2009 · skip Ltd. · Puzzle

Zengage

Nintendo exclusive

A relaxing logic puzzle where the objective is to match coloured panels with spheres of the same colour. Use your stylus to slide the panels horizontally and vertically as you chill out to the soothing sounds of the games's peaceful music.

Released: 28 January 2009
Platforms: Nintendo DS
Genres: Puzzle
Developers: skip Ltd.
Publishers: Nintendo
Modes: Single-player
Country: Japan
Age ratings: ESRB E

About

Zengage, known as Nemrem in PAL territories and Somnium in Japan, is a puzzle video game developed by Skip Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DSi's DSiWare digital distribution service. It is one of multiple entries in the Art Style series of games. It first released in Japan in January 2009, and was later released in PAL regions and North America in May and July 2009 respectively. In Zengage, players are given increasingly difficult slide puzzles that require them to slide tiles to match the position of colored balls with colored tiles.

Over time, new gimmicks are added to up the difficulty. Zengage received generally mixed reception, criticized by critics for a high level of difficulty and for having a "boring" art style. IGN writer Craig Harris, who does not enjoy slide puzzles himself, suggested that people who do would like this game.

Keywords

dsiware

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Zengage requires players to slide colored tiles on a game board in order to match the positions of colored balls resting on the same board. The colored titles are moved through vertical and horizontal movements on the touchscreen. As the game progresses, puzzles gain new mechanics that make it more difficult to solve the puzzle. These include preventing certain tiles from being moved. The later levels also add additional colors that need to be matched.

Development

Zengage was announced for the DSiWare service on January 28, 2009, and released two days later alongside Pictobits, another title in the Art Style series. It was later released in PAL regions on May 29, 2009 and in North America on July 20, 2009.

Reception

Zengage received mixed reviews from critics upon release. On Metacritic, the game holds a score of 65/100 based on 5 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". JC Fletcher of Joystiq felt that being released alongside Pictobits caused it to be overlooked when it was released in Japan. In their group review of DSiWare games, GameSpy writers Brian Altano and Brian Miggels gave it a rating of 'worthless', suggesting that the name Zengage feels "pompous" due to it lacking engaging gameplay.

They also criticized it for not having a memorable style or "Zen-like qualities". They suggested that it was boring and a waste of money. Jon Jordan of Pocket Gamer felt it was "nothing to get excited about", and that a person's enjoyment of the game is more about whether they like cerebral puzzles or not. They also praised the presentation as "pleasant" despite also being "fairly muted".