The new Humble Indie Bundle is out, bringing new games for the Android and Linux platform. What I believe to be the highlight of the bundle this time, is the puzzling aspect of it, with Cogs and Zen Bound 2 shining with excellence.
We linux gamers already know Cogs from Humble Indie Bundle 3. For those that have not played Cogs before, it is a beautiful puzzle game that brings the “sliding block” gameplay to a whole new level. I always found this kind of games a bit boring due to the poor challenge width that they usually offer. In Cogs, this “problem” is solved with pure creativity in level design and awesome final objectives. Cogs is offering many different elements to play with in every level, like transmission gears that you must connect to other free gears and finally give motion to a propeller that will make the puzzle box fly, or pipes that must be connected properly in order for the steam to find its way to the balloons attached to the puzzle box and many more. The game is in 3D and the player has the freedom to rotate the puzzle box and connect the needed pieces accordingly. The design of the game is what we call “steampunk” styled which is a good thing because it fits the nature of this game perfectly. Another great element, is that if you get stuck and you can’t finish a level the game is not over. In every level you collect points depending on how fast you complete them, and the next levels are unlocked according to these points so you can skip a level or go back to easier levels and finish them faster than the first time and collect more points. If you try Cogs, you will be amazed with the addictiveness level of a game that is simply a sliding block game after all.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZzWVkJ5fZk&feature=player_embedded]
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Zen Bound 2 is the sequel to the successful Zen Bound meditative puzzle game. The goal of the game is to cover the given objects with a rope that paints every part of the object it touches. To complete a level (and unlock the next) you must cover with paint at least the 75% of the object. Simple? It may sound simple, but believe me it is not. The rope is stretched and you must be careful how you pass it round corners or nails because it may pop out of its place rendering your last-2-minute work worthless. Also the rope is of a certain length so you can’t just enshroud the object endlessly till it gets covered. The player must use strategy, concentration and foresee the next movements. Every object is different morphological and requires special wrapping strategy. There are 100 levels to play, categorized in “trees” that offer different kinds of game modes (paint bombs, nails, etc). The sounds and graphics of the game are very nice and in general I can say that this game will make you think deep, but in a free kind of way.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ume0rRRw25Q&feature=player_embedded]
