It’s rare that a puzzler game flys past the usual budget-gaming screening tests. Questions such as ‘Why is this title so cheap?’, ‘Is the cover art terrible in order to cut costs?’ or ‘The Dev team has invited me to an over-50s hot tub party, should I put out a negative review?’ can put this category of titles straight in the ‘Not Covering” pile. Zhed is subtly different.
The lovely people at Ground Control Studios have obviously spotted a gap in the market with their ‘No Frills’ approach to advertisement. No gimmicks or treats, just a straight up puzzle experience for that perfect work break, coffee compliment or a nice relaxing canter on the porcelain horse.
What A Simple but Wicked Game to Play
The premise is simple: use the numbered blocks to fill in the gap between the goal and the concluding block. No fancy graphics, sounds effects or other fluff, just a nicely presented grid with blocks that all change colour every 10 levels or so. If you’ve been keeping up with the review playthrough on my Twitter @Dad_Bod_Gamer, you can see for yourself how charming Zhed is.
It would be ridiculous to portray said playthrough as a flawless one. Hints are available in-game depending on the last time you used a hint and how many levels have been cleared. It would also be a lie to state I didn’t cheat and check out the odd solution video on YouTube due to the mind bending methods needed to complete some levels.
Players have to get creative by moving several blocks in the right order to sometimes fill one grid space to complete a level. It can get a bit broad by puzzling standards at times, but that’s the magic of Zhed. In a world of beautifully creative Indie developers churning out brilliant titles, AAAs trying their best to break the cycle of repetition and a console generation taking up the limelight, it’s great to see a puzzler title get the credit it’s due.
Puzzlingly Low Price
For a few quid, players can jump into an engrossing puzzler that will baffle, annoy and reward in one playthrough. Whilst the soundtrack can be repetitive after a while, there really isn’t anything bad to say about Zhed. Touchscreen and traditional controls have also been included for that added flexibility, however the whole experience seems to feel more at home using the touchscreen on the Nintendo Switch.
Please consider picking up Zhed. Encourage a developer who isn’t littering the eShop with shovelware. You should know that Zhed doesn’t seem to be aware or care how dense players like me can be. So prepare for grief if gifting this digital release for a loved one.
