Beautiful Tengami papercraft game plays like a dream

Beautiful Tengami papercraft game plays like a dream
Sometimes a game comes along that urges you to take your time -- to soak up the gorgeous atmosphere, explore the world, and solve puzzles at a leisurely pace. It's about the journey, not the finish line.The Room is one such game. Year Walk is another. And now we have one more to add to the list: the newly released Tengami from Nyamyam.And yet, Tengami isn't quite like any game we've seen. It's based on the idea of a pop-up book and set in a sort of mythical feudal Japan. You control a young Japanese man -- although the actual details of the plot remain to be unfolded as the story progresses, with very minimal exposition and even fewer directions. It plays out, in fact, a bit like a dream: you unfold the landscape and wander through it, solving puzzles and collecting items to advance to the next stage of the story. And everything works as it would in a pop-up book: tabs that can be pulled allow you to removed obstacles and move items, and standing on glowing portals allows you to turn the page, collapsing the current scene and reopening the next. Nyamyam Each action, and each puzzle, needs to be figured out by you -- first, what the puzzle actually is, and then what you have to do to solve it. A series of four chimes, for instance, needs to be rung in a particular order, but the game gives you no clues as to what that order might be. Meanwhile, there's not a single flaw in the aesthetic execution. Your character, when turned sideways (or facing toward or away from you, since he is viewed from the side), all but disappears -- he is, after all, made of paper. Each environment collapses perfectly; you can easily imagine the scenes crafted out of real paper, and, in fact, they could be.Related storiesThe Room updates with new epilogue chapterYear Walk is spooky, scary beautiful "Tengami's world is built as an authentically folding three-dimensional pop-up book with an all new technology created just for this game," the description reads. "Everything seen in the game could be re-created in real life with just paper, scissors, and glue." The development team even scanned real sheets of paper to create realistic textures for the world. The result is something unique, beautiful and absolutely worth playing. Once again, an indie developer has proven that a game can indeed be a breathtaking work of art. Tengami is available as a universal app for $4.99 from the iTunes App Store. (Source: CNET Australia)

The 404 356- Where Bonnie Cha gives it to us straight about the Palm Pre

The 404 356: Where Bonnie Cha gives it to us straight about the Palm Pre
She also has a few complaints: as expected, the keyboard is pretty tiny and requires a rather long learning curve depending on the size of your fingers. In fact, Bonnie's got pretty small hands and even she had problems typing on it, so be sure to check one out before you buy. Next, the battery life pooped out after only one day of usage, which can be attributed partly to a faulty AIM client, but it's still something to keep in mind.Overall, Bonnie fully recommends the phone to Sprint customers, including Jeff, who's been calling her at home to get insider's secrets since the phone was first announced. In the end, Jeff finally decides to at least go check it out on opening day, Saturday, but with no guarantees that he'll buy. No matter what phone he gets, we'll still have a great time with a live smashing of his old HTC Mogul on next week's show, so make sure to look out for that as well. Leave a comment below, though, and let us know what you think about the Palm Pre. Are you going to buy it? Is it worth the money to upgrade? Do you hate the phrase "iPhone killer" as much as the Bonch? Let's hear it.EPISODE 356Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) |Subscribe in RSS Audio |Subscribe in RSS Video This content is rated TV-MA, and is for viewers 18 years or older. Are you of age?YesNoSorry, you are not old enough to view this content.PlayClear your schedule for the next week and begin the novel that is Bonnie Cha's official Palm Pre review--good stuff!Photo Gallery: Palm Pre screenshotsWatch Bonnie's awesome Palm Pre unboxing videoWill Verizon and AT&T get the Palm Pre?Follow us on Twitter!The 404Jeff BakalarJustin YuWilson Tang