stunning visuals that look great on Retina screens. Seriously, I actually already fell in love with Tengami just from the icon sitting on my home screen — I had noticed that even the icon has a bit of depth to it, giving it a 3-D look, almost as if the shrine is “popping” out from the icon.

Then I launched the game, enjoyed the soothing title screen, and then dived in to the calm and serene pop-up world. Tengami has gone great lengths to bring the pop-up book to life, featuring textured paper backgrounds and interactive environments, as well as mixing in flat, 2-D characters in a 3-D world. I also found the soundtrack to be quite a delight too, and this is definitely something you want to relax with after a long day. It’s a point-and-click adventure that brings a sense of zen to your hectic life.

Tengami takes place in a Japanese pop-up book, and as you go through the various environments found within, you will learn about Japanese fairy tales that are told through the spectacular displays, complete with haunting music to fit the situation. Some of the environments that you’ll experience on the journey include dark forests, abandoned shrines, and tranquil mountain waterfalls, all of which look amazing. Seriously, this game is one of the most beautiful I’ve seen on iOS.

There are four different areas in Tengami, and you will find out that your goal is to restore life to a dying cherry tree. This is done by retrieving a cherry blossom fragment from each location, which is hidden, so you’ll have to solve the puzzles to make sure you get them.

The controls are quite simple as well. As you watch your character come to life, you tell him where to go by double-tapping on a spot in the book, and watch as he makes his way over. You will encounter interactive elements in the settings that will react to your movement, and it’s your job to solve the puzzles with them before you can advance. Players can swipe or tap on indicated elements to interact with them, such as activating switches, making wind-chimes move to create soothing music, and revealing stairs to get on another level of the book. To progress through the game, you will need to solve whatever puzzle is in front of you to reach the portal to take your character to the next page in the pop-up book.

I haven’t finished the game myself just yet, but I am hearing that the game is only a few hours, if you don’t get stuck on a puzzle for too long, of course. This is a point-and-click adventure that has quite engrossing puzzles, though most can be solved fairly quickly if you are just observant to your surroundings. Once you beat the game, there won’t be much reason to go back to it, unless you want to experience the serene journey again. There is also Game Center integration, but only for four achievements that are tied to progression in the story, so that isn’t going to add much to replay value.

Still, Tengami is definitely worth it for the presentation and experience alone. This is one of the most phenomenal games I’ve played so far this year, and the visuals and soundtrack make it worth the $5 price tag alone.

If you enjoy soothing point-and-click adventures, or just unique game experiences, then you need to pick up Tengami for yourself. You can get it in the App Store as a universal download for $4.99.