Puzzle games have always been popular on the iPhone, and are now even more popular on the iPad given the increased screen real estate. In TanZen HD ($1.99), the objective is to fit the puzzle pieces into the shaded area without overlapping. It’s a simple concept, but is also incredibly addicting. With a gorgeous UI and more than 500 puzzles to solve, this game will have you glued to your iPad for hours.
The whole zen theme is apparent as soon as you start the game. The soft, Eastern music, combined with the sandy background, provides a sense of calm that is necessary to concentrate on these puzzles. The puzzles themselves are simple, shaded images that must be filled in with seven colored pieces without overlapping. Most puzzles resemble animals and other familiar figures. You simply tap and drag the pieces from the outer edges of the screen to the shaded area. The shapes can be rotated with one finger or flipped with a double tap. Some puzzles can be solved very quickly, while others will take a bit more time.
Once you’ve accurately placed all the pieces into the shaded area, the app will recognize your completion of the puzzle and automatically zoom back to the main screen of puzzles to select from. As you progress through the game, you will unlock additional colors for the pieces and different skins for the background. After you’ve completed all the puzzles, you can reset the game, and play them all again if you wish. You can also play the game in master mode, which forces you to put the pieces together without a shaded area to help you. You are only given a small thumbnail image of the shape for reference. This adds an entirely new level of difficulty to the game.
TanZen HD is absolutely one of the most polished and addicting puzzle games I’ve played in a long time. It’s simple enough to understand, yet offers additional difficulty for hardcore gamers. I highly recommend this one.
