Color Zen Kids Review

Color Zen Kids WiiU Screenshot 3

If you have read my review of ‘Color Zen’ already then here we have a version especially tweaked for a younger audience, taking the concepts of the game and making them much simpler for children.

If you have read my earlier review or played the ‘adult’ version I’ll just say this: if you think your child will enjoy it and don’t mind paying another £2.99 for a game that’s a quarter of the size (only 120 puzzles here) but much more suitable for a young child (we’re talking pre-teenagers here) then I’d get this. It shares a lot of the faults of the main game – no music through the television, very simple mobile phone-like graphics, but has the same fun gameplay too, though not any way as varied as the full version.

For those of you who have no experience of the game, what is ‘Color Zen Kids’?

Color Zen Kids WiiU Screenshot 2

It’s a simple game adapted for the WiiU from a mobile phone. You are given one section here – each level is based on an abstract animal picture – where you have to clear the screen of objects by matching items by colour, which makes all those objects in that colour disappear, your goal is to have a screen filled with one particular colour, a colour that matches the border of the screen. Be aware though, that some objects mask colours within others like in a dartboard design, so there are some tactics to ensure you tidy up the screenImagine if the screen was Windows Paint and you were using the fill tool and it covered up areas of the same colour, and it’s like a gamefied version of that.

The above might sound confusing but trust me; it’s very simple to pick up and play and there’s a straight forward one-page instruction panel at the start if you are still stuck.

Unlike the ‘adult’ version there are no variations on the formula but you can press the pause button – much easier than the double-press of the other, to restart the level if you wish with no penalties for doing so, though you can’t skip a level and the others unlock as you complete and progress. But it’s a very straight forward game, this version definitely easy by adult standards but should be refreshingly challenging for a younger audience, but not frustratingly so.

Color Zen Kids WiiU Screenshot 1

It’s a very zen-game as its title suggests with relaxing chilled-out electronic music and nice, aesthetically pleasing graphics, and the animal theme will please the young audience.

Like its larger counterpart it still feels like a mobile phone game on-large and also you’ll end up just wanting to play on the GamePad as the television is redundant, as you will be looking at the smaller screen when playing and the music only comes from the GamePad speakers, not the TV.

‘Color Zen Kids’ is a fun puzzle game aimed at a younger audience. If your child wants a better challenge and is a little older than the target market I’d suggest picking up the full version as you get four times the games for the same price with more than just the one simple mode, but for a younger audience this will be a fun distraction with a good bit of challenge, just don’t expect it to engross them for more than ten to fifteen minutes at a time.

Rating 6

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Nintendo Wii U code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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