[Review] Tengami (iOS)
A poetic puzzler... or a puzzling poem.
Sorry, trying to be profound... I’m embarrassed how long this has been sitting untouched on my iPad considering how short it is. I completed it in a single sitting, which is not an indictment. Rather, it introduces its concept, explores it for a bit, then concludes and sends you on your way before its shine wears off.
Tengami is the first project of Nyamyam, a collaboration between Rare alumni of various vintages. The story goes that recent design hire Jennifer Shneidereit and veteran programmer Phil Tossell, bored of Kinect Sports, were tossing around more creatively fulfilling ideas, and left to form their own indie studio. During development fellow ex-Rare dev Ryo Agarie joined them, and erstwhile Rare composer David Wise was brought on to do the soundtrack.
This team-up was fruitful, as Tengami is a striking work of art. Inspired by pop-up books and traditional Japanese artwork, your movements through this watercolour world are accompanied by the landscape folding around you. By tapping and dragging on the screen, paper structures and cliffsides collapse and spring up to allow you access. There’s a bit of exploration, a few puzzles to solve, and some lovely colour gradients to admire.
To accompany your guy’s symbolic journey to bring a withered tree back into bloom (it’s a metaphor!) is the moody soundtrack, in turns melancholic and gently melodic. It’s recognisably the work of the composer for Donkey Kong Country 2 and Tropical Freeze, and I was well pleased. There’s also lots of recognisable Japanese symbology, architecture, and depictions of nature that give it a good sense of place. All this and the exceptionally well-realised paper aesthetic make for quite a special experience!
