Mantsala, Finland – Polygon Play today is pleased to introduce Zen Sand 1.0 for iOS, its relaxing, physics-based game, where players drag to create angled bamboo stalks, which guide slowly falling sand into Japanese porcelain vases. Pushing its built-in, game-physics engine to the limit, each one of hundreds of grains of sand responds individually to the effects of gravity, wind, and collisions. Zen Sand is crafted with exquisite detail to landscaping, atmospherics, and hand-painted vases, and its 64 puzzle levels offer a sublime, slow motion, gaming experience.
Feature Highlights:
* Place bamboo stalks strategically to guide the sand into the vases
* Relaxing Zen-like atmosphere
* Realistic particle physics
* 64 challenging levels
* Earn pearls to buy puzzle solutions, if needed
* Game Center leaderboard and achievements
* Universal (iPhone 3GS or better required)
* Support for all retina displays
* Adjustable particle count based on your device – make your device really work
Many mobile games produce entertainment value through vivid graphics & animation, frenetic pacing, adrenaline pumping situations, explosions, combat, and destruction. Zen Sand takes the opposite approach, artistically combining slow-motion animation of tiny grains of sand with a powerful game-physics engine capable of controlling the behavior of each grain as it falls.
In portrait orientation, one or more Japanese vases appear onscreen. The lip of each vase is not wide, and a number and color appears on each vase. The first indicates the number of grains of sand required to make it “full,” and the second determines the color of sand required. Before touching the Start button, players try to imagine how to solve the puzzle, given the number and placement of vases. When gameplay begins, single grains of white sand begin to fall in slow motion from a point at the top of the screen, flowing continuously at about 10 grains per second. If only one vase appears on the screen’s lower right, the player can easily drag to create a single, long bamboo stalk angled to feed the stream of sand into the vase.
At higher playing levels, the puzzles are more difficult. There may be two vases on opposite sides of the screen. Since bamboo cannot be moved once it is placed, this puzzle requires that the player use a stalk to fill one vase first, then drag another stalk, diverting sand from a point closer to its source, to fill the second vase. Soon, players are challenged to fill three vases positioned above each other, and fill vases with colored sand after it has been directed through a colored Japanese lantern. Over four seasons, players unlock 16 levels in sequence, discovering increasingly subtle puzzles.
Each level ends when the sand runs out. Zen Sand automatically controls the number of grains of sand used, depending on the computational power of the player’s iDevice. For example, the game generates 500 grains per level on a new iPad, a pile of sand no bigger than a thumbprint. In this case, vases require 10 – 40 grains to signal they are “full.”
Too small to be seen is the 12-sided, dodecahedron shape of each particle of sand, which shape helps add considerable realism in how sand flows, gets caught in bottlenecks, and bounces. At higher levels, players direct sand flow through bladeless, circular fans to send grains flying upwards into upside down vases.
“Zen Sand is a beautiful puzzle game that will ease your mind and soothe your senses,” commented Antti Lehtinen of Polygon Play. “Enjoy each tiny grain of sand as it falls, slides, bounces, and blows – resisting nothing.”
Device Requirements:
* iPhone 3GS/4/4S/5, iPod touch (3rd/4th/5th generation), and iPad
* Requires iOS 5.0 or later
* Universal app optimized for display on all iOS devices
* 43 MB
Pricing and Availability:
Zen Sand 1.0 is $1.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Games category. Review copies are available on request.
Zen Sand 1.0
Purchase and Download
YouTube Video
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Based in Mantsala, Finland, Polygon Play was founded by Antti Lehtinen in 2011. Polygon Play is a Finnish, one-man, indie band focusing on kids’ apps and creating a serious game every now and then. His previous serious game was Lander Hero, which received very good ratings on the App Store. Copyright (C) 2013 Polygon Play. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.
