Tag: Zen bound »

Zen Bound 2 came out on the Mac and PC via Steam a few days ago, and to celebrate the launch, the original Zen Bound is free in the App Store for a limited time.

What? You say you already have Zen Bound? Well, not really. This new version of Zen Bound is being self published by Secret Exit and isn't attached to Chillingo in any way. After Chillingo was bought out by EA, a number of developers, most notably Rovio (Angry Birds), have left the Chillingo brand to self publish.

"The average customer tends to associate the publisher brand strongly with the game, leaving the developers into a situation where they are not known for their work. Even when the publisher plays fair and makes certain the developer is mentioned, this message has diminished reach beyond the eyes and ears of the industry." said Secret Exit's Jani Kahrama. "Certainly the change in publisher ownership brought an element of uncertainty into the whole matter, and having your game associated with a thirdparty was not what we considered to be in our best interests."

With this new release, the previous version of Zen Bound will not be updated anymore, so if you are interested in future updates to the App Store classic, it is imperative that you download the new version (again, it's free).

As for the Steam version of Zen Bound 2, it has been optimized for large HD screens (Secret Exit says that it looks good on a 100" projector), with improved textures, lighting, and shaders. The Mac version also supports multi-touch for the laptop trackpad or the Magic Trackpad, so experienced Zen Bound-ers should feel right at home with this new, larger version.

Zen Bound from Secret Exit on the iPhone was the most beautiful mobile game we've ever seen. So I'm just going to go ahead and call this -- Zen Bound 2 is the most beautiful iPad game available. Definitely the most beautiful we'll see at launch. Possibly the most beautiful we'll ever see.

While the game itself is more than peculiar, it's a wonderful puzzle game. As a matter of fact it's amazingly fun. The goal is to cover a 3D piece of some kind with a rope that has been soaked in paint. When the rope touches the piece, it spreads paint to the object. Cover the object in paint before the rope runs out. Inventive, amazing, and eye-poppingly beautiful.

We got a chance to see a near final build at GDC this year, running in the simulator. It's the same gameplay we know and love from Zen Bound, but there's more to love. Not only are there nearly nine times the beautiful pixels of this game, there are some new game play mechanics to enjoy. All in all, Zen Bound will be the app to show-off the iPad. Luscious textures, amazing lighting effects, and gorgeous colors.

Take a look at this example screen shot and more after the jump. Amazing!

Secret Exit recently lowered the price of both Zen Bound and Stair Dismount to celebrate being featured by Apple. Zen Bound has been in the app store since February, and is widely considered a showpiece app on the iPhone. It received our highest recommendation upon release, and is currently $1.99.

Stair Dismount was released in late November, and our only criticisms of the game were the lack of global leaderboards, the amount of levels, and no retention of created faces. An update was announced along with a $0.99 sale, and it looks to address all of these issues and more. Version 1.2.0 has already been submitted, and here is the official list of features:

Three new levels (with more crunch!)

Online leaderboards (OpenFeint)

In-game help

Many more Facebook taglines

iPod music library can now be accessed from the game

Minor control tweaks (better pinch)

Panoramic camera that shows off the levels in their full majesty! (main menu and level start)

Previously selected face is automatically in use every time the application is started

Quick Start button in the main menu, jumps straight to the previously selected level with the selected face

Visual polish all around

The IGF Mobile awards were announced at the Game Developers Conference this week, and the iPhone, less than a year after commercial games became available for it, swept the awards winning all categories.

In celebration of these awards and due to extra publicity by Apple in the App Store, have reduced their prices to help increase sales for the nominated applications. Here's a rundown of the winners:

Best Mobile Game - Fieldrunners
(on sale for $2.99, down from $4.99 iTunes Link)

Best iPhone Game - Zen Bound
($4.99 iTunes Link)

Innovation in Game Design - Galcon
(on sale for $0.99, down from $4.99 iTunes Link)

Mobile Achievement in Art - Fieldrunners
(on sale for $2.99, down from $4.99 iTunes Link)

Technical Achievement Award - Real Racing
(Not yet released - target release date: late April, 2009)

Mobile Audio Achievement - Zen Bound
($4.99 iTunes Link)

Secret Exit, developers of Spin have sent us some new screenshots for their upcoming release Zen Bound. Zen Bound is scheduled to be released this winter but may be delayed as they are trying to make sure it is absolutely perfect. So far, the game looks fantastic. Zen Bound is a calm and meditative game of wrapping rope around wooden sculptures. Sounds different, but promises to be at the very least interesting.

Hit the jump for the screen shots and a video of the gameplay.