''Zen Bound'' is a

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle ...

for the

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

, and

Maemo Maemo is a software platform originally developed by Nokia, now developed by the community, for smartphones and Internet tablets. The platform comprises both the Maemo operating system and SDK. Maemo played a key role in Nokia's strategy to com ...

platforms (

Nokia N900 The Nokia N900 is a smartphone made by Nokia. It supersedes the Nokia N810. Its default operating system, Maemo 5, is a Linux-based OS originally developed for the Nokia 770 Internet Tablet. It is the first Nokia device based upon the Texas In ...

), developed by Secret Exit. It was announced on September 5, 2008 via the company's

discussion board An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...

, and officially released via the

App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the co ...

on February 24, 2009, and via

Ovi Store Ovi by Nokia ( fi, ovi, translation=door) was the brand for Nokia's Internet services. The Ovi services could be used from a mobile device, computer (through Ovi Suite) or via the web. Nokia focused on five key service areas: Games, Maps, Media, ...

on June 16, 2010. A port to Android was announced as part of the Humble Bundle for Android 2 on March 19, 2012. The game has received press attention for its unique gameplay. A lite version of the game was also released for free which featured 2 levels of the game. A sequel, ''Zen Bound 2'', was released for iOS on April 1, 2010, for

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

on November 16, 2010, and for the

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

in Europe and North America on May 24, 2018.

Gameplay

The goal of the game is to paint various objects. In each level the player is given an object with an attached rope which varies in length depending on the level. Using a mouse or touch screen and tilt controls, the player attempts to wrap the object with the rope. Each time the rope is laid down on the object, the area near the rope gets covered by paint. The challenge is getting the required percentage of an object painted with only a finite length of rope. There are three targets in each level - minimum, medium and maximum coverage. Some levels require nails protruding from the objects to be entwined in rope rather than having to cover the object's surface.

Reception

''Zen Bound''

''Zen Bound'' received universal acclaim according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

GameRankings GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...

Awards

5th IMGAwards (International Mobile Gaming Awards) (2008): Excellence in 3D

''Zen Bound 2''

''Zen Bound 2'' received "favorable" reviews on all platforms according to the

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

Abandonment

Neither ''Zen Bound'' nor its sequel are available for purchase in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store; however, ''Zen Bound 2'' remains available via Steam and the Nintendo eStore as of April 2022.

References

External links

''Zen Bound'' official websiteSecret Exit official websiteZen Bound page (IMGAwards)
* *{{moby game, id=/zen-bound-2, name=''Zen Bound 2'' 2009 video games Android (operating system) games Chillingo games IOS games Linux games MacOS games Maemo games Nintendo Switch games Puzzle video games Single-player video games Video games developed in Finland Windows games