Zen Bound™ Review

While the idea of rope bondage may invoke either images of tying down furniture in the back of a trailer; luggage on a roof; a boat to a moor; or even something more bedroom orientated, Zen Bound attempts to be a game that's more of an experience than something competitive.

Contemplation and calm calculation are unsurprisingly key requirements to grasping and enjoying this beautiful app. Multiple gestures are combined with the accelerometer in order to twist and tie up a series of objects in order to paint them from their neutral state. Normal drags will rotate forward and to the sides and a double touch twist shifts the object around the depth axis. By turning the iPhone around you also change the direction at which the rope is fed into the screen and the combined effect is amazingly accurate in its positioning.

The game does make the rope fairly sticky in order to make tricky maneuvers easier, but a physics engine will cause the rope to snap around if you don't secure it firmly. The visuals are simplistic, combined with beautiful soft shading, high resolution texturing and smooth effects. This is matched beautifully by the huge slow-tempo soundtrack and sound-effects that have apparently been directly recorded from tightened ropes.

Zen Bound is a work of art from developer Secret Exit for publisher Chillingo and the pedigree from this two man group is self evident. For anyone who'd like to experience calm gaming bliss, this is a must buy.